Neighbours of Gene Hackman make shock claims about reclusive actor

The only sign of Gene Hackman was his kerbside bins being put out for collection, members of his Santa Fe gated community say.

Neighbours of Gene Hackman have revealed just how reclusive the Oscar-winning actor was after the partially mummified bodies of the 95-year-old and his wife Betsy Arakawa were found in their Santa Fe home at least nine days after their deaths.

The man who lives next door to Hackman told the New York Times that he has never seen or spoken to the star, despite having lived there part-time for the past five years.

“They have a gate, and we have a gate, and we just have never even seen each other,” James Everett said.

Similarly, Bud Hamilton, who has lived within the Hackmans’ gated community for almost 20 years, said he has only socialised with the couple on one occasion. He added, however, that after that occasion, Hackman made yearly donations to a charity that he is associated with.

Another neighbour, Harvey Chalker, said, “He wanted to be quiet, he didn’t want to be bothered, and I don’t blame him.”

Investigations continue into the deaths of Gene Hackman and his wife Betsy Arakawa, pictured here in 1986. Picture: Donaldson Collection/Michael Ochs Archives/Getty Images

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According to the New York Times, the actor was so reclusive that the only sign of him noticed by his neighbours in recent years was the couple’s kerbside rubbish bins that were left out for collection.

A criminal investigation was launched after Hackman and classical pianist Arakawa were found dead alongside one of their dogs in their home in the US state of New Mexico in circumstances deemed “suspicious”.

Santa Fe Sheriff Department officials said there were no obvious signs of foul play and no external trauma on either Hackman or Arakawa, and preliminary autopsies confirmed that the couple had tested negative for carbon monoxide. The actor likely died about nine days before the bodies were discovered, police have revealed, with his pacemaker last recording an event on February 17.

Forensic pathologist Dr. Michael Baden said in an appearance on Fox Report that the pacemaker records could offer a key clue to his death.

“That event would have been a cardiac arrest caused by an abnormal pulse rate,” Baden said, “The pacemaker keeps track of the pulse, and when it gets down too low, it discharges. And that’s all in the record.”

Law enforcement officials outside the Santa Fe home of Gene Hackman and Betsy Arakawa. Picture: AP Photo/Roberto Rosales

The entrance to the gated community where Hackman, Arakawa and their dog were found dead in their home. Picture: AP Photo/Roberto Rosales

“So the autopsy showed he didn’t have any injury,” he continued. “There was no carbon monoxide. And he had - the most common cause of death in this country - severe heart disease, coronary artery disease and high blood pressure perhaps, from what’s been released. So that would cause him, having cardiac arrest in the mudroom, to collapse right there.”

Hackman’s body was found on the floor of a mudroom with a walking cane and sunglasses nearby. Detectives suspect he may have “suddenly fallen.” Arawkawa’s body was found on the ground in a bathroom with a space heater near her head and an open bottle of prescription medication nearby.

Baden shared his theory that Arakawa’s death may have occurred after Hackman’s pacemaker stopped while she was trying to help her husband.

Baden explained that in an agitated state, Arakawa could have rushed to the bathroom to get Hackman’s blood pressure medication before falling to the floor while scattering the pills and taking the space heater down with her.

Hackman and classical musician Arakawa pictured together in 1992. Picture: Ron Galella, Ltd./Ron Galella Collection via Getty Images

“She may have struck her head on the way down and had some internal injury to the brain that doesn’t show up on the outside or bleeding in the inside of the brain,” Baden said. “Or that she may also, at 65, had severe heart disease and excitement can cause a trigger to the cardiac rhythm causing death under those circumstances. I think the first, that striking her head would be more common.”

The body of a German Shepherd was found around 3 to 4 metres away from Arakawa in a bathroom closest, and two other dogs were found alive on the property.