Oscar-winner Gene Hackman, wife Betsy Arakawa and their dog were dead for some time, warrant shows

 

SANTA FE, N.M. — Oscar-winner Gene Hackman, his wife and one of their dogs were apparently dead for some time before a maintenance worker discovered their bodies at the couple’s Santa Fe home, according to investigators.

Hackman, 95, was found dead Wednesday in a mudroom and his 63-year-old wife, Betsy Arakawa, was found in a bathroom next to a space heater, Santa Fe County Sheriff’s Office detectives wrote in a search warrant. There was an open prescription bottle and pills scattered on a countertop near Arakawa.

Denise Avila, a sheriff’s office spokesperson, said there was no indication they had been shot or had any wounds.

The New Mexico Gas Co. tested the gas lines in and around the home after the bodies were discovered, according to the warrant. At the time, it didn’t find any signs of problems and the Fire Department found no signs of a carbon monoxide leak or poisoning. A sheriff’s detective wrote that there were no obvious signs of a gas leak, but he noted that people exposed to gas leaks or carbon monoxide might not show signs of poisoning.

The gruff-but-beloved Hackman was among the best actors of his generation, appearing as villains, heroes and antiheroes in dozens of dramas, comedies and action films from the 1960s until his retirement in the early 2000s.

Worker found bodies of Hackman and his wife

A maintenance worker reported that the home’s front door was open when he arrived to do routine work on Wednesday, and he called police after finding the bodies, investigators said. He and another worker said they rarely saw the homeowners and that their last contact with them had been about two weeks earlier.

Hackman appeared to have fallen, a deputy observed. He was wearing a blue t-shirt, gray sweatpants and slippers. A pair of sunglasses and a cane were nearby.

A dead German shepherd was found in a bathroom closet near Arakawa, police said. Two healthy dogs were found on the property — one inside and one outside.

The Associated Press left email and phone messages Thursday for sheriff’s officials seeking more details. A spokesperson for the University of New Mexico Health Sciences Center, which runs the state’s medical examiner operations, declined to comment on whether the cause and manner of deaths had been determined.