In Ryan Grantham’s latest acting role in the hit Netflix series Riverdale, he plays a teenager who takes his father’s truck without permission and accidentally kills someone.
In real life, the 23-year-old has considered shooting and killing his mother for days leading up to her death on March 31, 2020.
The court heard 64-year-old Barbara Waite playing the piano when her son fired a fatal bullet.
He lit a few candles, hung rosaries over the piano, and said a few hello before leaving their townhouse in Squamish, British Columbia, with a plan for more bloodshed.
“My mother was a caring, compassionate, loving person,” Grantham told the British Supreme Court on Wednesday. “She did nothing to deserve what I did to her.”
His family was sitting in the front row, overwhelmed with emotion when he apologized.
“In the face of something so terrible, to apologize almost seems pointless. But I’m sorry for every bit of being, “Grantham said.
A forensic psychologist hired by the defense found Grantham’s mental state at the time “far from normal,” describing him as unstable, chaotic, ambivalent, and fragile.
His lawyer, Chris Johnson, QC, claims that his depressive disorder, cannabis use and isolation have contributed to his actions.
The court heard that he was postponing Simon Fraser University and had not acted for some time, and he rationalized that he did not want his mother to see what he was becoming.
The court also heard that he was considering a murder and had a printed map of Rideau Cottage in Ottawa, with a plan to execute Prime Minister Justin Trudeau.
“I was in a hurry and he was the only person I could think of, the most important person in Canada. For example, I could do something to make an impact, “he told police at the time, according to a coherent statement.
The Crown Prosecutor also outlines how Grantham considered mass killings on the Lions Gate Bridge and SFU. He is also considering suicide, but instead drives from Hope to Vancouver, where he surrenders to police.
“The only way I can justify continuing to live is to live the rest of my life in a way she would be proud to be, to be a better, honest, good person,” Grantham told the court.
Johnson said his client is now a very different person than he was in March 2020. Since then, he has joined a men’s support group at the detention center and has shown a willingness to ask for help.
Grantham pleaded guilty to second-degree murder, which carries a life sentence of probation of 10 to 25 years.
A judge from the Supreme Court of the BC will rule on a later date.
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