Riverdale TV actor Ryan Grantham won’t be going to trial in May on a charge of second-degree murder in his mother’s death in Squamish.
Rather, a B.C. Supreme Court judge heard on Jan. 12 that the defence and Crown are in discussions to wind the case up.
Whether that means a guilty plea or an acquittal remains to be seen.
Grantham was charged with second-degree murder after his 64-year-old mother, Barbara Waite, was found dead in a Squamish home on April 1, 2020.
A shaven, clean-cut Grantham, 24, made an appearance from jail by video Jan. 12.
Justice Janet Winteringham was told that a trial date had been set for May 30-June 15.
However, defence lawyer Talia Armstrong told Winteringham, the trial date is being struck and the case will proceed to a disposition. In the meantime, she said discussion with Crown prosecutors about the case continue.
Police said at the time of Waite’s death that officers responded after a family member found a body in a home on the 40000-block Government Road.
“Frontline officers determined that the victim, later confirmed to be Ms. Waite, had met with foul play and the Integrated Homicide Investigation Team was called in,” said a release from homicide investigators.
Grantham made his first appearance in B.C. Provincial Court on April 9, 2020
Homicide investigators worked with the Sea to Sky RCMP, the Vancouver Police Department, the Integrated Forensic Identification Services and the BC Coroners Service.
Riverdale was a series based on the Archie comics.
Grantham began his career as a child actor aged nine and has had multiple TV and movie roles
At 11, he was cast for a role in The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus, a 2009 film directed by Monty Python’s Flying Circus comedy team alumnus Terry Gilliam.
Grantham returns to court on Feb. 9 to fix a date for a resolution of the case.
