‘Diary of a Wimpy Kid’ Actor Ryan Grantham Sentenced to Life for Mother’s Murder

Ryan Grantham in "Considering Love and Other Magic."
Attraction Distribution

Diary Of A Wimpy Kid actor Ryan Grantham was sentenced to life in prison with parole ineligibility of 14 years for his mother’s murder.

The Canadian actor pleaded guilty to the second-degree murder of his mother Barbara Waite, according to a report by CBC News. In March 2020, Grantham shot Waite while she played a piano in their British Columbia home.

In delivering the sentence in a Vancouver court, Justice Kathleen Ker reportedly recounted several details that have been revealed over the course of the case.

The Riverdale actor, who was 21 at the time, shot his mother in the back of her head with a .22 rifle as she played the piano. After that, Grantham recorded a GoPro video confessing to the murder and showed Waite’s body to the camera.

The following day, the iZombie actor covered his mother’s body with a sheet, placed lit candles around it, and hung a rosary from the piano. Grantham then drove east in a car filled with firearms, ammunition, and Molotov cocktails, with the intention of assassinating Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau.

But before exiting British Columbia, the actor turned his car around, because he decided to instead commit a mass shooting at Simon Fraser University, where he was enrolled. But Grantham changed his mind yet again and drove to the Vancouver Police Department, where he turned himself in.

Meanwhile, Waite’s body was found by her daughter, Lisa Grantham, after she arrived at the home because her mother was not responding to phone calls and texts.

In delivering the sentence, Justice Ker said she considered Grantham’s mental health problems at the time of the murder, and noted that the actor was seeking psychiatric help in prison, as well as receiving positive reviews regarding his progress. Ker also said that Grantham appeared remorseful.

You can follow Alana Mastrangelo on Facebook and Twitter at @ARmastrangelo, and on Instagram.

COMMENTS

Please let us know if you're having issues with commenting.