24-year-old Ryan Grantham, a former child actor, is facing a life sentence for the second-degree murder of his mother battling cancer.
Ryan Grantham, a 24-year-old Canadian actor who appeared on the TV series Riverdale and featured in a role in 2010's Diary of a Wimpy Kid, pleaded guilty to second-degree murder in March for the murder of his mother. According to CBC, he also had plans to kill Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau. The court heard how Grantham felt hopeless and had a desire to commit violence in the months leading up to the murder of his mother. Grantham shot his mother, Barbara Waite, in the back of the head as she played piano in their home on March 31, 2020. She was 64 years old.
Ex-'Riverdale' actor Ryan Grantham murdered mom, wanted to kill Canada PM Justin Trudeau: prosecutors https://t.co/6jNNiSh4DE pic.twitter.com/rejl4RfXrT
— New York Post (@nypost) June 14, 2022
The former child actor had rehearsed the killing and took videos where he confessed the crime and showed his mother's dead body. After killing her, he allegedly loaded his car with three guns, ammunition, 12 Molotov cocktails, camping supplies, and a map with directions to Rideau Cottage, where Trudeau lives with his family. Crown Prosecutor Michaela Donnelly, referenced two psychiatric reports and claimed Grantham was going through a particularly intense period of clinical depression prior to the murder. The reports also showed, according to CBC, that Grantham was "experiencing urges to commit violence and kill himself" and that the decision to kill his mother was "to spare her from seeing the violence he intended to commit." Donnelly said that, in killing Waite, Grantham committed a "heartbreaking breach of trust." "Barbara Waite loved her son very much, was an excellent parent and in her mind had no reason to fear him," said Donnelly. According to The New York Post, in his March 31 journal entry, he allegedly wrote, “I’m so sorry mom, I’m so sorry Lisa … I hate myself.” Lisa Grantham is his sister.
Ryan Grantham said his mother, Barbara Waite, was caring and compassionate, and did nothing to deserve what he did to her.https://t.co/I43tLHxjRz
— CBC British Columbia (@cbcnewsbc) June 16, 2022
Grantham never made it to Trudeau's residence, and instead went to Vancouver police headquarters to turn himself in. “Mr. Grantham said, ‘I killed my mum,'” Donnelly said and police immediately arrested him, reports Complex. His sister was the person to discover their mother's body on April 1. The devastated daughter said her mother, who was battling cancer, was her best friend. “It breaks my heart she struggled so hard … only to be murdered by her own son,” she said to the court as part of her victim impact statement. “She was vulnerable and Ryan gave her no chance to defend herself. It pains me to know he was a danger to her life.”
References:
https://www.complex.com/life/ex-riverdale-actor-killed-mother-planned-to-kill-prime-minister-trudeau
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