'Top Gun: Maverick' actor James Handy stabbed to death as girlfriend's son arrested

Published: 01:58, 5 June 2026 | Updated: 02:27, 5 June 2026 Actor James Handy, who has appeared in films including Jumanji and Top Gun: Maverick, was brutally stabbed to death in the front yard of his home on Wednesday. His girlfriend's son, 44-year-old Michael Gledhill, later allegedly told officers he was the one they were looking for, and he was arrested for the actor's murder, the California Post reports.  The chilling chain of events began when Los Angeles police said they received a disturbing call at around 9.30am Wednesday from a man saying, 'I am the son of man, I just killed the man of sin.'  Officers then raced to Handy's home in the 19200 block of Erwin Street in Tarzana, where they found the 81-year-old unconscious in the front yard and suffering from a stab wound to his chest. Handy was then rushed to a local hospital, where he was pronounced dead. The suspect later allegedly flagged down the responding officers, and told them he is the one they were looking for.  Investigators say Gledhill lived at the home with his mother, but a motive for the stabbing remains unclear.  Actor James Handy was found brutally murdered in his front yard on Wednesday The actor appeared alongside David Duchovny and Gillian Anderson in the X-Files Gledhill is now being held on a $2 million bond.  Handy was born in New York and made his first on-screen appearance in 1977's Taps. He most recently appeared in Top Gun: Maverick. Handy's other film credits include an appearance in Logan as the doctor who treated Hugh Jackman's titular character, and in the 1995 hit Jumanji, Handy played the exterminator. The actor also had recurring roles on Melrose Place and NYPD Blue, and made appearances in other television shows including The West Wing, Castle and The X-Files during his career - which stretches back to the 1970s and includes more than 100 acting credits. Officers found the actor stabbed to death in his front lawn. Handy is pictured in an episode of ABC's hit show Castle Handy is pictured in an episode of NYPD Blue This is a breaking news story and will be updated.  The comments below have not been moderated. The views expressed in the contents above are those of our users and do not necessarily reflect the views of MailOnline. By posting your comment you agree to our house rules. Do you want to automatically post your MailOnline comments to your Facebook Timeline? Your comment will be posted to MailOnline as usual. Do you want to automatically post your MailOnline comments to your Facebook Timeline? Your comment will be posted to MailOnline as usual We will automatically post your comment and a link to the news story to your Facebook timeline at the same time it is posted on MailOnline. To do this we will link your MailOnline account with your Facebook account. We’ll ask you to confirm this for your first post to Facebook. You can choose on each post whether you would like it to be posted to Facebook. Your details from Facebook will be used to provide you with tailored content, marketing and ads in line with our Privacy Policy.