The man accused of killing “Top Gun: Maverick” actor James Handy made a chilling 911 call after allegedly stabbing the 81-year-old actor outside of a Los Angeles home.
Michael Gledhill, who is the son of Handy’s girlfriend, Wendy, allegedly stabbed Handy in the chest in the front yard of the home of Handy’s girlfriend, where her son also lived. After the stabbing, Gledhill told 911 dispatchers, “I am the son of man, I just killed the man of sin,” according to KTLA.
The stabbing that has shocked avid movie fans who knew Handy’s work most recently in “Top Gun: Maverick,” happened around 9:30 a.m. Wednesday in the 19200 block of Erwin Street in the Tarzana neighborhood of Los Angeles.
“I’m just trying to make it through one day at a time, a minute at a time,” 76-year-old Wendy Gledhill told The California Post.
“I loved James and my son. I still can’t believe it. … I can’t believe my son did it. I’m just trying to,” she added.
When officers arrived after the phone call from Gledhill, they found the veteran actor unconscious, per KTLA. Handy was taken to a local hospital by Los Angeles Fire Department paramedics and was later pronounced dead.
In video obtained by Fox 11 Los Angeles, Gledhill is seen on a neighbor’s doorbell camera walking away from the gruesome scene before returning and turning himself in to police. The video also shows a blue shirt on the ground covered in blood.
The motive for the killing is still under investigation, but according to KTLA detectives believe the stabbing was an isolated incident and there isn’t a threat to the public. Gledhill’s bond is set at $2 million, the New York Post reported.
Handy had a long career in Hollywood starting back in the 1970s. He had a role in “Arachnophobia,” as well as playing the exterminator in the blockbuster hit, “Jumanji,” alongside Robin Williams. He had several TV roles as well, including “Melrose Place,” “Alias,” “The West Wing,” and “NYPD Blue.”
Handy lived a reclusive life in his later years and made his last public appearance nearly 10 years ago in September 2017, per the Post.
