Top Gun: Maverick star James Handy’s cause of death has been confirmed, days after he was stabbed to death in Los Angeles.
On June 3, Officers found Handy unconscious and suffering from a stab wound to his chest in the front yard of a Tarzana home. The 81-year-old, known for his decades-long career as a reliable character actor, was pronounced dead at a hospital.
According to records from the Los Angeles County Medical Examiner’s Office, reviewed Friday by People, Handy died from a stab wound to the torso and neck compression. The manner of his death was ruled a homicide.
Investigators have arrested 44-year-old Michael Gledhill — the son of Handy’s longtime girlfriend Wendy Gledhill — on suspicion of murder. The LAPD said officers found Handy unconscious at his home, which the actor shared with Wedny and Michael, after a 911 caller told dispatchers, “I am the son of man, I just killed the man of sin.”
At the scene, Michael flagged the officers down and told them “he was the one they were looking for,” police said. Security footage taken nearby also appeared to show him walking around the area shortly after the stabbing.
Michael is charged with one count of murder with a special allegation that he personally used a deadly weapon, a knife. He has yet to enter a plea as he undergoes psychiatric evaluations.
Wendy told TMZ her son suffers from mental health issues, including schizophrenia, and stopped taking his medication last week.
“They know I loved him so much,” she said of Handy’s family. “I’m so sorry. I’m so sorry this happened. I’m still in shock. I still can’t comprehend it.”
She told the Daily Mail that on the morning of the June 3 killing,
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Handy was known for playing the bartender Jimmy in 2022 blockbuster Top Gun: Maverick, but he also had acting roles in Arachnophobia (1990), Jumanji (1995), Logan (2017), NYPD Blue and The Young and the Restless