Canadian True Crime - 101 The Ryan Family Crossbow Murders

Episode Date: December 1, 2021

TORONTO | In 2016, a disturbance on a quiet street in Scarborough would decimate a family, leaving three dead and another injured. And then, within hours, a bomb squad would be called to an upmarket, waterfront condo in downtown Toronto, revealing a complex web of lies. When a person’s unsettling past catches up with them, what lengths will they go to to prevent the truth from coming out?Further reading - long-form features on this case:The Crossbow Killer - Toronto Life feature by Mark MannThe Untold Story of accused ‘crossbow killer’ Brett Ryan’s robbery spree - Toronto Star feature by Wendy GillisCanadian True Crime donates monthly. This month we have donated to:First Nations Child and Family Caring SocietyThanks for supporting our sponsors!See the special offer codes here Premium Feeds - Ad-free episodes:All episodes, ad-free and often early on Patreon and Supercast.Credits: Research and primary writing: Emily G. Thompson of Morbidology PodcastAdditional writing, sound design, mixing and mastering: Kristi LeeAudio editing and production: We Talk of DreamsDisclaimer voiced by the host of TrueAll credits and information sources can be found on the page for this episode at canadiantruecrime.ca/episodes. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Canadian True Crime is a completely independent production, funded mainly through advertising. The podcast often has course language and disturbing content. It's not for everyone. This story takes place in Scarborough, a large multicultural district that occupies the eastern part of the city of Toronto. It was the 25th of August 2016, in the middle of the day, when police responded to a 911 call from a house just a stone's throw from Scarborough Village. The residential street lined with post-war bungalows, well-manacured gardens and trees was generally considered quiet and tranquil, but that day it was anything but. It all started at around 1pm, when neighbours who lived behind the house heard screaming and

shouting for about five minutes, followed by a bang bang bang noise. Someone was heard saying calm down, and then everything went quiet. Minutes later, another neighbour named Warren, from just across the road, was disturbed by a loud frantic thumping at his front door. When he opened it, he was confronted by a clearly traumatised man with blood smeared across his face who shouted, my brother is bleeding in the driveway, call 911. The man promptly collapsed in Warren's arms. Not knowing what was going on, Warren called 911 and then ran over to the house to try and figure out what exactly was going on there. He knew the woman who lived there, he and his wife were friends with her, and he was horrified to

find a man bleeding profusely on her driveway. Warren would describe the scene, quote, there was blood all over his face, his chest and his arms. He seemed to be still alive, his lips were quivering. Warren ran back to his home to grab a towel, which he used in a desperate attempt to curb the bleeding. It wasn't clear to him where the wound or wounds were, but it was evident that the man's injuries were severe. The towels weren't having much of an impact on the bleeding. Warren would say, quote, I couldn't see where he was bleeding, so I figured I better leave him alone or I might do more damage. The police arrived first and then the ambulance to find the body of a man in the driveway surrounded by a puddle of blood. It was too late

to save him now, but this was only an indication of the horrors that they would find elsewhere on the property. It wasn't long before they noticed a 35-year-old man sitting on the front stoop of the home saturated in blood, but the blood wasn't his. Calmly, he said to police, the guys in the garage are dead. Crossbow to the head. It was me. As the police proceeded through the home, they found two more bodies in the detached garage next to the house, hidden underneath a tarp. One was an older woman and the other was a younger man, and nearby lay an unusual weapon, a crossbow spattered with blood. The three victims would later be identified as 66-year-old Susan Ryan, who owned the house,

and two of her sons, 29-year-old Alexander Ryan, known as AJ, and 42-year-old Christopher Ryan. The man who had run to the neighbour Warren's home for help was another of Susan Ryan's sons, 38-year-old Leland Ryan. He was taken to hospital with a head injury and would be released later that night, the sole survivor of the deadly massacre. And the 35-year-old who was calmly sitting on the front steps, covered in blood, was Brett Ryan. He was one of four brothers and had claimed responsibility for killing his mother and two of his brothers. And now, the police had to find out why Brett was arrested on the spot. Locals were shocked as news media outlets started to report on the shocking triple murder on the quiet street, although at that point,

no information was given on who the victims were or how they were related. But soon, something else came up that would divert everyone's attention. The media started to report that Toronto Police had been alerted to a bomb threat at a Queens Key condo building in the downtown Toronto waterfront, and it was linked to the triple murders in Scarborough. No details were given about the nature of that link, but residents in the area were told to evacuate and get as far away from the building as possible. The integrated bomb squad was called to investigate possible chemical, biological, radiological, nuclear and explosive devices. As it turned out, a suspicious package had

