The maintenance worker who discovered the bodies of Gene Hackman and wife, Betsy Arakawa, told emergency services he was at first unsure whether the pair were awake or breathing.
In the two-minute phone call, the worker – who was attending the Santa Fe home to conduct routine maintenance on Wednesday (Santa Fe time) – told a 911 operator that he and a colleague had found “two or one deceased” people inside a house. He couldn’t initially tell if Hackman and Arakawa were awake but said they didn’t appear to be.
Santa Fe County police at the home of actor Gene Hackman and his wife Betsy Arakawa, where they were found dead.Credit: AP
“I’m not inside the house; it’s closed, it’s locked, I can’t go in, but I can see she’s laying down on the floor from the window,” the worker said in response to questions from the operator. “No dude, they’re not moving, just send somebody out here really quick.”
The call triggered the dispatch of emergency services, beginning an investigation into the deaths of Hackman, Arakawa, and one of their dogs, which have been treated as “suspicious enough” to warrant further probing.
A police affidavit for a search warrant says that when officers then arrived and spoke to the men, they’d found the front door of the house open.
Hackman, 95, was found dead on Wednesday (Santa Fe time) in a side room near the kitchen area, while Arakawa, 63, was discovered in a bathroom next to a space heater. There was an open prescription bottle and pills scattered on a countertop near Arawaka.
Police will seize various personal items and electronic devices, and any weapon, tool or instrument capable of “causing blunt force trauma to the human body” as part of their investigation.
Detective Roy Arndt said there were no immediate signs or indications of blunt force trauma on the bodies of Hackman or Arakawa. The testing of gas lines by the New Mexico Gas Co. found no issues, nor did the Fire Department, after checking for signs of a carbon monoxide leak or poisoning.
The maintenance worker said he and another worker rarely saw Hackman and Arakawa, and their last contact was about two weeks ago.
With AP and Reuters
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