Actor Ryan Grantham has been sentenced to life imprisonment with parole ineligibility for 14 years on the charge of murdering his mother. The British Columbian actor pleaded guilty to second-degree murder in March this year and even plotted to murder Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau.
Grantham is known for appearing in The CW series Riverdale in 2019, and has also acted in the shows Supernatural and iZombie and films Diary of a Wimpy Kid and The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus.
Grantham Shot and Killed his Mother in 2020
The 24 year old former actor shot his mother, Barbara Wait, in the back of her head with a 22 calibre rifle when she was playing piano in their Squamish townhouse on March 31, 2020. Shortly after, he filmed his mother’s body and was heard saying in a video, “I shot her in the back of the head. In the moments after, she would have known it was me.”
He spent the next few hours drinking beer, smoking marijuana and making Molotov cocktails. The next day, he covered Waite’s body with a sheet and placed candles around her. He then took off in his car, and on the same evening, the body was discovered by his sister after her repeated calls and messages went unanswered.
Grantham Was Planning to Kill Justin Trudeau
After shooting his mother, Granthan was planning to kill Trudeau at his Rideau Cottage residence. He packed his car with three guns, ammunition, some mocktails and camping supplies, and headed to the Prime Minister’s residence. He even mentioned his intention to kill the PM in his diary, the official police records say.
Ryan had driven some 200 km east to the town of Hope, B.C., when he decided to turn back. He then contemplated committing a mass shooting on the Lions Gate Bridge or at Simon Fraser University, where he was enrolled. Instead, he drove to the Vancouver Police Department and confessed to killing his mother.
The Defence Argued that Grantham was Suffering from Clinical Depression
During the trial, Grantham’s defence lawyer, Chris Johnson, argued that he was suffering from clinical depression and anxiety. During the months leading up to the murder, he had frequent thoughts of committing suicide or violence against others.
Psychiatric reports have found that Grantham had a cannabis use disorder after years of heavy use, but pretended to act normal. He told experts that he wanted to kill his mother because he did not want her to witness the acts of mass violence he was planning to commit.
During his hearing in June this year, Grantham broke down in court, stating that his mother was a caring and compassionate person who did not deserve to be murdered. “I cannot explain or justify my actions. I have no excuse. It hurts me to think about how badly I’ve wasted my life. In the face of something so horrible, saying sorry seems so pointless. But from every fibre of my being, I am sorry,” he said during the hearing.
For more news and updates, keep watching this space.