Before Brendan Banfield Is on Trial for Murder — His Job Involved Investigating Crimes

In January 2026, trial proceedings began for Brendan Banfield, who stands accused of murdering his wife and another man in an attempt to get out of his marriage. Banfield and a woman named Juliana Peres Magalhães began an affair in August 2022, per ABC13. Magalhães was hired as an au pair for the Banfields later that year.

According to court filings, Banfield allegedly began planning Christine Banfield's death in the fall of 2022. He bought a gun in January 2023 and started practicing at a gun range in the months leading up to Christine and Joseph Ryan's deaths, which occurred in February 2024. That's when Banfield allegedly lured Ryan to his home under the pretense of a lurid sexual playdate. What makes this story even more bizarre is what Banfield did for a living. Here's what we know about his former job.

Banfield's LinkedIn, which is still active, tells the story of a man who once believed in the criminal justice system. In September 2009, he was hired by the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) as a tax compliance officer. He spent a decade auditing businesses and individuals to make sure they were compliant with IRS tax obligations.

He was promoted sometime in 2019 to Special Agent with IRS Criminal Investigation, where he focused on "serving the American public by investigating potential criminal violations of the Internal Revenue Code and related financial crimes." The Criminal Investigation (CI) is literally the law enforcement branch of the IRS. One of their essential duties is adhering to the utmost standards of conduct, particularly in regard to honesty and integrity.

Prosecutors allege that Banfield created a fake account on a fetish website to find a man willing to come to his home, per The New York Times. In the account, Banfield wrote that his wife was interested in roleplaying a rape fantasy. After Ryan responded, Banfield and Magalhães told him to come over the morning of Feb. 24, 2023, while Christine was asleep. They also requested that Ryan bring restraints and a knife, reports CBS News.

The morning of the murders, Magalhães took the Banfields's daughter outside the car in order to wait for Ryan to arrive. Banfield was at a McDonald's up the street. When Ryan entered the house, Magalhães called Banfield, who quickly came over. It was set up to look like Banfield walked in on a man attacking his wife.

"When I got to the bedroom, he yelled, 'Police officer,'" Magalhães said of Banfield. At the same time, Christine yelled, "Brendan! He has a knife!" Banfield allegedly shot Ryan and then proceeded to repeatedly stab Christine. When Magalhães saw that Ryan was still moving, she allegedly shot him.