been found inside one of the apartments in the building. And that apartment happened to be where 35-year-old Brett Ryan lived with his fiance, Kristen, and they were due to get married in just three weeks. Brett and Kristen had been introduced by a mutual friend who set them up on a blind date in downtown Toronto around 2011. The upscale waterfront condo belonged to Kristen, who worked as a physiotherapist at a downtown hospital. With in a year of meeting, Brett had moved in with her, and the year after that, he proposed. The couple were scheduled to be married in Hamilton on the 16th of September 2016, and everything had been arranged. A special website had been set up for their wedding, showing pictures of the couple together,

smiling. Brett posted a poem he'd written, quote, One bright sunny day at York and Queen's Key, there stood Brett waiting to steal Kristen's heart away. If their Facebook pages were anything to go by, Brett and Kristen appeared to be a happy couple who enjoyed the good life. The photographs of dates they had, elaborate dinners, and vacations they took showed a couple who loved to spend time together. And the weekend after the murders occurred, Brett was supposed to have been on his bachelor party, a boys' trip to Montreal. But instead, something in this family had gone terribly wrong. When police had arrived at the couple's waterfront apartment to inform Kristen of the tragic events

in Scarborough involving her fiancé, she was at work. But they spotted a strange contraption inside the apartment. And after the grisly discovery in Scarborough, anything was possible, and police feared the contraption may have been a bomb. The details of the incident were a bomb. The details of exactly how the mysterious contraption was connected to the Scarborough murders would come out later, but the bomb squad assessed it as being of no danger to the public and residents were allowed to return home. The next day, Brett Ryan appeared in court, where he was charged with three counts of first degree murder. The 35-year-old appeared nervous, fumbling with his fingers and avoiding any eye contact with the public gallery as the charges

were read aloud. He was ordered to remain in custody until his next court hearing. At this point, the identities of the three victims hadn't been released because there'd been an extremely rare court order implemented that placed their names under a publication ban, with no reason given why it was necessary. The local media started working to challenge the court to get the ban lifted. As it would soon be revealed to the public, this wasn't the first time that Brett Ryan had encountered troubles with the law in Toronto. It soon came out that he was a convicted bank robber known as the fake beard bandit or the bearded bandit. Brett Ryan had committed a string of bank robberies between 2007 and 2008 in Toronto and the nearby Durham cities of Pickering and

Ajax. This was several years before he met Kristen and he was in his mid to late 20s at the time. A feature in Toronto Life by Mark Mann would describe him as good looking with spiky gelled hair. Quote, his skin was creased from his big goofy smile with deep set dimples that made his cheeks puff out when he mugged for the camera. His eyes were intelligent and warm. He was the kind of guy you'd expect to find buying beaver tails on the boardwalk, not robbing banks. Brett decided to disguise himself as someone older. He entered the banks wearing a series of elaborate disguises that consisted of a fake grey beard and often included phony bandages, a sling on his arm, as well as spectacle style sunglasses, a Gilligan style hat and a plaid

striped shirt. Sometimes his disguise would be that of an old man and he faked a limp as he walked. Other times he went dressed as a business person, the fake grey beard was always part of it to disguise his face. Once inside the bank, Brett would then hand the bank teller a note which indicated that he was armed and wanted money. One of the notes read, quote, you have 60 seconds, get $3,000, go. Brett didn't actually carry a gun, but the mere threat of one was enough to get the bank teller to do whatever he demanded. Before committing each robbery, Brett would choose a bank and spend time scoping it out to prepare. His disguises and tactics worked well and he was able to steal between $2,000 and $4,000 per robbery without even having to carry a gun. On one

occasion, he robbed two different Scarborough banks within just one hour, making out with a whopping $10,000. The string of robberies had Toronto police on edge and they worked hard to try and catch the culprit in the act, staking out as many local banks that they could in the hope that he would show up. They had managed to lift fingerprints from previous crime scenes, but there was no match in their database. That's because Brett had no criminal record, so there was nothing for him to match with. He managed to get away with this for about eight months, starting in October of 2007, and stole an estimated $28,000. But by June of 2008, the police were on to him thanks to good old fashioned investigation tactics.

