An investigation is underway into the deaths of Gene Hackman and his wife, Betsy Arakawa, who were found dead at their home in Santa Fe, N.M., on Wednesday.
Mr. Hackman’s body was found in a mud room, and Ms. Arakawa’s on the floor of a bathroom, according to a search warrant affidavit. A dead German shepherd was discovered in a closet of the bathroom near Ms. Arakawa. The Santa Fe County sheriff, Adam Mendoza, said on Friday that it appeared that “several days, possibly even up to a couple weeks” had passed since the couple had died.
The sheriff’s office, which is conducting the investigation, said in a statement on Thursday afternoon that “there were no apparent signs of foul play.” But in an interview Friday morning with the “Today” show on NBC, Sheriff Mendoza said he was “not ruling that out.”
There were no obvious signs of a gas leak in the home, according to the search warrant affidavit, and the Fire Department did not find signs of a carbon monoxide leak.
Here’s what we know.
What happened?
According to the sheriff’s office, deputies were called to the home after a maintenance worker who had gone to the home to perform some work on Wednesday afternoon grew concerned when no one answered the door. The worker asked local security to do a welfare check, and when they arrived and saw unresponsive bodies through the window, they called 911.
Deputies found Ms. Arakawa lying on her side on the bathroom floor with a space heater near her head, which could have fallen with her, the affidavit said. An open prescription bottle and scattered pills were near her body on a counter in the bathroom.
Ms. Arakawa’s body showed signs of decomposition, the affidavit said, as well as “mummification in both hands and feet.” The dog was 10 to 15 feet away from Ms. Arakawa’s body in a bathroom closet. Two other dogs were found alive on the property.
Mr. Hackman’s body was in the mud room, with his body in a similar condition to his wife’s, the affidavit said. He was found in gray sweatpants, a blue long-sleeve T-shirt, brown slippers and with a cane, the affidavit said. A pair of sunglasses was to his left. One of the deputies on the scene said that it appeared he had “suddenly fallen,” according to the affidavit.
Where does the investigation stand?
The investigation was ongoing Thursday. Autopsies performed on Mr. Hackman and Ms. Arakawa showed no initial sign of external trauma to either of them, the sheriff’s office said.
Sheriff Adan Mendoza of Santa Fe County said in a phone interview that investigators were still trying to determine what caused their deaths, adding that no note had been found.
Carbon monoxide tests and toxicology tests were requested for both of them, but the results were still pending, according to the sheriff’s office. When asked on “Today” if the prescription pills might be related to the deaths, Sheriff Mendoza told the interviewer, “Yes, that — we’re looking at that specifically.”
How did Mr. Hackman spend his final years?
Mr. Hackman moved to Santa Fe County in the 1980s after filming some movies there. He married Ms. Arakawa, a classical pianist, in 1991. The couple lived in an adobe home in a secluded neighborhood high above downtown Santa Fe, with winding roads and views of the mountains. Mr. Hackman was seen from time to time in the city’s downtown.
Mr. Hackman was nominated for five Academy Awards and won two during his 40-year career. He never formally retired from acting, but he told an interviewer in 2008 that he had given it up because he did not want to “keep pressing” and risk “going out on a real sour note.”
In his later years Mr. Hackman devoted time to painting and sculpture. He also became a published author. He collaborated with a friend on three historical novels, and later wrote “Payback at Morning Peak” (2011), a western, and “Pursuit” (2013), a thriller.
