Juliana Magalhães Gets 10 Years — Judge Rejects Prosecution's Plea Deal
Hidden Killers With Tony Brueski | True Crime News & Commentary
True Crime Today
3.3 • 910 Ratings
🗓️ 13 February 2026
⏱️ 42 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
The prosecution asked for time served. The judge said no.
Juliana Peres Magalhães — the au pair who admitted firing the shot that killed Joseph Ryan while her lover Brendan Banfield stabbed his wife Christine to death — was just sentenced to 10 years in prison. Judge Penney Azcarate rejected the Commonwealth's recommendation that Magalhães walk free after roughly two years behind bars.
This sentencing hearing delivered the emotional reckoning that many felt was missing from the trial itself. Deirdre Fisher, Joe Ryan's mother, read a victim impact statement that confronted Magalhães directly about the son she lost — an innocent man lured to his death through a fake fetish profile that Magalhães helped create. The Banfield family also addressed the court, acknowledging that Juliana was "a young woman in a foreign country, in love with her employer" while making clear that cooperation doesn't erase culpability.
Magalhães spoke before sentencing, telling the court: "I know my remorse cannot bring you peace. I pray for forgiveness, and I have never forgave myself."
But remorse wasn't enough.
Judge Azcarate's decision sends a clear message: testifying against your co-conspirator doesn't automatically entitle you to leniency. Magalhães admitted to participating in a scheme that ended two lives. She admitted to pulling the trigger on a man who thought he was walking into a consensual encounter. Whatever her cooperation meant for the Banfield conviction, it didn't change what she did that night in February 2023.
This episode features the full sentencing audio from the Fairfax County courtroom — including the victim impact statements, Juliana's allocution, and Judge Azcarate's ruling. If you followed the trial, this is the moment where consequences finally arrived.
#JulianaMagalhaes #BrendanBanfield #AuPairAffair #ChristineBanfield #JoeRyan #FairfaxCounty #TrueCrime #Sentencing #JudgeAzcarate #HiddenKillers
Join Our SubStack For AD-FREE ADVANCE EPISODES & EXTRAS!: https://hiddenkillers.substack.com/
Want to comment and watch this podcast as a video? Check out our YouTube Channel. https://www.youtube.com/@hiddenkillerspod
Instagram https://www.instagram.com/hiddenkillerspod/
Facebook https://www.facebook.com/hiddenkillerspod/
Tik-Tok https://www.tiktok.com/@hiddenkillerspod
X Twitter https://x.com/TrueCrimePod
Listen Ad-Free On Apple Podcasts Here: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/true-crime-today-premium-plus-ad-free-advance-episode/id1705422872
This publication contains commentary and opinion based on publicly available information. All individuals are presumed innocent until proven guilty in a court of law. Nothing published here should be taken as a statement of fact, health or legal advice.
Transcript
Click on a timestamp to play from that location
| 0:00.0 | You're listening to the Aupair Affair Murder Trial of Bratton Banfield from True Crime today on the Hidden Killers podcast. |
| 0:08.0 | Now, back to the courtroom. |
| 0:10.4 | The author of Finney Astoradi resided. |
| 0:13.8 | Please be seated. |
| 0:14.6 | It comes to order. |
| 0:16.3 | Okay. |
| 0:17.1 | I mean, do you want to do the quick matter in the Banfield case? |
| 0:40.4 | Judge, did you want to do that before or half? let's do that right now, because Mr. Carroll, I think, is here. Mr. Carroll, if you want to come forward, just on the case of Commonwealth v. Brendan Vanfield, Mr. Vanfield's presence has been waived. Mr. Carroll is present, and Commonwealth is present. This comes on your your Commonwealth's motion to seal two of the defense exhibits, correct? |
| 0:45.4 | Judge, yes, two exhibits, and we're actually going to, we're going to orally add two more. |
| 0:51.6 | We have been approached by Mr. Phillips representing a NOVA hospital and a member of the public about another case that includes, or I'm sorry, another |
| 0:55.2 | exhibit that includes personal information. |
| 0:58.2 | So the exhibits, the defense exhibits we would ask to seal are 120, 121, 211, 222, and 123. |
| 1:07.9 | Right, and that has protected patent information. |
| 1:10.3 | Is that correct? Protected health information or protected personal information. Okay. All right, okay. Okay, I got you. All right, any objection? No objection. All right, we'll go ahead and seal those for, I assume there's many patient information in there. Is that what it is? There, yes. Okay, so 120, 121, 122, and 123, correct? Yes. All right, I'll grant your motion. That's fine. Thank you, Mr. Care. Thank you. |
| 1:32.4 | All right. All right. Kamwell versus Magales. |
| 1:38.5 | Good morning. Ryan, Campbell, President. Good morning, Mr. Campbell. |
| 1:41.0 | Thank you. All right, the case of Commonwealth of Virginia versus Juliana Perez-Magalase. |
| 2:15.9 | Ms. Perez-Mag Magales is present in the courtroom |
| 2:18.3 | with her attorney. The Commonwealth is present. |
| 2:19.3 | Comes today for sentencing. Are we ready to go forward today, Mr. Camden? Yes, sir. All right, have you reviewed the pre-sentence investigation report with your client? We did, Your Honor. No changes, additions or corrections. All right, does the Commonwealth have any? No changes, additions or corrections. All right, I'll make the pre-sense investigation report part of the record. |
| 2:35.9 | The Commonwealth, as far All right, I'll make the pre-sentence investigation report part of the record. |
| 2:35.9 | The Commonwealth, as far as evidence, |
... |
Please login to see the full transcript.
Disclaimer: The podcast and artwork embedded on this page are from True Crime Today, and are the property of its owner and not affiliated with or endorsed by Tapesearch.
Generated transcripts are the property of True Crime Today and are distributed freely under the Fair Use doctrine. Transcripts generated by Tapesearch are not guaranteed to be accurate.
Copyright © Tapesearch 2026.