Overview
- On June 3, authorities found 81-year-old actor James Handy stabbed outside the Tarzana home of his partner and he was later pronounced dead, with the medical examiner ruling the death a homicide from a stab wound and neck compression.
- Police say 44-year-old Michael Gledhill flagged down officers after the attack, told them he was the suspect, was arrested and booked on one count of murder with bail set at $2 million.
- At a June 22 competency hearing, Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Maria Cavalluzzi found Gledhill cannot understand the charges or rationally assist his lawyer and ordered that he is unable to make medication decisions.
- Cavalluzzi signed an order authorizing involuntary medication for up to one year after a psychiatrist said proper drugs could greatly help Gledhill and set a July 14 hearing to decide his long-term placement.
- If treatment restores competency the criminal prosecution could resume and go to trial, while failure to restore competency could lead the court toward civil commitment or other long-term mental‑health placement; family statements reporting a schizophrenia diagnosis and stopped medications informed reporting but are not judicial findings.