Friday 23 September 2022 01:38 AM Riverdale star Ryan Grantham is jailed for LIFE for shooting his mom in the ... trends now
A former Riverdale actor who admitted to killing his mother in an effort to spare her from having to witness his plot to assassinate Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has been sentenced to life in prison.
Ryan Grantham, 24, will not be able to appeal for parole for 14 years after pleading guilty to a second-degree murder charge for fatally shooting his 64-year-old mother, Barbara Waite, while she played piano back in March 2020.
He then proceeded to drive to Trudeau's residence with three guns, ammunition and 12 Molotov cocktails in his car, before deciding to turn himself in to authorities.
Under Canadian law, a second-degree murder charge automatically comes with a life sentence — and the only thing his lawyers could dispute was how long he would have to serve before he could be granted parole.
They argued back in June that Grantham should be eligible for parole after 12 years as he admitted his guilt and expressed sorrow for his actions, while the federal government argued he should have to serve 17 to 18 years before becoming eligible.
But on Wednesday, CBC reports, British Columbia Supreme Court Justice Kathleen Ker ruled that he will only have to serve 14 years as she considered the actor's downward spiral in the months leading up to the murder a mitigating factor.
She noted that Grantham seemed truly remorseful in his apology, and was seeking psychiatric help in prison, where he was receiving positive reviews about his behavior and progress.
Ker also called it a 'saving grace' that Grantham had enough attachment to reality and comprehension to decide not to commit mass murder or assassinate the prime minister.
Ryan Grantham, 24, was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole for 14 years
He had pleaded guilty to a second-degree murder charge for killing his mother, 64-year-old Barbara Waite (pictured), while she played piano on March 31, 2020
Prosecutors revealed in June that after Grantham shot Waite in the back of the head as she payed piano on March 31, 2020, he recorded video on a GoPro in which he confessed to the killing and showed off his mother's lifeless body.
'I shot her in the back of the head,' he reportedly said on the tape. 'In the moments after, she would have known it was me.'
The actor then bought beer and weed, experimented with making Molotov cocktails and watched Netflix before covering his mother's body with a sheet and going to bed.
The next morning, Grantham told authorities, he hung a rosary on Waite's piano and arranged lit candles around her body, before loading his car with three guns, ammunition, a dozen Molotov cocktails, camping gear and directions to Trudeau's Rideau Cottage in Ottawa.
He had planned to travel more than 50 hours to kill Trudeau, before changing his mind and considering committing 'an act of mass violence,' at Simon Fraser University, which he had dropped out from.
He turned himself to Vancouver police before harming anybody else and pleaded guilty in March to second-degree murder.
Authorities say he shot and killed Waite in an effort 'to save her' from seeing his
