Former Riverdale extra Ryan Grantham was sentenced to life in prison for murdering his mother and plotting to kill Canadian PM Justin Trudeau.

Per the Independent, the British Columbia Supreme Court sentenced Grantham on Sept. 21 to life in prison without the possibility of parole for the first 14 years of his sentence. The Diary of a Wimpy Kid actor pled guilty to second-degree murder in March this year. Grantham shot his 64-year-old mother, Barbara Anne Waite, in the back of the head while she was playing piano in March 2020, a murder he rehearsed and filmed with a G-Pro. In addition to killing his mother, the 24-year-old allegedly plotted to kill Trudeau at his Rideau Cottage residence.

A day after murdering his mother, Grantham arranged candles around his mother's body. He then took three guns, ammunition, camping supplies and 12 Molotov cocktails with him on his journey to Trudeau's residence. After traveling 200 kilometers, Grantham decided to turn around and even pondered committing more violent atrocities at either Vancouver's Lions Gate Bridge or Simon Fraser University, his former school. The Supernatural extra instead drove to a Vancouver police station with a straightforward confession: "I killed my mother."

Throughout his real-life trial, Grantham's defense claimed the actor suffered from mental health issues, like anxiety and depression. Grantham had contemplated suicide and harming months before his mother's murder. The actor also wrote his murderous plans in a diary before carrying them out. Prosecutors also noted that Grantham, an experienced firearm user and member of a gun club, purchased the .22 caliber rifle he used to kill his mother months before the shooting while aware of experiencing homicidal feelings.

According to two psychiatric reports, Grantham had a cannabis use disorder going back several years. Even after killing his mother, the actor allegedly spent hours smoking marijuana and drinking beer while preparing Molotov cocktails for the trip to kill Trudeau the next day. As for Grantham's motive, Crown prosecutor Michaela Donnelly alleged the actor was worried his mother would find out about his marijuana use and poor academic performance. Other reports claimed Grantham killed his mother so she would not witness the aftermath of the actor's plans to kill Trudeau.

Lisa Grantham, the actor's sister, discovered her mother's body the day after her murder after several calls and text messages went unanswered. "It breaks my heart she struggled so hard … only to be murdered by her own son... She was vulnerable and Ryan gave her no chance to defend herself. It pains me to know he was a danger to her life," Grantham said in a court statement.

Source: Independent