Brett Ryan murdered his mother and two brothers to stop them exposing his web of lies to fiancee Kristen Baxter. Photo/Facebook
Brett Ryan murdered his mother and two brothers to stop them exposing his web of lies to fiancee Kristen Baxter. Photo/Facebook
Kristen Baxter knew all about Brett Ryan's bizarre and inexplicable stint as a bank robber and she was willing to marry him anyway.
But there was another secret he couldn't tell her - one he deemed so mortifying that when his mother and brothers threatened to expose the truth before the wedding, Ryan murdered them before they could.
Almost a decade ago, Ryan's break up with another girlfriend had triggered a depressive episode in Ryan that led to him to commit a series of heists in Canada disguised as an elderly man, earning him the nickname "Fake Beard Bandit".
Brett Ryan and Kristen Baxter were due to wed one month after he carried out the killings. Photo/Facebook
But the spree was so out of character for the sweet, popular Ryan that the judge rejected the 10-year sentence requested by prosecutors and gave him just three years and nine months.
Good behaviour resulted in the Parole Board of Canada granting Ryan day release after just 15 months, noting that he did not suffer from major mental illness, psychopathy or have a history of violence.
In fact "this circumstance has reconnected you to your family", the board wrote.
Seven counselling sessions (a condition of his day parole) later, a psychologist treating Ryan declared that he no longer needed therapy.
"You remain a low risk for offending," the board wrote in 2011 in granting him full parole.
Just six years later, Ryan strangled his mother Susan and shot his brothers Christopher and Alexander to death with a crossbow in a triple homicide on August 25, 2016 that shocked Canadians.
The "Fake Beard Bandit" had morphed into "The Crossbow Killer".
On Friday, the 36-year-old was sentenced to three life sentences without the possibility of parole after admitting to their murders and the attempted murder of a third brother Leigh, 38.
The lie that turned Ryan into a triple killer
Ryan's fiancee Kristen Baxter knew about his past as the Fake Beard Bandit. The petite blonde physiotherapist had met her future husband while he was still on parole and wasn't fussed about dating an ex-con.
But there were still things Ryan has not been honest about. According to the Star, he told Baxter he had graduated from college in April last year when in fact he had dropped out months earlier.
He got a job at an IT company only to lose it in June when his employers found out about his bank robber past and fired him. Unable to tell Baxter the disappointing news, Ryan simply pretended he was working from home.
The charade went on for months before Ryan's mother Susan urged him to come clean about his job loss before his wedding, which was just one month away, even offering to support him until he could get back on his feet again.
However, she also told him that if he did not tell Baxter the truth, she would cut him off financially.
Days before the triple murders, Ryan hid a crossbow in his mother's garage and set up an iPad and iPhone to create an electronic footprint in his home, according to police.
"Brett Ryan was worried that if his fiancee discovered the web of lies, she'd call off the wedding," Justice John McMahon said at the sentencing hearing.
"This was a sophisticated plan to build in an alibi, although these devices were never used."
Brett Ryan didn't try to hide his criminal past but there was one secret he was willing to kill for. Photo / Facebook
On August 25, 2016, Ryan confronted his mother in her home and the pair had a blazing argument. When the row became too heated for comfort, Susan Ryan rang Brett's older brother Christopher for help.
Ryan retrieved the crossbow, stabbed his mother with a bolt, then strangled her to death with a yellow nylon rope, the court heard.
He laid in wait for Christopher, shooting a bolt through the back of his head when he turned up.
Brett covered the two bodies with a tarp, hid them in a garage and waited for his younger brother Alexander to show. When he did, he fatally stabbed him with a crossbow bolt.
A third brother Leigh, who lived with his mother, heard the commotion and saw Ryan standing over Alexander's body in the driveway.
As Leigh raced back inside to call police, Ryan was hot on his heels. He attacked him but Leigh managed to escape to a neighbour's house and raise the alarm.
When police officers arrived, Brett Ryan confessed to all three murders. After being charged with the attack on Alexander, Ryan responded, "I should have driven him to the hospital."
Ryan's life sentences for the murders will run concurrently.
