Ryan Grantham, a Canadian actor, admitted to killing his mother, Barbara Waite, in 2020 and was given a life term in prison.  The 24-year-old, who portrayed Jeffery Augustine in the Riverdale adolescent drama, was given a sentence on Wednesday at the British Columbia Supreme Court in Vancouver.

After being accused of first-degree murder at first, he pleaded guilty to second-degree murder.  Additionally, he allegedly planned to assassinate Justin Trudeau, the prime minister of Canada. The court heard that Grantham acknowledged to shooting his mother in the back of the head while she was practising the piano at their house, located north of Vancouver.

The actor recorded his mother’s body and spoke these words while filming it on his Go-Pro camera after the murder: “I gave her a headshot to the back. She would have recognised me shortly when she realised it was me.”

Following the murder, he filled a car with 12 homemade Molotov bombs, three firearms, ammo, camping gear, and directions to Mr. Trudeau’s Rideau Cottage home after spending hours drinking beer and using marijuana.

Before turning back and driving to a Vancouver police station, he travelled about 200 kilometres east to the hamlet of Hope. There, he told an officer, “I killed my mother.”

Prior to coming around and bringing himself in, Grantham had thought about carrying out a massive act of violence at Simon Fraser University or at Vancouver’s Lions Gate Bridge, the court heard.

Grantham, a former child actor, made an appearance in one episode of Riverdale on the CW network in 2019, as well as in the fantasy drama Supernatural and the 2010 movie Diary of a Wimpy Kid.

According to police in Vancouver speaking to Deadline, Grantham has been detained for the previous 2.5 years and has been attending a mental health programme since his arrest.

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