Overview
- The 81-year-old character actor James Handy was found in his Tarzana front yard with multiple stab wounds on June 3 and later died at a hospital.
- Los Angeles police arrested 44-year-old Michael Gledhill at the scene after he called 911 and prosecutors have formally charged him with murder plus a special allegation for use of a deadly weapon.
- LAPD says the suspect told officers, “I am the Son of Man, I just killed the sinner,” a statement authorities have cited in reports of the case.
- Handy’s partner, Wendy Gledhill, told reporters she last saw him head outside to get the newspaper and said her son was diagnosed with schizophrenia in July 2025 and, to her knowledge, stopped taking medication about a week before the killing.
- Prosecutors and the district attorney have condemned the attack, the actor’s final film project was cancelled after his death, and legal proceedings are now pending where motive and mental-health claims will be examined.