Gene Hackman probably died nine days before he was found, sheriff says

Actor Gene Hackman probably died nine days before he and his wife, Betsy Arakawa, were found dead inside their home in Santa Fe, New Mexico, the county sheriff said.

A pathologist had determined the last signal from the 95-year-old Oscar-winning actor’s pacemaker was from February 17, Santa Fe county sheriff Adan Mendoza said on Saturday (AEDT).

Santa Fe County police at the home of actor Gene Hackman and his wife, Betsy Arakawa, where they were found dead.Credit: AP

“It is a good assumption that was his last day of life,” Mendoza said, adding that the cause of death in each case had not been determined.

Tests on Hackman and Arakawa, 63, for carbon monoxide poisoning have proved negative. Mendoza said it was not clear who of the pair died first, after their bodies were discovered in separate rooms in their house on Wednesday.

The sheriff again ruled out foul play.

Hackman and Arakawa had called Santa Fe home from the 1980s and were active in the city’s arts community and culinary scene. In recent years, the couple were seen less often as Hackman’s health deteriorated. They lived a very private life before their deaths, Mendoza said.

Gene Hackman and Betsy Arakawa in 2003.Credit: AP

The caretaker at their gated community discovered the couple dead on Wednesday when he looked into the home through a window, according to his call to emergency services.

Sheriff’s deputies found Hackman in a mud room near the kitchen, while Arakawa and a dog were found in a bathroom. There were scattered pills from an open prescription bottle on the bathroom counter.

Hackman and Arakawa appeared to have suddenly fallen to the floor, and neither showed signs of blunt force trauma.

One door was found ajar at the back of the house. Two of the couple’s surviving dogs had used it to move in and out of the house, Mendoza said.

Gene Hackman in Behind Enemy Lines.Credit:

Mendoza said he had requested a toxicology report on pills in the bathroom and other medications in the house, calling it “something of concern”.

“That’s obviously very important evidence at the scene,” Mendoza told NBC News, adding that the report could take three months or longer.

Among the evidence deputies took from the house were thyroid and heart medications, a 2025 monthly calendar, two mobile phones, and MyQuest health records, according to a police inventory.

Hackman, a former Marine, appeared in more than 80 films, as well as on television and the stage during a lengthy career that began in the early 1960s.

He earned his first Oscar nomination for his breakout role as the brother of bank robber Clyde Barrow in 1967’s Bonnie and Clyde. He won an Oscar for best actor in 1972 for his portrayal of detective Popeye Doyle in The French Connection, and in 1993 won an Academy Award for best supporting actor for Unforgiven.

Reuters

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