US2 min(s) read
Published 08:56 06 Jun 2026 GMT
James Handy's girlfriend, the mother of his alleged killer, has broken her silence after the Top Gun: Maverick star was stabbed to death on Wednesday.
Handy, 81, was found unconscious and bleeding out in the front yard of a home in Tarzana, California, on Wednesday morning.
Police stated that the actor was rushed to hospital but died from his injuries.
Michael Gledhill, 44, son of Handy's girlfriend Wendy Gledhill, 76, is accused of killing the actor, after authorities responded to a caller who allegedly told dispatchers, per the New York Post: "I am the son of man, I just killed the man of sin."
According to reports, Michael waved the officers down as they approached the home on the 19200 block of Erwin Street in Tarzana, telling them that he was the suspect, police said.
He was arrested for murder and is currently being held with a $2,000,000 bond.
Wendy, who is Michael's mother and who was in a relationship with Handy, told The California Post outside her home on Friday morning: "I’m just trying to make it through one day at a time, a minute at a time.
"I loved James and my son. I still can’t believe it…. I can’t believe my son did it. I’m just trying to …"
Joheina Quibol, one of Wendy's neighbors, told the outlet: "He looked really rugged … he looks like he doesn’t really change his clothes."
She also described Michael as "paranoid" after he once asked her father about cameras they had inside the home, and believes he may have struggled with mental health issues.
According to TMZ, Wendy claimed that Michael had been diagnosed with schizophrenia in July 2025, but learned he had stopped taking his medication about a week before the incident, and was becoming increasingly paranoid.
She told the outlet that while Michael and Handy 'didn't always see eye to eye,' their relationship was 'generally cordial'.
Wendy tearfully added in a message to Handy's family: "They know I loved him so much. I'm so sorry. I'm so sorry this happened. I'm still in shock. I still can't comprehend it."
Handy's acting career had spanned since the 1970s, with his final role being as Jimmy the bartender in Top Gun: Maverick.
Other notable credits in his five-decade career include playing an exterminator in the 1995 hit Jumanji, alongside the late Robin Williams, as well as a host of appearances on television shows including The West Wing, 9-1-1, NCIS: Los Angeles, CSI: NY, The Young and the Restless, The X-Files and more.
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