They had obtained surveillance footage from the banks that showed that the robber was likely much younger than they were portraying themselves to be with the fake beard and old man disguise. And police were able to track down exactly where the elaborate disguise had come from, a specific theatrical supply shop in Toronto. Investigators scoured through six months worth of sales receipts for the shop and eventually they found one for the relevant disguise. The customer had paid in cash, but the cashier had actually remembered the purchase, telling police that it was a young man who told him that the items were for his brother, and he said he'd be back at another time to buy more disguise items.

Police set up surveillance at the store so they could nab him if he returned. In the meantime, investigators had made great progress in another area of the investigation, thanks to that bank surveillance footage. Some of the footage outside the banks captured the robbers getaway vehicle, and although they couldn't make out the license plate number because of the grainy footage, police were able to determine the make and model of the car. It was a newer model Ford. The images were sent to Ford Canada and police had a lucky break. The car had unique customisations which were only available at certain dealerships in the area. As investigators prepared to visit those dealerships and track down where the car had been purchased,

an off-duty police officer caught a massive break. He spotted the car in question, and this time got the license plate. It only took a few minutes before the name of the owner flashed up, Brett Ryan. They immediately began surveillance on Brett. They believed that he was the fake beard bandit, but they needed more evidence. Police surveilled Brett Ryan for two weeks without uncovering anything interesting, but one day they watched him get into his car and tailed him to a TD Bank branch. When he got out of the car, he was wearing that fake grey beard, which had become synonymous with the spate of bank robberies. The police's suspicions were

confirmed. He was the fake beard bandit and they were catching him in the act. But when Brett got to the bank, he paused for a few minutes on the spot and then abruptly turned around and walked out. Police were waiting and arrested him on the spot, discovering that he wasn't actually carrying a gun but a can of pepper spray. No one knows the truth about why Brett abandoned his plan and walked out. According to reporting by Wendy Gillis for the Toronto Star, police developed a theory that Brett had noticed construction that was taking place outside the bank and worried that it would hamper his getaway. But Brett would later claim through his lawyer that he felt tremendous guilt over his actions,

the robberies were making him anxious and he was planning on giving himself up anyway. In total, Brett Ryan had robbed 14 banks, nine in Toronto and five in the nearby Durham region. So why did he start robbing banks in the first place? Well, Brett was one of those people who had champagne taste on a beer budget. By all reports, his childhood was a perfectly normal one, growing up in Scarborough, the second youngest of four brothers, to parents Susan and William Ryan. Susan was a bubbly yet firm woman who'd been a stay-at-home mum and William worked for the Toronto Star. According to the feature by Mark Mann in Toronto Life, Brett was known to his friends as an

outgoing, charismatic jock type. While the rest of his brothers and even his parents were more reserved, a bit artsy and even somewhat introverted, Brett had been the polar opposite. He always wanted to be the life of the party, someone who was admired and looked up to by those he came into contact with. Brett's trouble seemed to start after he finished high school. As he faced the prospect of how to support himself in adulthood, he enrolled in a program at the University of Toronto, but he soon dropped out. He started painting houses for a living to earn an income and did casual jobs for quick cash, but it wasn't enough money. He wanted a certain kind of lifestyle and he wanted to buy his girlfriend at the time gifts and dinners and nice things,

but he was starting to rack up the credit card debt. Before that, he'd already had one relationship end badly and now the second one was headed the same way. By October of 2007, that relationship was over and the then 26 year old realised that he was now $60,000 in debt and running out of money fast. In his mind, it was two failed relationships, a failed university attempt, failure to get a good job and now he'd accrued a very large amount of consumer debt with no way to pay it off, let alone continue to fund his lifestyle. He was starting to get depressed about the whole he'd dug for himself, but he didn't want anyone to find out. Quoting from Toronto Life,

So, Brett looked for an easy way out, a way he could get some quick money to keep funding his lifestyle and perhaps pay his debt quickly without having to work hard for it. He devised the bank robber plan and after he realised how easy it was to get away with, given his lack of criminal record, he just kept going until he was caught. His family, who he had fallen out with and wasn't speaking to, were shocked when they learned Brett had been identified as the infamous fake beard bandit. Others who knew him said they couldn't reconcile the man involved in such shocking crimes with the man that they knew. Many said his crimes were totally out of character. He was known as a welcoming and bright university student, polite, friendly and always

with that cheeky grin. Others knew him as a kind and generous man who'd spent time volunteering at Sick Kids Hospital and refereeing at Little League games in the local community centre. But Brett Ryan had been wearing a mask. He was originally charged with nearly 30 counts relating to the 14 banks he'd robbed, as well as other charges including wearing a disguise with intent to commit robbery and possession of a dangerous weapon. But the police weren't able to find a firearm because obviously he just used the threat of one. Some of the charges were dropped. In January of 2009, Brett Ryan appeared in court where he pleaded guilty to eight counts of robbery as well as wearing a disguise with intent to commit robbery. It would come out that he had run

