{"id":371820,"date":"2026-06-23T19:04:08","date_gmt":"2026-06-23T19:04:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/371820\/"},"modified":"2026-06-23T19:04:08","modified_gmt":"2026-06-23T19:04:08","slug":"james-handys-accused-killer-found-mentally-incompetent","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/371820\/","title":{"rendered":"James Handy’s accused killer found mentally incompetent"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

The man accused of slaying veteran \u201cTop Gun: Maverick\u201d and \u201cJumanji\u201d actor James Handy earlier this month is not mentally competent to face criminal court prosecution, a Los Angeles judge ruled Monday. <\/p>\n

During a competency hearing, Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Maria Cavalluzzi ordered that Michael Gledhill, 44, is unable to understand the murder case against him and cannot rationally assist his attorney in his own defense, the Associated Press reported<\/a>. <\/p>\n

Monday\u2019s ruling is not a \u201cdetermination of guilt or innocence,\u201d Gledhill\u2019s defense team said in a statement shared with The Times on Tuesday. Los Angeles County Deputy Public Defenders Donna Tryfman and Robert Krauss said in the statement that Gledhill\u2019s \u201ctreatment and restoration efforts\u201d will take priority before criminal court proceedings. <\/p>\n

\u201cWhile the allegations in this matter remain extremely serious, the legal process must continue in a manner that is both just and consistent with constitutional protections,\u201d the statement said. \u201cNothing about the court\u2019s finding regarding competency diminishes the seriousness of the loss or the pain experienced by those who knew and loved Mr. Handy.\u201d<\/p>\n

Police arrested Gledhill<\/a> on June 3 after West Valley area patrol officers responded to an emergency call in a residential neighborhood of Tarzana. The 911 caller stated, \u201cI am the son of man. I just killed the man of sin.\u201d Upon arrival, police found Handy, 81, in the front yard of the Erwin Street home, unconscious and suffering from a stab wound to his chest. <\/p>\n

Paramedics took the actor to an area hospital where he was pronounced dead, officials said. <\/p>\n

Police said in a press release<\/a> that Gledhill \u201cflagged down nearby responding officers\u201d and identified himself as the suspect in the fatal stabbing. Police said Gledhill lives with his mother, Handy\u2019s girlfriend, at the Tarzana home. <\/p>\n

Gledhill was arrested and transported to Van Nuys Jail, where he was booked on suspicion of murder. His bail was set at $2 million. <\/p>\n

Gledhill has not entered a plea nor appeared in court. During his arraignment June 5, a judge halted court proceedings and directed Gledhill\u2019s case to a court that specializes in mental health evaluations. <\/p>\n

The Associated Press also reported that during Monday\u2019s hearing, Cavalluzzi found that Gledhill is unable to make proper medication decisions and signed an order noting he could be involuntarily medicated for one year, citing a psychiatrist\u2019s determination that proper drugs could hugely help his mental health.<\/p>\n

A hearing to determine Gledhill\u2019s long-term placement is set for July 14. The case will continue to trial if Gledhill is later found to be competent. <\/p>\n

Times staff writer Emily St. Martin and the Associated Press contributed to this report. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The man accused of slaying veteran \u201cTop Gun: Maverick\u201d and \u201cJumanji\u201d actor James Handy earlier this month is…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":371821,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[27],"tags":[5167,121795,3622,150663,150662,142529,48,52,51,47,50,49,1555,150664,142400,1024,150661,22652,236,3025,38424],"class_list":["post-371820","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-los-angeles","tag-associated-press","tag-competency-hearing","tag-court","tag-criminal-court-proceeding","tag-determination","tag-james-handy","tag-la","tag-la-headlines","tag-la-news","tag-los-angeles","tag-los-angeles-headlines","tag-los-angeles-news","tag-man","tag-mental-health-evaluation","tag-michael-gledhill","tag-monday","tag-mr-handy","tag-murder-case","tag-police","tag-statement","tag-tarzana"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/371820","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=371820"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/371820\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/371821"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=371820"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=371820"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=371820"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}