Actor James Handy's alleged killer deemed unfit to stand trial
Updated . First published
The man accused of killing Top Gun: Maverick star James Handy has been deemed unfit to stand trial.
Handy, 81, was found with a fatal stab wound to the chest in the front yard of his California home on June 3. The son of his girlfriend, 44-year-old Michael Gledhill, was arrested and charged with murder.
Late star Handy was also known for the likes of 1995’s Jumanji. IMBD/20th Century Fox Television
During a competency trial on June 22, Gledhill was found mentally unfit to stand trial and ordered to take psychotropic medication, People reported.
His next court hearing is scheduled for July 14.
On June 3, police said they responded to a chilling 911 call where the caller said, “I am the son of man, I just killed the man of sin.”
“The suspect flagged down nearby responding officers, telling them he was the one they were looking for. The suspect resides at the location with his mother, who is the victim’s girlfriend,” they said.
Read more
'Took a bit of a battering': How Jeremy Clarkson overhauled his life after cancer diagnosis
Following his arrest, Gledhill’s bail was set at US $2.02 million ($2.9 million).
His mother and Handy’s partner of 31 years, Wendy Gledhill, told TMZ her son had been diagnosed with schizophrenia last year and had stopped taking his medication.
“I’m just trying to make it through one day at a time, a minute at a time,” she said.
Handy was known for the likes of 1995’s Jumanji and had an eight-episode stint in the hit TV show, Alias.
Other credits included K-911, Law & Order, NCIS: Los Angeles and even Logan, opposite Australian Hugh Jackman.
Handy had a long acting career beginning in the 1970s. 20th Century Fox Film Corp./Courtesy Everett Collection
“This is not how anyone’s life should end, stabbed in the chest and left dying in the front yard of a home,” Los Angeles County District Attorney Nathan J. Hochman said.
“The victim, James Handy, deserved to live out his later years enjoying what he had worked so hard for and enjoying it with those he loved and cared about.”
