This is some bleak news to report on a Friday, but it's come to light that Riverdale actor Ryan Grantham has been sentenced to life in prison for matricide.
The 24-year-old Canadian actor, who played Jeffery Augustine the CW's Archie Comics-based series, was sentenced at British Columbia Supreme Court in Vancouver on Wednesday. He pleaded guilty to second-degree murder, after having initially been charged with first-degree murder. He will not be eligible for parole for at least 14 years.
According to prosecutors, he had also plotted to kill Canadian PM Justin Trudeau.
Grantham admitted to shooting his mother, Barbara Waite, in the back of the head as she played piano in their Vancouver home back in 2020. He then filmed a GoPro video in which he confessed to the murder, before driving east to Ottawa in a car filled with guns, ammunition and Molotov cocktails. Grantham reportedly considered committing a mass shooting at Simon Fraser University, but ultimately decided to turn himself in to the Vancouver Police Department.
Grantham’s sister delivered a victim impact statement at the trial, during which Supreme Court Justice Kathleen Ker called the case “tragic” and “heartbreaking.” She added that it was a “saving grace” that Grantham chose to turn himself in and not commit further crimes.
Grantham only appeared in a single episode of Riverdale, but has also featured in Supernatural and Diary of a Wimpy Kid. The actor has been in custody for the past two and a half years, where he has participated in a mental health program.
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Mark Cassidy is a writer, photographer, amateur filmmaker, and Rotten Tomatoes-approved critic from Dublin, Ireland.