Overview
- James Handy, 81, was found unconscious in the front yard of his Tarzana home on Wednesday and later died at a hospital after suffering a chest stab wound.
- Police say 44-year-old Michael Gledhill called 911 with a statement that he had killed a man, flagged down officers and surrendered; he was booked on one count of murder with bail set at roughly $2 million.
- Gledhill’s mother has told reporters he was diagnosed with schizophrenia in 2025 and stopped taking prescribed medication about a week before the killing, but those claims remain untested by court-ordered evaluations.
- Judges have ordered psychological examinations and scheduled further hearings with prosecutors pursuing murder charges and a special allegation that a deadly weapon was used.
- Friends, neighbors and colleagues are grieving the veteran character actor and investigators say the attack appears isolated with no ongoing public danger while the legal and mental-health processes continue.