A death wish and a catfish: How an IRS agent lured his wife and an unsuspecting man to their murders

DatelineA death wish and a catfish: How an IRS agent lured his wife and an unsuspecting man to their murdersChristine Banfield and Joseph Ryan were murdered in her Northern Virginia home on Feb. 24, 2023, in a scheme carried out by her husband and their au pair.Listen to this article with a free account00:0000:00Brendan Banfield during his double murder trial on Jan. 14, in Fairfax, Va. Tom Brenner / Pool via APShareAdd NBC News to GoogleApril 3, 2026, 6:38 PM EDTBy Tim StellohOn a Friday morning three years ago, a horrific scene unfolded in a Northern Virginia home: A pediatric ICU nurse, Christine Banfield, was mortally wounded in her bedroom. She’d been repeatedly stabbed. With her was 39-year-old Joseph Ryan. He’d been fatally shot.Subscribe to read this story ad-free Get unlimited access to ad-free articles and exclusive content.The nurse’s husband — IRS special agent Brendan Banfield — told authorities he killed Ryan, a stranger, after the man attacked his wife. What prosecutors say actually happened inside the Banfields’ Fairfax County home was the result of something far more convoluted and sinister — a deadly catfishing scheme that was motivated by an affair and relied on a fetish website to lure an unsuspecting man to his death. The plot, they said, was planned and executed by Brendan Banfield and his mistress, the family’s Brazilian au pair.For more on the story, tune it to "Temptation" on "Dateline" at 9 ET/8 CT tonight.Add NBC News to GoogleDATELINE FRIDAY SNEAK PEEK: Temptation01:58Brendan Banfield has maintained his innocence and called the allegations “absolutely crazy.” After a three-week trial earlier this year, he was convicted of aggravated murder and is set to be sentenced to a mandatory term of life in prison term next month. The au pair, Juliana Peres Magalhaes, cooperated with authorities and pleaded guilty to manslaughter. She was sentenced to 10 years in prison.The murderOn the morning of Feb. 24, 2023, Brendan Banfield told a 911 operator...