Details still hard to come by in death investigation of Gene Hackman and wife in New Mexico

FRIDAY UPDATE:
Details are only trickling in so far in the investigation of the deaths of actor Gene Hackman and his wife.

Hackman, a Hollywood giant and two-time Oscar winner, was found dead along with his wife and dog in their New Mexico home Wednesday, though investigators believe they may have been dead for some time and the cause of death has yet to be revealed.

Here is what we know:

Investigators in Santa Fe, New Mexico, have not said whether they have determined the cause of death.

According to a search warrant affidavit, a maintenance worker called police after finding the bodies Wednesday. He reported the home’s front door was open when he arrived to do routine work.

In a 911 call, the maintenance worker said he could see Hackman’s wife, 63-year-old Betsy Arakawa, laying on the floor through a window but he was unable to get inside.

Hackman’s body was discovered in the home’s entryway and Arakawa was found dead next to a space heater in a bathroom. On a countertop near Arakawa, pills were scattered next to an open prescription bottle, according to the search warrant.

Police said they found the body of a German shepherd in the bathroom closet. Two other dogs were found alive on the property.

No foul play was suspected, authorities said, though a search warrant showed investigators thought the deaths were “suspicious enough in nature to require a thorough search and investigation.”

The New Mexico Gas Co. tested gas lines at the home but didn’t find any signs of problems at the time, according to the warrant.

An investigator noted people may not show signs of poisoning if they are exposed to gas leaks or carbon monoxide, but also there weren’t signs of a leak.

Results of autopsies conducted on both bodies were not available Thursday, authorities said.


ORIGINAL STORY THURSDAY:
Oscar-winning actor Gene Hackman, his wife and their dog were found dead in their New Mexico home, authorities said Thursday.

Foul play was not suspected, but authorities did not release circumstances of their deaths and said an investigation was ongoing.

Hackman, 95, Betsy Arakawa, 63, and their dog were all dead when deputies entered their home to check on their welfare around 1:45 p.m. Wednesday, Santa Fe County Sheriff’s Office spokesperson Denise Avila said.

The gruff-but-beloved Hackman was among the finest 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.

He was a five-time Oscar nominee who won for “The French Connection” in 1972 and “Unforgiven” two decades later. His death comes just four days before this year’s ceremony.

Hackman met Arakawa, a classically trained pianist who grew up in Hawaii, when she was working part-time at a California gym in the mid-1980s, the New York Times reported in 1989. They soon moved in together, and by the end of the decade had bought their home in Santa Fe.

Hackman was often seen around town and served as a board member of the Georgia O’Keeffe Museum in the 1990s, according to the local paper, The New Mexican.

Aside from appearances at awards shows, he was rarely seen in the Hollywood social circuit and retired about 20 years ago. His was the rare Hollywood retirement that actually lasted.

In his later years, he wrote novels.

Hackman had three children from a previous marriage, but he and Arakawa had no children together. 



(AP Photo Mark J. Terrill)