Former star Ryan Grantham, 24, pleaded guilty to second-degree murder after killing his mother in March, 2020. He was sentenced to life imprisonment without the chance of parole for the first 14 years of his prison term.
Grantham, famous for his roles in “Riverdale” and “The Diary of a Wimpy Kid,” pleaded guilty to shooting his mother, Barbara Waite, 64, in the back of the head. Scary details emerged during the hearing, where the prosecutors claimed that Grantham rehearsed before committing the heinous act, as shown in a video played in the court.
Besides killing his mother, the prosecutors also accused him of plotting to kill Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau.
In delivering her sentence, Justice Katherine Kerr described the incident as heartbreaking and tragic. However, she also noted that Grantham was truly remorseful and apologized for his actions by saying his mother didn’t deserve what he did to her. Judge Kerr noted that it was a “miracle” he ditched the idea of committing a mass shooting.
At a hearing in June, the prosecutors claimed that after fatally shooting his mother at the family’s home, Grantham recorded a video confessing to killing her and showed her body.
Shortly after, the actor is said to have bought weed and beer, made Molotov cocktails, and watched Netflix before covering his mother’s lifeless body, a police statement confirmed.
The following day, Grantham arranged candles around his mother’s body before loading guns, ammunition, and other camping supplies into his car and heading to Rideau Cottage, Ottawa, where Trudeau lives.
During the trial, Grantham confessed that he had a plan to kill Trudeau. However, after driving for hours toward the prime minister’s house, he turned around and considered committing a mass shooting at Simon Fraser University, where he was a student. Fortunately, he changed his mind and drove to Vancouver Police Department and turned himself in, telling the police, “I killed my mother.”
Grantham’s attorney, Chris Johnson Told E!News on September 27, “The lawyers plan to send a request to the director of prisons asking to them consider sending Ryan to a medium security facility instead of a max security facility.”
They are afraid the “wimpy” kid may get abused in a maximum security facility.