Man Kills His Mother, 2 Brothers With a Crossbow
On Saturday, Brett Ryan, 36, was given three life sentences and a concurrent 10-year sentence in prison for first- and second-degree murder and attempted murder, the CBC reports. Ryan pleaded guilty to killing his mother and two brothers with a crossbow last year. He tried to kill his third brother as well.
Ryan was charged exactly three weeks before he was set to get married. According to the Agreed Statement of Facts provided to the court by his lawyer, Ryan was afraid as his marriage neared his mother would tell his fiancée Ryan had lied to his her about having a job and having a college degree - he had neither.
According to The Star, his fiancée was aware of his past offenses - in 2009, Ryan pleaded guilty to committing eight different bank robberies and served almost four years in prison.
After admitting to his mother he’d been laid off from his IT job when his employer found out about his criminal record, she suggested he tell his fiancée and said she’d continue to support him financially if he did. Fearing the woman he was set to marry would find out anyway, Ryan planted a crossbow in the garage of his mother’s home. Anticipating his mother would reveal his secrets, he also planted electronic devices that would activate at a certain time to create a digital footprint should he need an alibi.
The devices were never activated, but Ryan confronted his mother at her home on August 25, 2016. When their argument escalated, Ryan’s mother, 66, called for her son Christopher, 42, to come help. Ryan stabbed and shot them with the crossbow arrows respectively.
Upon leaving, Ryan ran into his other brother Alexander, 29, and stabbed him as well. Finally, Leigh Ryan, 38, heard commotion and came to investigate what was happening. Ryan attempted to assault Leigh as well, but Leigh escaped across the street and called the police. His two brothers and mother were pronounced dead at the scene.
Ryan will serve 25 years before he is eligible for parole.
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