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A Canadian actor fatally shot his mom in their home then planned to drive across the country to kill Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, authorities said Tuesday.
Ryan Grantham, 24, pleaded guilty to second-degree murder in March, the CBC reported. His sentencing hearing began Tuesday, but his guilty plea means he’s facing an automatic life sentence.
Grantham admitted to killing his mother, 64-year-old Barbara Waite, with a single gunshot to the back of the head on March 31, 2020, in their home in Squamish, British Columbia, according to the CBC. Prosecutors played video Grantham took using a GoPro camera.
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“I shot her in the back of the head,” he said in the clip. “In the moments after, she would have known it was me.”
The next day, Grantham embarked on a half-baked plan to kill Trudeau, the CBC reported. He loaded his car with three guns, ammunition and 12 Molotov cocktails. He also brought Google Maps directions to Rideau Cottage in Ottawa, where Trudeau lives.
But Grantham didn’t make it far. He drove from Squamish, about 25 miles north of Vancouver, to Hope, about 75 miles east. Grantham drove about two hours when he would’ve needed to drive for nearly two days to reach Ottawa.
Police said Grantham turned around with thoughts of a mass shooting, but eventually drove to a Vancouver police station and confessed his crime, according to the CBC.
Investigators read through Grantham’s journal, where he wrote about his struggles with depression and other mental health problems.
“Mr. Grantham’s contemporaneous account in the journal is very self-aware, very introspective,” prosecutor Michaela Donnelly said, according to North Shore News. Grantham did not say anything of significance at Tuesday’s hearing.
Grantham’s acting career included appearances on “Riverdale” and in “Diary of a Wimpy Kid.” He appeared in several TV shows, short films and movies that were filmed in British Columbia.
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