The Los Angeles County Medical Examiner’s Office has revealed the cause of actor James Handy’s death. The Top Gun: Maverick actor died due to a “stab wound of torso” and “neck compression”, the medical examiner’s report said. Handy’s death has officially been ruled as a homicide.
The body is “ready for release” back to the family, the report added.
Handy died on June 3. He was discovered in the front yard of his girlfriend’s home in Los Angeles “unconscious and suffering from a stab wound to his chest,” as per the Los Angeles Police Department.
The police were summoned to the house after getting a 911 call from someone claiming, “I am the son of man, I just killed the man of sin.”
A man named Michael Gledhill was taken into custody the same day after police said he “flagged down nearby responding officers, telling them he was the one they were looking for.”
Gledhill, the son of Handy’s girlfriend Wendy, is accused of fatally stabbing the 81-year-old actor on June 3. The three of them lived together.
Gledhill was taken to Van Nuys Jail, as per Entertainment Weekly. He was booked on suspicion of one count of murder, with bail set at $2 million.
In an interview with TMZ, Wendy Gledhill, who was Handy’s partner for over 30 years, said her son suffered from schizophrenia and had stopped taking his medications.
Wendy said her son had become increasingly paranoid and was prescribed medication for schizophrenia after a diagnosis in July 2025. However, she had recently learnt he stopped taking his meds about a week before Handy’s death.
Wendy said that while her son and Handy did not see eye to eye always, but stated their relationship was cordial.
As of now, police have not released a motive for Handy’s death. They have also not confirmed whether Gledhill suffers from schizophrenia.
James Handy made his debut in 1977 on the soap opera Ryan’s Hope.Over the course of his career, he starred in several TV shows, such as The West Wing, Cagney and Lacey, Matlock, Melrose Place, NYPD Blue, Alias and Walker, Texas Ranger.
Handy, who primarily kept his personal life out of the spotlight, made his last onscreen appearance in 2017.
