By Daily Mail (U.S.) | Created at 2026-06-12 16:00:52 | Updated at 2026-06-12 18:30:13
2 hours ago
The official cause of death of Top Gun: Maverick actor James Handy earlier this month has been named.
The 81-year-old actor was stabbed and also suffered 'neck compression' which helped lead to his death, according to the Los Angeles Medical Examiner in documents seen by The Daily Mail.
Handy was stabbed in the torso and neck where the spinal cord is connected to nerve roots.
On June 3, the actor was attacked outside a Los Angeles house with a knife allegedly by his girlfriend's son, Michael Gledhill.
Handy was found badly wounded but still alive on his front yard by police after 911 was called.
The official cause of death of Top Gun: Maverick actor James Handy earlier this month has been named. Seen on NYPD Blue
The 81-year-old actor was stabbed and also suffered 'neck compression' which helped lead to his death, according to the Los Angeles Medical Examiner
The actor - who was also on NYPD Blue, 9-1-1 and NCIS: Los Angeles - was rushed to the hospital where he died from his injuries.
Gledhill allegedly walked away from the crime scene and was caught on Ring camera footage as he calmly walked by a neighbor's house. Soon after he was arrested by police.
The Los Angeles District Attorney Nathan Hochman charged Gledhill with one count of murder with a special allegation that he personally used a deadly weapon, a knife.
Handy was found outside a house in Tarzana, a neighborhood located in the San Fernando Valley region of Los Angeles county.
He had been dating his girlfriend Wendy Gledhill for 31 years.
Michael Gledhill, 44, was charged after police say officers found Handy stabbed in the chest and lying unconscious outside his home.
Gledhill did not appear at an arraignment on June 5 in Los Angeles Superior Court and no plea was entered for him.
Javier Trincado, Gledhill´s lawyer, said his client is 'unable to assist' in his defense and told the judge that the sheriff's department did not bring Gledhill to the courtroom, but did not provide a reason.
Superior Court Judge John H. Reid ordered that Gledhill be sent to mental health court and undergo psychological evaluations. Another judge will decide whether he is competent for trial.
This image made from video provided by KABC shows the scene at a home where authorities were investigating the fatal stabbing of Handy
Authorities say Gledhill was arrested after telling police he was the person they were looking for. Police had responded to the home after a 911 caller stated: 'I am the son of man, I just killed the man of sin,' according to the department.
Los Angeles County District Attorney Nathan J. Hochman said Handy deserved to enjoy his later years with his loved ones and that the person who took his life should be held accountable.
'This is not how anyone's life should end, stabbed in the chest and left dying in the front yard of a home,' he said in a statement.
Handy was a character actor in films and on TV for decades, including appearances in a variety of television crime procedurals.
Actor Brian Delate knew Handy for more than four decades after meeting him at a Vietnam veterans theater company in New York. Delate described him as someone with a great sense of humor who was always curious.
Delate told The Associated Press that a few times over the past couple of years, Handy mentioned in passing that his girlfriend's son had mental health problems.
'I didn´t think much of it, because he just kind of mentioned it casually,' he said.
Handy's girlfriend had fixed up the garage so her son could live there, Delate said. Handy had his own home.
Bail was set at $2 million for Gledhill, according to authorities. If convicted, Gledhill faces up to 26 years to life in prison, according to the district attorney´s office.
Seen left as Charles Ross on CSI: NY with AJ Buckley, right
Emails sent to Trincado and officials from the Los Angeles County Public Defender´s Office were not immediately answered.
Born in New York, Handy appeared in films and TV shows for decades.
He was known for his role as an exterminator in the 1995 film 'Jumanji' and more recently as the bartender Jimmy in the 2022 film Top Gun: Maverick, according to IMDB. He's also appeared in some of the top TV crime dramas, including 'NCIS: Los Angeles,' 'The Closer' and 'Cold Case.'
'I could not have asked for a more talented, humble or gracious client and friend than James Handy,' Pam Ellis-Evenas, from the Ellis Talent Group, said in an email to The Associated Press.
Jeff Hawks, who said he's been friends with Handy for about 10 years after they met at an audition, described him as a hilarious man who had a habit of belting out doo-wop songs when they'd go out to bars.
'I can't imagine who would ever have a beef with him,' he said. 'To me, it´s impossible. He was just really a decent guy.'
With Vietnam in mind, Delate lamented how his friend died.
'If he´d just passed away from an illness or something like that, this would be a very different experience,' he said. 'But because of the nature of how he died and the fact that we lived in an arena of killing back in the '60s, it has a different resonance.'