into, quote, significant difficulties, including bad grades at university, a failed relationship, a battle with depression that he didn't want to burden his family with, and then financial difficulties. At sentencing, he was given the opportunity to address the court and gave a statement of apology, quote, regardless of my problems, there is no excuse or any sort of justification for my extreme and selfish, selfish actions. He said he knew now that when he found himself in financial difficulty, the right course of action was to go to his family and seek support, but instead he took desperate measures. And he promised in the future to make the right choices and make sure that his actions are positive so he can earn back the respect of his friends,

family, and the community. Several of his friends had written glowing letters of support, referring to his charity and volunteer work. The judge was apparently impressed by Brett's apology, believing that he was genuinely remorseful. He told Brett that he demonstrated integrity, was a productive member of society, and he was one of only a few in his position who had an understanding of the impact of their crimes. The prosecution had argued for a stricter sentence, a 10-year sentence, but the judge rejected it. While Brett had planned the robberies and threatened people with a gun, no one had actually been harmed, physically at least, and no gun was ever found in his possession. The judge told the court that the robbery spree was just completely out of character

for Brett and sentenced him to three years and nine months in prison, minus seven months for time he'd served in custody. The court had also imposed a lifetime ban on weapons. While serving his sentence, Brett started to patch up his relationship with his family, the same family who he would later confess to murdering. By April of 2010, he had served 15 months and was eligible for day parole, and his mother Susan, Father William, and one of his brothers attended his first parole hearing to support him. The Parole Board of Canada took note of the reunion and the support of his family, and included it as a factor that made Brett a good candidate for day parole.

Another factor was a psychiatric report that stated he wasn't found to be suffering from any major mental illnesses, didn't show any antisocial traits, and he had no history of violence or aggressive behaviour. A psychologist who'd been treating him would suggest that at the time of the robberies, Brett had been depressed as a result of a failed relationship combined with unsatisfactory results in university and mounting debts. The psychologist noted that depression runs in the family and Brett was at risk to develop a more serious form of depression, but he had been able to treat his depression with therapy alone and didn't require medication. The Parole Board believed that because Brett now had the support of his family,

he was a reduced risk to reoffend. The decision read, quote, this circumstance had reconnected you to your family in a positive way. Brett was released on day parole on the condition that he continued to get counseling or therapy. The parole documents read in part, you told the board that you had invested everything in your two previous relationships and were let down on both occasions. You fell into a depression that you failed to recognise, and instead of seeking help, you started to rob banks to pay your debt and maintain your lifestyle. The court had determined that unhealthy intimate relationships and breakups was a stressor for Brett, that is something that could trigger stress,

which is what led to his criminal behaviour. So another condition of his day parole was that he needed to report any romantic relationships with women to his parole officer. Seven months later, Brett's day parole had gone well. He'd attended his counseling sessions as required, and his psychologist determined that he was at a low risk for reoffending. The parole board granted him full parole, noting that Brett had patched things up with his family. He had a steady part-time job working at a Swiss chalet restaurant, and he had re-enrolled at the University of Toronto part-time with the goal of getting a biophysics degree. By all appearances, things for Brett were improving, and he was well on his way to becoming a productive member of society.

By late 2010, Brett Ryan was a free man with the love and support of his family. He had no way to pay off his debt, so he filed for bankruptcy and his family generously promised to support him until he got back on his feet. But in a cruel twist of fate, just six years later, he would be accused of killing these same family members who had staunchly defended him and stood by him. Do you have a passion project that you're ready to take to the next level? Squarespace makes it easy for anyone to create an engaging web presence, grow a brand and sell anything, from your products to the content you create, and even your time. When I launched this passion project six years ago, I needed some kind of

