John Charles Handy (October 20, 1844 – September 24, 1891) was a prominent physician who attacked his wife's divorce attorney and was killed.

He severely abused his wife Mary Page, chaining her to a bed in their home for days and may have administered morphine to her until she was addicted.

Two years later he was having an affair with a married woman and filed for divorce, accusing her of being "a morphine fiend and a common slut.

"[citation needed] Handy publicly stated that any lawyer who defended her "would be sorry", and repeatedly threatened to kill her attorney Francis J. Heney.

After he won the divorce trial and custody of their children, who he sent to live with his mother, he tried to evict Mary Page from the home the court had awarded her.

He served as an Army contract surgeon in Arizona Territory at Fort Apache and Camp Thomas for two years.

[2] At Camp Thomas he got into a disagreement with the post trader, Mr. Huey, who "applied to him a term for the use of which many a man on the frontier had been launched into eternity.

[2] Handy ended his surgery contract with the Army and opened a practice in Tucson in August 1871[2] where he became the "foremost physician and surgeon".

[2] During a smallpox epidemic in Tucson during 1877, 24 people died, and he offered the vaccine free to anyone who could not afford it.

"[1] Handy served on the committee that celebrated the arrival of the Southern Pacific Railroad from California in Tucson.

Rumors circulated that Handy had threatened to kill the judge and her lawyers and she withdrew her suit within the next month.

By July 1898, Mary later testified that she was a virtual prisoner of her husband who chained her to a bedpost when he left home.

[2] In July 1889 Handy filed for divorce and six months later got the court's permission to place Spencer in hospital custody.

The town gossip was that Handy wanted to marry another woman named Mrs. Pansy Smith that he had been seeing for some time.

[2] On more than one occasion, as the lawyer walked along the street, Handy intentionally attempted to run Heney over with his buggy.

[2] The divorce trial dragged on for eight months, piling up a stack of legal documentation more than 5 inches (130 mm) high of complaints, countercharges, motions and depositions from prominent Tucson citizens.

[1] Despite witnesses supporting his wife's allegations of abuse, Handy prevailed and obtained custody of all five children.

In July 1891, Handy, acting in his mother's name, sued his ex-wife for unlawful detainer of property, trying to force her out of the house that the court had granted her.

[2] His suit was dismissed but he went to a second judge and presented the deed that his wife had signed under duress two years previously.

[7] Handy, although wounded, lifted the smaller Heney off the ground and then both men fell to the street, still grappling for the revolver.

Handy insisted that his friend Dr. George E. Goodfellow in Tombstone, widely known for his expertise in treating gunshot wounds,[9] be summoned to repair the internal damage.

In an effort to get to Tucson faster, he took over the locomotive from the engineer and drove the train at high speed, and covered the 46 miles (74 km) in record time, arriving at 8:15 pm.

Goodfellow began operating at about 10:00 pm, and he found 18 perforations in Handy's intestines, which he immediately set about cleaning and closing.

Two days after the shooting, Heney was represented by Selim M. Franklin at the inquest into Handy's death.

Cameron, the court clerk, testified that Handy had repeatedly threatened to kill Heney.

[5] Witnesses testified that on more than one occasion, as the lawyer walked along the street, Handy had intentionally attempted to run Heney over with his buggy.

[10] Handy was honored with Masonic funeral rites in Tucson which were followed by a procession up Court Street including "a thousand Mexican women, wearing black rebozos" who had benefited from his services.

[3][5][11] Handy named his sister Cornelia Holbrook of San Francisco to administer his estate, which he divided among his five children.

His ex-wife Mary unsuccessfully contested the will, and Holbrook sold all of Handy's Arizona property, including his office, horses, buggies, medical books, instruments, and mining claims.

[2] Her son John Handy Jr. (Jack) grew up in Oakland with his siblings at their paternal grandmother Roseanna Handel's home.