James Handy’s partner Wendy Gledhill has detailed the former actor’s tragic end after he was allegedly stabbed to death by his son Michael Gledhill.
“James woke up around 9 o’clock to get the paper, but he didn’t make me coffee like he usually does,” Wendy told the Daily Mail in an interview at her and the “Top Gun: Maverick” star’s three-bedroom home in Los Angeles.
“He came to get the newspaper and I just heard the door open,” she added.
Wendy said she was still in bed and didn’t think anything unusual was happening.
“My understanding is that my son was already outside and I can only assume that they started arguing in the front yard,” she recalled to the media.
When the Los Angeles Police Department knocked on her door 30 minutes later, Wendy said, “I had no idea what was going on.”
“The first time I heard something was going on was when the police came,” she said. “Someone called 911 and heard there was a person wrapped in a blanket outside the house.”
Wendy said she didn’t know who the officers were talking about. She was then instructed to move away from the door because she “believed there was still a dangerous person outside.”
Wendy, Mr Handy’s girlfriend of more than 30 years, said she believed her son Michael, who has been diagnosed with schizophrenia, had suffered a mental crisis after he stopped taking his medication the week before.
“So I think he wasn’t aware of it at the time[of the alleged attack]but we don’t know for sure,” she told the Daily Mail.
Wendy’s son Michael, 44, who lived with the Jumanji star, said he had no idea what caused the conflict.
She told the show she has not left her house since the tragedy because she is “so devastated”.
“I was with James for 31 years and of course I loved him dearly,” she said. “This is very difficult.”
Handy was killed on June 3rd. He passed away at the age of 81.
The “K-9” actor was found unconscious and bleeding in his home after being stabbed multiple times in the chest, police said.
Handy was rushed to a local hospital, where he was pronounced dead.
Michael was arrested and charged with one count of murder in the “K-911” star’s death after calling 911 with a chilling confession.
He could face up to 26 years in prison.
If you or a loved one is affected by any of the issues raised in this article, please call SAMHSA’s national helpline at 1-800-662-HELP (4357).
