Former ‘Diary of a Wimpy Kid’ actor Ryan Grantham gets life sentence for murdering his mother

The 24-year-old actor shot his mother in the head as she played piano in their townhouse in Vancouver, Canada.
Watch more of our videos on Shots! 
and live on Freeview channel 276
Visit Shots! now

Former child star Ryan Grantham has been sentenced to life in prison for murdering his mother.

Grantham, who is known for his roles in Diary of a Wimpy Kid and Riverdale, pleaded guilty to the second-degree murder of his mother, Barbara Waite two years ago.

According to CBC, the 24-year-old was sentenced to life in prison on Wednesday, September 21, without the possibility of parole for 14 years at the British Columbia Supreme Court in Vancouver.

On March 31, 2020, Grantham shot his mother in the back of the head as she played piano in their townhouse in Squamish, North of Vancouver.

Ryan Grantham was just 21-years-old when he murdered his mother. (Credit: Netflix)Ryan Grantham was just 21-years-old when he murdered his mother. (Credit: Netflix)
Ryan Grantham was just 21-years-old when he murdered his mother. (Credit: Netflix)

The court also heard that the the British Columbia actor plotted to kill Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau after murdering his mother.

The next day of the murder, he wrapped his mother’s body in a sheet, arranged lit candles around it, and hung a rosary from the piano before driving away in a car loaded with guns, ammo, and Molotov cocktails, intending to kill the prime minister.

According to the prosecution, Grantham allegedly wrote about his plans to kill Mr Trudeau in a diary as well as in a police statement.

Grantham turns himself in

He drove around 200 kilometres east to the town of Hope before making a U-turn, thinking of carrying out a mass attack at the Lions Gate Bridge in Vancouver or at Simon Fraser University, which he had previously attended.

Instead, he drove to a police station in Vancouver and admitted to killing his mother.

Grantham began acting professionally at the age of nine, and in a 2019 episode of the CW series Riverdale, he portrayed the supporting part of Jeffrey Augustine.

Additionally, he made an appearance in the 2010 movie Diary of a Wimpy Kid and the TV programme Supernatural.

Grantham battles with depression, anxiety

His defence claimed during the trial that he had battled with depression, anxiety, and self-loathing and had voiced a desire to harm himself or others in the months before his mother was killed.

The court was informed that he performed a walk-through of the murder by sneakily approaching his mother from behind with a gun, and video of one of his walk-throughs was provided as proof.

He recorded his mother’s body while declaring, "I shot her in the back of the head," in one of the films made shortly after the murder.

After the murder, Grantham smoked marijuana, drank beer, and attempted to build Molotov cocktails.

Grantham had a cannabis use disorder after years of severe usage, but was able to maintain the illusion that he was acting properly, according to two psychiatric reports obtained in the wake of the murder.

Grantham reportedly admitted to experts that he wanted to kill his mother in order to prevent her from witnessing the violence he planned to do.