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The news about Brett Ryan murdering his mother and two brothers was horrific enough, and the shock continued as the publication ban was lifted and media outlets started reporting on his past as a bank robber. Very few people that he knew were aware that he was once the fake beard bandit. As the three slain family members were identified in the media as well, tribute started pouring in, and the long-form article in Toronto Life would give insight into who they were. 66-year-old Susan Ryan was well known in her neighborhood as a keen gardener. No one in the neighborhood knew about Brett's past because they'd only moved to the quiet street after he was released from prison, wanting to escape the gossip. They also wanted a fresh

start both for Brett and the whole family. At the new home, a post-war bungalow, Susan spent years in the garden planting a plethora of colorful flowers and shrubs. The garden was beautiful, and whenever the sun was out, Susan would be out there tending to her pride and joy. When she wasn't gardening, she was watching her beloved Toronto Blue Jays play baseball on the television. The autopsy had determined that Susan's cause of death was ligature strangulation. Her oldest son, 42-year-old Christopher, died of a crossbow bolt injury through his neck. A bolt is another term for the arrow that shoots from the crossbow. Chris was a 12-year employee at the TTC, or the Toronto Transit Commission, and had worked in several different positions, including street car

driver as well as station collector. One colleague told the Toronto Sun that at first they didn't want to believe Chris had been murdered and thought maybe someone got something wrong. Quote, given how mild-mannered and how pleasant and calm a disposition he had, the two things don't compute for us. In honour of Christopher, the TTC flew its flags at half-mast. The body on the driveway belonged to 29-year-old Alexander, also known as AJ, the youngest brother. He died from a single stab wound to the neck by a crossbow bolt. AJ was said to be a very outgoing and charming guy who made friends with ease. He was creative, had a quirky sense of humour, and was also extremely intelligent. He had excelled in school so much so that his parents sent him to a school for gifted

children. William Ryan, Susan's husband, and the father of the four boys, had sadly passed away a year before the murders occurred, so there were only two members of the family who were still alive. Leland, the brother who ran across to the neighbour's place, and survived the massacre, and of course, Brett. But while their identities and causes of death were now publicly known, the police were still trying to piece together what happened and determined the motive for the senseless killings. They asked the public if anyone had been in contact with Brett before the murders had taken place to reach out about their interactions, regardless of how insignificant they thought it may have been. Those in particular who knew the family struggled to comprehend what

had taken place, with one of Brett's former girlfriends telling the Hamilton spectator, quote, I have to believe that it was some kind of psychotic episode. With no answers forthcoming, rumours were running rampant. Media outlets were trying to get hold of Ryan's fiancé, Kristen, for comment, but she was intensely private and to this day has never spoken out. Wendy Gillis reported for the Toronto Star that a source close to the family would only say that Kristen had, quote, crumbled into a million pieces weeks before what would have been the happiest day of her life. According to Toronto Police Detective Sergeant Mike Carbone, Brett's friends believed there must have been some kind of internal family dispute

that nobody outside of the family knew of. Behind the scenes, there had been a lot going on, but there would be no public update on the case until the following year, 2017. Brett Ryan had hired the prominent defence lawyer, John Rosen, the same lawyer who had defended Paul Bernardo. Towards the end of July, Brett appeared in Scarborough, where he pleaded guilty to two counts of second degree murder and one count of first degree murder. The second degree murder counts were for his mother, Susan, and younger brother, Alexander, and the first degree murder count was for the murder of his oldest brother, Christopher. Brett also pleaded guilty to the attempted murder of Leland,

the brother who managed to escape. It was only after Brett pleaded guilty that the motivation behind the horrific murders would finally be revealed, in a statement of facts that was agreed upon by both the Crown and the defence. And it all started after he was released from prison, after serving the stint for the bank robberies. It was the end of 2010 when he was released with a lifetime ban on weapons as well as a requirement to report any romantic relationships he had. Because as you'll remember, the failure of relationships for Brett was deemed to be a stressor, something that could trigger his criminal behaviour. At the time of his release, it seemed that Brett had learned his lessons and had a bright future ahead of him,

but it would be revealed in court that Brett had struggled to acclimatise back to normal life. According to the Toronto Life article, he needed an income and tried the thing he'd been doing before the bank robberies, house painting. But now he had a criminal record and all potential clients had to do was Google him. No one wanted the fake beard bandit painting their house. And it was the same when he applied for jobs. Prospective employers simply had to do a background check to uncover his past as a bank robber. Ironically, when criminals are released with a second chance, a low risk of reoffending and the expectation that they'll be productive members of society, it's often their own criminal record that stands in the way of that,

and it's a vicious cycle that can send them back to the fringe of society and to criminal behaviour again. But Brett was fortunate. He had the support of his family, both financially and emotionally, as he returned to university to do a biophysics degree, and he earned some money working in minimum wage retail jobs for a time. When he was introduced to Kristen, the downtown physiotherapist who would end up being his fiance, he would have had to report the relationship to the parole board, whether or not he did is unknown. But he told her everything. She knew he was the fake beard bandit, and it was clear to everyone who knew him that he had turned his life around. She was more than willing to give him a second chance as well. It was Kristen's waterfront

