Ryan Grantham, a Canadian actor whose credits include “Riverdale,” “Diary of a Wimpy Kid” and “Supernatural,” has been sentenced to life in prison with parole ineligibility of 14 years for the second-degree murder of his mother, CBC reports.
In March 2020, the actor shot his mom, Barbara Waite, in the back of the head with a .22 rifle as she played piano in their home in Squamish, British Columbia. As shown in court, Grantham then took a GoPro video shortly after the murder, in which he confesses to killing his mother and shows her body. The following day, he covered the body with a sheet, surrounded it with lit candles and hung a rosary from the piano, before driving east to Ottawa in a car packed with guns, ammunition and Molotov cocktails. His intention was to kill Prime Minister Justin Trudeau. Instead, he drove to Hope, B.C., with thoughts of committing a mass shooting at Simon Fraser University — where he was enrolled — or on the Lions Gate Bridge. Ultimately he decided to turn himself in at the Vancouver Police Department building in East Vancouver.
Grantham’s sister delivered a victim impact statement at the trial, with British Columbia Supreme Court Justice Kathleen Ker calling the case “tragic” and “heartbreaking.” The judge said it was a “saving grace” that Grantham chose to turn himself in and not commit a mass murder.
Since second-degree murder comes with an automatic life sentence in Canada, the question was how long Grantham would have to wait before applying for parole.
Grantham began acting at age 9, with credits including “iZombie,” “Unspeakable,” “Way of the Wicked,” “Riese” and “The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus.”