It appears that actor Ryan Grantham, known for having appeared in the series Riverdale on The CW, has pled guilty to having murdered his mother. The actor, now aged 24, began his acting career at 9-years-old. He appeared in 36 productions before his appearance in Riverdale in 2019. This appearance on the hit CW series marked his last acting job.
Since then, the Riverdale actor recently pled guilty to second-degree murder. The trial found him accused of having shot her, Barbara Waite, in the back of her head as she played piano. This occurred in March of 2020. While this is already a disturbing enough crime, it appears that Ryan Grantham had additional murders in mind. Specifically, as noted via CBC, he had plans to assassinate Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau.
“The next day, while her body still lay in the pool of blood, Grantham loaded his car with three guns, ammunition, 12 Molotov cocktails, camping supplies and a printed Google map with directions to Rideau Cottage in Ottawa.
Grantham mentioned killing Trudeau in both his statement to police and in excerpts from his private journal that were read out in court.”
However, it appears he had changed his mind:
“He set out driving east, but only got as far as Hope, B.C., before turning around amidst thoughts of committing mass violence and killing people on Vancouver’s Lions Gate Bridge or at Simon Fraser University, where he was a student.
Later that night he drove to Vancouver police headquarters in East Vancouver to turn himself in and approached an officer sitting in a police car. He told the officer, ‘I killed my mother.'”
As for why the Supernatural actor committed such atrocities:
“The court heard how Grantham had escalating feelings of self loathing, hopelessness and a desire to commit violence in the months leading up to the murder. He was struggling with school, smoking a lot of cannabis, feeling angry and anxious over perceived failures, and contemplating suicide.”
They further detailed Ryan Grantham’s actions after he’d murdered his mother – an event that was also recorded on camera:
“In his statement to police, Grantham said in the hours after the murder he freaked out, wrote in his journal, took the video, went out to get money, marijuana and beer, came home, experimented with making Molotov cocktails and watched Netflix for two and half hours. He then covered his mother’s body with a sheet and went to bed.”
The mother’s body was discovered by her daughter, Ryan Grantham’s sister named Lisa Grantham. She went to the house after her mother was no longer responding to her phone calls or text messages. She gave this statement regarding her brother in court:
“How can I trust anybody when my only sibling chose to execute my mom when her back was turned?”
The hearing is scheduled to resume on Tuesday paving the way for Grantham’s defense team to make submissions.