20/20: Season 2026, Episode 7

2026 - 7: The Au Pair, the Affair and Murder

It's a murder trial that has garnered national attention and is currently in the headlines. In 2023, a frantic 911 call made from an affluent Virginia neighborhood led police to a horrifying discovery: 37-year-old pediatric nurse and mother Christine Banfield was stabbed to death in her bedroom, and another man, Joseph Ryan, 39, was shot dead alongside her. The family's live-in au pair, 23-year-old Juliana Peres Magalhães, told investigators that she returned home after forgetting the lunch she'd packed for the Banfields' young daughter and encountered a violent intruder attacking Christine, but investigators quickly began to question the story and uncovered evidence of a secret affair between Christine's husband, Brendan Banfield, and Juliana. Brendan stood trial for his wife's murder, and just last week, a jury rendered a verdict sealing his future and fate.