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TORONTO - A desperate, deceitful groom admitted Friday he murdered his mother and two brothers to prevent his mom from revealing his web of lies to his fiancee a month before their wedding.
Brett Ryan, 36, pleaded guilty Friday to two counts of second-degree murder in the Aug. 25, 2016 killings of his mother, Susan, 66, and his brother, Alexander, 29, and first-degree murder in the crossbow slaying of his oldest brother, Christopher, 42, a TTC fare collector. He also pleaded guilty to attempting to murder another brother, Leigh, 38.
The judge sentenced Ryan to life in prison with no chance of parole for 25 years for first-degree murder and two concurrent life sentences for the killings of the man’s mother and younger brother. Ryan received a 10-year concurrent sentence for the attempted murder.
Crown attorney Dihim Emami and senior Crown attorney Tom Pittman negotiated the plea bargain deal with defence lawyers John Rosen and Lindsay Daviau. If Ryan had been convicted of three counts of first-degree murder — as initially charged — he could have faced the daunting prospect of consecutive parole eligibility periods, meaning he would have to wait 75 years for his first chance at parole.
How the crossbow played into the crime;
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He confronted his mother. When their argument became heated, she phoned his older brother, Christopher, for help.
Brett retrieved the crossbow, stabbed his mom with a bolt, then strangled her to death with a yellow nylon rope.
Brett ambushed Christopher by shooting a bolt through the back of his head when he appeared.
Brett hid both bodies under a tarp in the garage. His younger brother, Alexander, was fatally stabbed with a bolt when he confronted Brett.