apartment that Brett had moved into, and she also propped him up financially as he fed everyone's stories that he was on the up and up. And perhaps for a time, he was. He certainly had every opportunity to create a new life for himself, and with the support of his family, his friends and of course Kristen, his future was bright. But behind the scenes, Brett's finances were crumbling yet again. While the psychologist he'd seen when he was in prison had urged him to be honest with his loved ones if he felt trouble coming again, he chose not to. Things started to unravel the year after he moved in with Kristen. According to reporting by the Toronto Sun, Brett had expensive taste and liked the lavish lifestyle, wearing designer clothing, driving a new Ford

F-150 truck and going on nice vacations. He proposed to Kristen with a diamond ring that he couldn't have possibly afforded, and after that, they had a wedding to plan and pay for. And then, his father William passed away the year before they were due to get married, which was of course a massive blow for the family. Brett was in and out of employment, so he helped his mum Susan with all the things that his father used to do, and after that, he stuck around doing odd jobs for her around the house to earn some extra cash. But his expenses were unraveling yet again. He dropped out of university in the fall of 2015, but he didn't tell anyone, including his own fiance. He kept up appearances though,

leaving the house at the same time that Kristen left for work, saying he was off to classes. But he was just pretending, biding the time until he could tell everyone he'd graduated. And months later, in the spring of 2016, he announced that he had finished his biophysics degree, he was now a graduate, and he was on the hunt for a proper job, a well-paying job. And he got one. Within two months, Brett had accepted a job offer in the IT industry in Toronto, and Kristen and his family celebrated with him. Their wedding date was fast approaching in just a few months, along with all the expenses they would need to pay for, and a good-paying job for Brett was great news. The job offer was true, but what his family didn't know was that just

days later, the employer did a background check, discovered who he was, and promptly withdrew the job offer before he'd even started his first day. Had Brett taken his psychologist's advice, he would have told his family about his struggles and asked them for help long before now. But he kept quiet about the termination and kept up appearances about his new job. Instead of pretending to go to work this time, he told Kristen that he was working from home. Brett was building an elaborate web of lies yet again. Susan Ryan was so proud of her son when he was offered the IT job. Brett had truly turned his life around. He was now a university graduate with a well-paying job or so she thought,

and would soon be married to a lovely woman. But Susan had noticed that he had continued to ask her to prop him up financially, asking for more and more opportunities to earn money doing small jobs around the house. She didn't think much of it because he did have bills coming up, the wedding, and he and Kristen planned to buy a bigger place and move from the waterfront condo. Susan was happy to help her son where she could. Just five days before the murders, Brett came around to see his mother. He had finally decided to do what his psychologist had previously strongly suggested. He told Susan the truth about how his finances were in a state again. He hadn't actually graduated university and he never even started that job they all celebrated.

Brett told his mother he was desperately looking for another job but wanted her to prop him up financially until then and he didn't want Kristen to know what was going on. Susan was very sympathetic to her son and said she would support him financially until he was able to find a new job but only on the condition that he come clean to Kristen, his wife to be, about the situation. It was only fair. Susan told her son that if he didn't tell Kristen, she would have to. Years earlier the parole board had determined that failure of romantic relationships could trigger stress in Brett which is what led to his criminal behavior and this is exactly what happened this time. According to the agreed statement of FACS,

Brett's greatest concern was that if Kristen found out he'd been deceitful then she would leave him, the wedding would be called off, everyone would find out what happened and since they lived in her condo, Brett would have to return to his family home with his tail between his legs a failure yet again. Brett panicked, he could not allow this to happen. He had to confront his mother one more time and make sure she didn't tell Kristen. Crossbow murders are extremely rare and crossbow murders with multiple victims are almost unheard of because loading and cocking a crossbow takes time and isn't easy. After his last prison stint, Brett was banned from using weapons so obtaining a gun was out. There are virtually no rules for

obtaining a crossbow or crossbow bolts, you only need money, you don't need a license, training or even an ID card and as an article in the Toronto Sun stated quote, such a lethal product can be purchased with less red tape than gaining a waiver to coach a minor hockey team or volunteering at your child's school. Brett did his research and purchased a lightweight and relatively inexpensive Barnett Youth 30 recruit crossbow designed for youths or beginners to use. He purchased it second hand so he wouldn't leave a trail. Then he went to his family home to help his mum with odd jobs and while he was there he found a second to sneak off and hide the crossbow in the garage. That fateful day of August 25th 2016, Brett waited for Kristen

