Ryan Grantham—a Canadian actor who’s played supporting roles in TV shows like Riverdale and Supernatural and movies like Diary of a Wimpy Kid—was sentenced over two years after killing his mother and plotting to assassinate Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau.
Grantham, 24, shot his mother in the back of her head while she played the piano on March 31, 2020. He took a recording of her body with a GoPro where he admitted to the murder.
The following day, he loaded his car with weapons and drove East from his home in British Columbia with a plan to kill Trudeau. He drove for a few hours before changing his mind and turned around planning to commit a mass shooting at a public space.
Grantham instead finally decided to drive to the Vancouver Police Department and turn himself in.
He told the police:
“I killed my mother.”
Grantham was sentenced to life in prison for his confession to murder. In Canada, first degree murder charges have a minimum mandatory 25 years before parole, while second degree is a minimum of 10 years.
Grantham’s second degree sentence had prosecutors asking for 17 year, while the defense argued for 12 years. Judge Kathleen Ker handed down a 14 year mandatory sentence before parole eligibility for Grantham.
According to prosecutors, Grantham had been considering killing his mother for months. The former actor had been doing poorly in school and didn’t want her to find out.
His actions were disturbing to many commenters online.
After killing her, Grantham covered the body before going to bed. The next day, he hung a rosary on his mother’s piano, and arranged lit candles around her body.
When he loaded up his car, he took three guns, 12 molotov cocktails, and camping gear, before driving to Ottawa to kill the prime minister.
During the hearing, it was revealed that Grantham bought a new gun prior to the murder. Psychiatric reports talked about his intense clinical depression leading up to the murder as well.
However, the high-profile nature of the case led some to focus on the strangeness of the crime. Grantham covering his mother up and deciding to try and murder the prime minister struck many as odd.
And for it come from someone who’s been in so many popular films and television shows, even in smaller roles, is its own level of strange.
Judge Ker said that Grantham appeared truly remorseful. Grantham at his sentencing hearing apologized for what he did and said his mother didn’t deserve what he did to her.
His lawyer, Chris Johnson, said:
“I think he’s pretty apprehensive about the whole thing. He’s a fairly tiny person, and to go to the prison system, I’m sure it’s a daunting and scary thought for him.”
PLACEHOLDER
