A 44-year-old man was charged Friday with murdering his mother’s boyfriend, character actor James Handy — whose credits include the films “Arachnophobia,” “Jumanji” and “Top Gun: Maverick.”
The defense declared a doubt about Michael Ray Gledhill’s mental competency at his scheduled arraignment Friday in a Van Nuys courtroom, according to Jonathan Hatami, assistant head deputy of the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office’s Complex Child Abuse Section and Family Violence Division North County.
Mental competency proceedings are scheduled June 22 at the Hollywood courthouse.
Gledhill allegedly told a 911 operator he was “the son of man” and confessed to killing “the man of sin,” according to the Los Angeles Police Department.
Officers who responded Wednesday to the home in the 19200 block of Erwin Street found the mortally wounded 81-year-old victim, later identified as Handy, unconscious in the front yard of the home, police said.
Handy, who suffered a stab wound to his chest, was taken to a hospital, where he was pronounced dead, according to the LAPD.
His career in film and television had spanned decades.
“The suspect flagged down nearby responding officers, telling them he was the one they were looking for,” according to a police statement. “The suspect resides at the location with his mother, who is the victim’s girlfriend.”
Gledhill was arrested and booked on suspicion of murder and remains behind bars in lieu of $2 million bail.
“This is now how anyone’s life should end, stabbed in the chest and left dying in the front yard of a home,” District Attorney Nathan Hochman said in a statement about the case. “The victim, James Handy, deserved to live out his later years enjoying what he had worked so hard for and enjoying it with those he loved and cared about. Like all murder victims, his life mattered and the person who inexplicably and violently took it must be held accountable for his actions.”
The murder charge includes the allegation that Gledhill personally used a knife in the commission of the crime, according to the complaint.
He could face up to 26 years to life in state prison if convicted as charged, according to the District Attorney’s Office.