Canadian actor Ryan Grantham has been sentenced to life in prison for murdering his mother during the early days of the pandemic. The 23-year-old actor who has also appeared in The CW’s Riverdale and the Diary of a Wimpy Kid movie reportedly committed the act as part of a larger murder spree that was to include the assassination of Canadian prime minister Justin Trudeau as well as a school shooting.
Ultimately, Grantham never took his plan any further than the murder of his mother and turned himself to authorities. Via The New York Times:
The crime occurred on March 31, 2020, when Grantham, then 21, shot his mother, Barbara Waite, in the back of her head as she played piano in their home in Squamish, a town in British Columbia about 37 miles south of Whistler, Johnson said. Grantham recorded a video shortly after that in which he confessed to the murder and then left by car, Johnson said. Grantham told the authorities that he initially had planned to kill the prime minister, but changed his mind and at some point decided he would carry out a mass shooting, possibly at Simon Fraser University, where he had been a student.
During his sentencing hearing, Grantham’s lawyer argued that his client has a documented history of mental illness and has “committed himself to trying to rehabilitate himself.” Despite the life sentence, Grantham will be eligible for parole in 14 years. Prosecutors had asked for 18 years while Grantham’s attorney argued for 12. The judge split the difference.
(Via The New York Times)