Ryan Grantham, 24, pleaded guilty to second-degree murder for pulling the trigger on March 31, 2020.
Judge Kathleen Ker handed down the sentence in a Vancouver courtroom Tuesday, three months after the trial concluded.
Grantham, who had a one-time role in the Netflix series “Riverdale” based on the Archie Comics, was suffering from depression, isolation and excessive use of cannabis at the time of the murder, the court heard.
The court heard he had fallen behind in his studies at Simon Fraser University and had not played for some time, and had rationalized his actions by not wanting his mother to see what she perceived as his failings.
Barbara Waite, 64, was playing the piano when Grantham fired a shot. He then lit some candles, hung rosaries over the piano and prayed before leaving their home for more bloodshed, the court heard.
Grantham had mass murder plans with thoughts of killing people at SFU and the Lions Gate Bridge.
One of his targets was Prime Minister Justin Trudeau. He had a printed map of Rideau Cottage in Ottawa and was on his way there before returning to Hope and being taken to Vancouver police headquarters to surrender.
An online filmography for Grantham shows that his acting career began in 2007 with roles in TV movies. His credits also include ‘The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus’, ‘Diary of a Wimpy Kid’, ‘iZombie’ and ‘Supernatural’.
His last role was in “Riverdale”, in which he played a teenage boy who took his father’s truck without permission and accidentally killed the father of the main character Archie Andrews, Fred. The episode centered around the fatal hit-and-run is a tribute to actor Luke Perry, who died of a stroke earlier in the year.
A second-degree murder conviction carries a life sentence with a non-parole period of 10 to 25 years.
