Toronto man admits killing his family in bid to hide web of lies from fiancée

Brett Ryan’s bride-to-be already knew about his past as a bank robber, but it was another secret he was willing to resort to murder to hide

Local police cordon off the area outside the home where Brett Ryan killed his mother and two of his brothers (Reuters)

A man has confessed to killing his mother and two of his brothers with a crossbow over fears they would expose his lies about having a job to his fiance weeks before their wedding.

Brett Ryan had admitted his past as a bank robber to Kristen Baxter and she still agreed to walk down the aisle.

But the 36-year-old from Toronto, Canada, had been hiding another secret from her – the fact that he had lied about graduating from university and having a job.

After his mother Susan Ryan threatened to expose his lies to Ms Baxter and cut off financial support, the pair got into a heated argument, an agreed statement of facts submitted to the Ontario Court of Justice.

He then stabbed his mother with a bolt – a type of arrow used for a crossbow – and strangled her in her garage.

Not long after, his brother, Christopher Ryan, arrived to find Brett in the garage, after his mother called him for help when the argument got out of hand.

Ryan shot him in the neck with an arrow, placing his brother’s body under a tarp with his mother.

He then stabbed his other brother, Alexander, 29, who arrived later at the house. He collapsed on the driveway, where his body was found by police.

Toronto police cordon off the area outside the house where Brett Ryan killed his mother and two of his brothers (Reuters)

Ryan also attacked his older brother, Leigh, 39, who heard the altercation and went outside to see what had happened.

He was followed and assaulted by Ryan, but managed to escape and run across the street for help.

Ryan admitted that in the days leading up to the murder, he had placed a crossbow in the garage of his mother’s home. He had also set up electronic devices at his home to create an internet footprint while he committed his crimes.

He had also fix a wooden spoon onto a fan, which was connected to a timer, so that the spoon would hit the Enter button on his laptop, prompting videos to play on YouTube. His iPad and iPhone had also been set up to send emails from his home address while he was away.

Ryan had previously been found guilty of committing a string of bank heists disguised as an elderly man, earning him the moniker, “Fake Beard Bandit”.

The Canadian had attributed the spree to a depressive episode he suffered after a break-up with a former girlfriend and had hoped to use the stolen money to pay off more than C$60,000 (£36,400) in debts.

Because the robberies had been considered out of character for Ryan, a judge rejected the 10-year sentence requested by prosecutors, handing him a sentence of just three years and nine months.

He was seen as a model prisoner who was considered at low risk of re-offending before he was released on day parole in April 2010, according to CBC.

It is unclear when Ryan and Ms Baxter started seeing each other, but it is believed the pair met before his parole would have ended.

The murders took place just three weeks before their wedding day.

Ryan was arrested outside his family’s home last August where his mother and two brothers were pronounced dead at the scene,

He pleaded guilty to first-degree murder of his oldest brother, Christopher, and to two counts of second-degree murder of his mother, Susan, and younger brother Alexander.. He also pleaded guilty to the attempted murder of his older brother, Leigh.

In addition to the three concurrent sentences of life in prison, he was also handed a 10-year concurrent sentence for the attempted murder of his brother, Leigh.

He has no chance of parole for at least 25 years.