Overview
- Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Maria Cavalluzzi found 44-year-old Michael Gledhill legally incompetent on Monday, June 23, saying he cannot understand the charges or rationally assist in his defense.
- Authorities say Handy, 81, was found on June 3 outside a partner’s Tarzana home with stab wounds and later died at a hospital, and officers arrested Gledhill after a 911 caller reported the suspect saying, “I am the son of man, I just killed the man of sin.”
- The court authorized involuntary medication for up to one year after a psychiatrist concluded medication could substantially improve Gledhill’s mental health and his competency to stand trial.
- Gledhill’s arraignment was suspended earlier and he must return on July 14 for a hearing on long-term placement and whether competency has been restored, at which point the murder prosecution could resume.
- Handy was a longtime character actor with credits including Jumanji and Top Gun: Maverick, and friends say Gledhill lived at the partner’s home and had shown prior mental-health concerns, a context that shapes both the criminal case and the planned treatment review.