A former Riverdale actor who confessed to murdering his mother in an order to prevent her from learning about his assassination plan for Justin Trudeau, the Prime Minister of Canada, has been given a life sentence.
After pleading guilty to a charge of second-degree murder for killing shooting his 64-year-old mother, Barbara Waite, as she played the piano back in March 2020, Ryan Grantham, 24, will not be eligible to argue for parole for 14 years.
He then decided to give himself in to police after driving to Trudeau’s house with three firearms, ammo, and 12 Molotov cocktails in his vehicle.
The only point on which his attorneys may disagree was the length of time he would have to spend before becoming eligible for parole under Canadian law, which automatically imposes a life sentence for a conviction of second-degree murder.
Back in June, they claimed that since Grantham had acknowledged his guilt and exhibited remorse, he should be eligible for parole after serving 12 years. The federal government countered that he should spend 17 to 18 years.
However, according to CBC, British Columbia Supreme Court Justice Kathleen Ker decided on Wednesday that the actor should only spend 14 years because of his downward spiral in the months before to the murder.
She saw that Grantham was sincere in his apologies and was pursuing mental health treatment in jail, where staff members were complimentary of his demeanour and development.
The fact that Grantham had a strong enough connection to reality and cognitive awareness to decide from carrying out a mass murder or assassinating the prime minister was also hailed by Ker as a “saving grace.”
As Waite played the piano on March 31, 2020, Grantham shot her in the back of the head. He then confessed to the murder and displayed his mother’s dead corpse in a video that was presented by the prosecution in June.
He allegedly remarked on the recording, “I shot her in the back of the head.” “She would have recognised me in the minutes that followed,” I said.
The actor then experimented with constructing Molotov bombs, purchased alcohol and marijuana, watched Netflix, and then covered his mother’s corpse with a sheet before going to bed.
The next morning, according to Grantham, he loaded his vehicle with three weapons, ammo, a dozen Molotov cocktails, camping equipment, and instructions to Trudeau’s Rideau Cottage in Ottawa before hanging a rosary on Waite’s piano and placing lighted candles around her corpse.
Prior to changing his mind and contemplating conducting “an act of mass murder” at Simon Fraser University, where he had dropped out, he had intended to travel more than 50 hours to assassinate Trudeau.
Before hurting anybody else, he reported himself to the Vancouver police, and in March he admitted to second-degree murder.
Grantham fatally murdered his mother, according to the prosecution, in order to’save her’ from seeing the unfolding of his assassination plan against the prime minister of Canada.
Grantham committed the murder, according to two psychological assessments they gave, in order to prevent her mother from seeing further violent actions he had intended to perform.
According to the assessments, Grantham had despair, self-hatred, a cannabis use problem, and homicidal and suicidal thoughts months before the murder.
Grantham wrote in his diary in March, “I’m so sorry mom, I’m so sorry Lisa,” according to the prosecution. I despise myself.
There are several media depictions of me online. movies and TV… I have hundreds of hours of video available for analysis. Nobody will comprehend.
At the June sentence hearing, prosecutor Michaela Donnelly said that Mr. Grantham was trying to prevent him from harming his mother.
The murder, according to her, was a “heartbreaking betrayal of trust.”
Barbara Waite, who was a great mother and had no cause to be afraid of her kid, she claimed, “loved her son dearly.”
Grantham had many opportunity to reconsider his decision, according to Donnelly.
On the day of the murder, he supposedly loaded and unloaded his revolver many times and contemplated his options while sitting on the steps of his home for close to 15 minutes before turning around and murdering his mother.
According to CBC, Grantham allegedly terrified Waite would learn he was consuming marijuana and had ceased taking school at Simon Fraser University.
On April 1, 2020, Waite’s daughter Lisa, who had been waiting for Waite to return her calls and messages, discovered her corpse.
Lisa Grantham said in court, “How can I trust anybody when my own sister decided to kill my mom when she turned her back on her?”
But back in June, Grantham acknowledged his regret in court.
“I am unable to defend or explain my behaviour. At the moment, he said, “I have no defence.”
The thought of how much of my life I have squandered upsets me.
Saying sorry feels so futile in the face of something so terrible, he continued. But I want to say that I am really sorry.
For his role as Jeffery Augustine in Riverdale, Grantham is most known. After Luke Perry passed away from a stroke, his character was added to the programme as the hit-and-run murderer of Perry’s character.
Additionally, he has appeared in the movies The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus and Diary of a Wimpy Kid in addition to the television series Supernatural.