Former Riverdale winger Ryan Grantham has been sentenced to life in prison for murdering his mother and attempting to kill Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau. According to the Independent, the British Columbia Supreme Court sentenced Grantham on Sept. 21 to life in prison without the possibility of parole for the first 14 years of his sentence. The Diary of a Wimpy Kid actor pleaded guilty to second-degree murder in March of this year. Grantham shot his 64-year-old mother, Barbara Ann Waite, in the back of the head while she was playing the piano in March 2020, a killing he staged and filmed with a G-Pro. In addition to killing his mother, the 24-year-old allegedly planned to kill Trudeau at his Rideau Cottage residence. A day after his mother’s murder, Grantham arranged candles around his mother’s body. He then took three guns, ammunition, camping supplies and 12 Molotov cocktails with him on his trip to Trudeau’s residence. After traveling 200 kilometers, Grantham decided to turn around and even considered committing more violent atrocities either on Vancouver’s Lions Gate Bridge or at Simon Fraser University, his former school. Supernatural instead led to a Vancouver police station with a straight confession: “I killed my mother.” Throughout his real-life trial, Grantham’s defense claimed the actor suffered from mental health issues including anxiety and depression. Grantham had considered killing and harming himself months before his mother’s murder. The actor also wrote down his murderous plans in a diary before carrying them out. Prosecutors also noted that Grantham, an experienced firearms user and member of a gun club, bought the .22-caliber rifle he used to kill his mother months before the shooting while knowing he had homicidal feelings. According to two psychiatric reports, Grantham had a cannabis use disorder dating back several years. Even after killing his mother, the actor reportedly spent hours smoking marijuana and drinking beer while preparing Molotov cocktails for the trip to kill Trudeau the next day. As for Grantham’s motive, Crown prosecutor Michaela Donnelly claimed the actor was worried his mother would find out about his marijuana use and poor academic performance. Other reports claimed that Grantham killed his mother to prevent her from witnessing the actor’s subsequent plans to kill Trudeau. Lisa Grantham, the actor’s sister, discovered her mother’s body the day after her murder, after numerous calls and texts went unanswered. “It breaks my heart that she fought so hard… only to be murdered by her own son… She was vulnerable and Ryan gave her no chance to defend herself. It hurts me to know that she was a danger to her life,” Grantham said. in a court statement. Source: Independent