to leave for work and then he got to his own work which was putting together that elaborate contraption that the police originally thought might have been an explosive device. What it was was an attempt at an alibi for Brett. He wanted to be able to say he was at home on the internet and be able to provide proof. One of these elaborate devices included a timer that had been connected to a fan. When the timer activated as he programmed a wooden spoon he'd rigged up would press the enter button on his laptop which would then cause comedy videos to play on YouTube. Another device that he created held an iPad and an iPhone and he set it up with a similar rig with a fan and a timer. When these were activated they would send out pre-written emails from Brett

to various people at separate times. If Brett ever did become a suspect he could claim that he was at home watching YouTube and sending emails and he'd have the digital footprint to back it up. He then wore a disguise as he left the condo so that he wouldn't be captured on any surveillance cameras. He avoided using the elevator instead walking 14 flights down to the ground floor before leaving the building via a back alley. Brett's plan was to head to his family home, confront his mother Susan and tell her not to tell Kristen and if she persisted well he had that crossbow in the garage. But according to the agreed statement of facts Susan refused to back down. She believed that Kristen needed to know what Brett had done and when she reiterated her stance

the argument became heated. Susan must have realized she couldn't get through to Brett so she called Christopher her oldest son the one who worked for the TTC. She asked him to come straight over and help her deal with the situation with Brett. While Susan was on the phone Brett seized the moment. He exited the back door of the house and went over to the detached garage to grab the crossbow. Plan A had not worked and he was going full force into Plan B. But as he was trying to load the crossbow with a bolt Susan entered the garage and Brett had to improvise. He grabbed the bolt and stabbed the sharp end into his mother's cheek and ear. He then wrestled her to the ground and grabbed a piece of nylon rope. While the word

strangling makes the act sound simple and fast and movies and TV shows depict it happening in seconds and while sometimes a person can pass out in as little as 10 to 15 seconds it actually takes about four to five minutes for a person to die of strangulation. It's not a fast process. 66 year old Susan Ryan's last minutes would have been excruciating both physically but also emotionally knowing that her son the one she had supported and bailed out time and time again was now violently attacking her. Brett continued to hold the ligature there for minutes until he was sure his mother was dead. But he knew it wasn't over. His oldest brother Christopher would be arriving soon and it was too late for Brett to turn back. He hid his mother's body underneath a

tarp. This time he was able to load and cock the crossbow and then he waited. As 42 year old Christopher entered the garage Brett ambushed him from behind shooting him once in the back of the neck with that sharp crossbow bolt at close range. Christopher died instantly. Brett dragged his brother's body over to the tarp and stacked it on top of his mother's. Now Brett had worn two pairs of jeans and had brought a bunch of disguises. His plan if it got this far and it did was to just rip off his bloody jeans don another disguise and take off. By his calculations by the time one of his brothers discovered the crime scene he would be back at the condo with his falsified alibi. And just as Brett exited the garage his younger brother

his younger brother Alexander or AJ had just arrived home and heard the commotion in the garage. He came face to face with Brett who had blood spattered across his t-shirt and was carrying a crossbow bolt. The two brothers fought on the driveway until Brett stabbed the crossbow bolt into his younger brother's neck. AJ lay bleeding to death on the driveway of the family home just feet away from the garage where the bodies of his oldest brother and mother lay under a tarp. But there was a fourth brother Leland a musician. It's not known if Brett was aware of this but Leland had been inside the house having a nap the whole time. According to the agreed statement of facts it was the driveway altercation between AJ and Brett that woke Leland from his nap

and he ran out of the house to see what had happened. There he found his youngest brother AJ on the driveway lying in a widening pool of blood with Brett standing over him. Panicked and not knowing what was happening Leland ran back inside to call 911 but Brett followed him in. He'd already killed his mother and one brother another was dying on the driveway and there was just one witness to it all. Evidently Brett was ready to finish off the job of killing his family. In the Toronto Life feature author Mark Mann describes the chaos that ensued inside the family home as a ghastly struggle for survival. Quote the two brothers stumbled chaotically through the house down the hallways into two different bedrooms fighting and kicking over furniture

as they went. They snapped an end table and threw each other against Leland's bedroom door. Brett was soaked with the blood of his family members. Leland sustained a head wound and bled profusely. As they fought they left a trail of blood on the walls, the floors, the ceilings. Leland managed to escape and ran across to the neighbour's home before collapsing in his doorway. Apparently this is the point that Brett decided he had to give up. Saturated with the blood of his mother and three brothers he calmly waited at the front stairs of the home for the authorities to arrive. According to court documents the police arrived first and found AJ still alive but barely. By the time the paramedics arrived a short time later AJ was dead and Brett admitted to an officer

