‘Diary Of A Wimpy Kid’ Actor Shot His Mother Then Planned To Kill Prime Minister Trudeau

Ryan Grantham, the Canadian actor who pleaded guilty to killing his mother earlier in 2022, also allegedly plotted to kill Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, according to the CBC.

On March 31, 2020, Grantham, 24, who was featured in Diary of a Wimpy Kid and Riverdale, shot his mother, Barbara Waite, in the back of the head while she was playing the piano.

The day following the murder of his mother, Grantham loaded his car with guns, ammunition, Molotov cocktails, and printed directions to Rideau Cottage in Ottawa, where Trudeau lives with his family.

According to Complex, the actor drove to Hope, British Columbia but changed course and turned himself in in Vancouver.

“Mr. Grantham said, ‘I killed my mum,” Crown prosecutor Michaela Donnelly said, as reported by Complex. “Police immediately arrested him.”

He pleaded to second degree murder, which carries a life sentence, the British Columbia Prosecution Service told PEOPLE.

The CBC reported that Grantham rehearsed how he would kill his mother on video and recorded footage immediately after the shooting where he confessed to murder.

“He put the crosshairs on the back of her head, closed his eyes, and pulled the trigger,” Crown prosecutor Michaela Donnelly said during the trial, Complex reported.

Grantham’s sister, Lisa, found their mother on April 1.

"She was vulnerable, and Ryan gave her no chance to defend herself. It pains me to know he was a danger to her life," she said, according to Complex.

US Weekly reported that during the trial, Grantham apologized for his actions.

“I cannot explain or justify my actions. I have no excuse,” the former actor said while reading a statement. “It hurts me to think about how badly I’ve wasted my life… In the face of something so horrible, saying sorry seems so pointless. But from every fiber of my being, I am sorry.”

During the trial, Grantham’s attorney argued he was experiencing an “intense period of clinical depression” leading up to the murder, according to the CBC. Grantham was having thoughts of violence and allegedly killed his mother to “spare her from seeing the violence he intended to commit”.

According to the BC Prosecution Service, a second-degree murder carries a mandatory life sentence. According to the CBC, under the Criminal Code of Canada, a person convicted of second-degree murder is eligible for parole after a minimum of 10 years and a maximum of 25 years.