quote I should have driven him to the hospital. In court Brett Ryan claimed that he had never planned on killing his mother or his brothers. He said that his intention was just to confront his mother and threaten her with the crossbow if they couldn't reach an agreement. He pleaded guilty to her second degree murder. Regardless of what he claimed though a reasonable person would conclude that his likely plan went a bit further than that. It was clear that if the threats didn't work and he did have to kill his mother with the crossbow he could wear a disguise sneak back home and if he was questioned he could fall back on the alibi he'd set up at Kristen's apartment. But his planning stopped

while parts of it seemed clever elaborate and sophisticated there were many things that he didn't appear to account for basic things like the fact that his mother would call one of his brothers for help and also the fact that another brother was napping inside and a third would arrive home during the altercation. Brett pleaded guilty to the first degree murder of his brother Christopher. After all Brett was waiting to ambush him when he arrived with the intention of ending his brother's life and taking out the only possible witness to the crime so far. And then AJ arrived home unexpectedly. Brett pleaded guilty to his second degree murder and as for Leland who was home the whole time but the sole survivor Brett pleaded guilty to attempted murder. Much like everything

else in Brett's life things hadn't gone to plan. He didn't intend on the police finding the elaborate devices he'd put together at Kristen's apartment that were clearly designed to fake an alibi. In court Brett claimed that he hadn't activated the devices before he left the house insisting that whatever his plan may have been he'd had a change of heart that morning and was just going over to talk to his mother. But the evidence wasn't consistent with this. The bomb squad team that was sent to investigate the devices and dismantled them found that they were functioning properly and would have worked just as Brett designed. Just as he had done after the bank robberies Brett apologized for the devastation he'd caused but it rang hollow. He said he was

sick with grief and told the court I can only begin to say how sorry I am for what I've done. He added that he couldn't even begin to comprehend what his only remaining brother Leland was going through as well as his friends. Quote the time now doesn't belong to me but I'll make the most of every opportunity I'm afforded to everyone for all of this I'm very sorry. Justice John McMahon described the case as extremely tragic with an entire family destroyed by a web of lies but he did believe Brett was remorseful. No public photos have ever been released of Susan or AJ nor of Leland. Kristen, Brett's ex-fiancé, has never spoken publicly about her side of the story and neither has Leland

but before sentencing he gave a victim impact statement in court describing a life shattered by trauma after his entire family lost their lives within minutes and he was left fighting for his own. According to the Toronto Life feature he told the court that he thought often about his younger brother AJ bleeding out on the driveway as he ran across the road to get help nursing his own head injury. Leland said that he was left with severe anxiety he had trouble sleeping and concentrating and he found it difficult to leave the house. For the second degree murders of Susan Ryan and Alexander Ryan and the first degree murder of Christopher Ryan Brett was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole for 25 years. For the attempted murder

of Leland Ryan Brett was given an additional sentence of 10 years in prison but the sentences would be served concurrently. Brett Ryan will be eligible for parole in 2041 he'll be about 60 years old just six years younger than his own mother was when he took her life. The city of Toronto had been rocked by the infamous crossbow murders and up until he pleaded guilty there was an air of mystery as to why a man just weeks away from his wedding day would slaughter three family members. That question was finally answered when Brett Ryan pleaded guilty to the murders. Instead of coming clean to his fiance about his web of lies and risking her leaving him he instead decided to commit a crime far more heinous than any of the lies he fabricated.

Thanks for listening and special thanks to Emily G Thompson for researching and writing this case. Emily is an investigative reporter and also hosts the Morbidology podcast. See a link in the show notes for more information. For the full list of resources and anything else you want to know about the podcast including how to access ad free episodes on our premium feeds visit canadiantruecrime.ca. The podcast donates regularly to Canadian charitable organizations that help victims and survivors of injustice. This month we have donated to the First Nations child and family caring society who work to ensure the safety and well being of First Nations youth and their families through education initiatives public policy campaigns and providing quality

resources to support communities. They're also just one of several organizations assisting residential school survivors and their families. For more information see the show notes. Well that's it for this week thank you so much for your kind ratings reviews messages and support as always thanks also to the host of true for voicing the disclaimer and We Talk of Dreams who compose the theme song. I'll be back soon with a new Canadian true crime story see you then. you