An investigation is under way into the deaths of Oscar-winning actor Gene Hackman and his wife, classical pianist Betsy Arakawa, after their bodies were found along with that of one of their dogs in their New Mexico home, the local sheriff’s department has confirmed. A search warrant revealed they had been dead for some time.
The local gas provider, the New Mexico Gas Company, was involved in the investigation alongside the Santa Fe county sheriff’s department, reported Associated Press, raising speculation that carbon monoxide poisoning lay behind the deaths. The emergence later on Thursday of a search warrant revealed that prescription pills were found near Ms Arakawa’s body.
Hackman (95), and Arakawa (63), were found by police officers in their home in the Hyde Park area of Santa Fe on Wednesday. The sheriff’s office said that foul play was not suspected, “however exact cause of death has not been determined”.
The spokesperson added that the cause of death is unlikely to be known until an autopsy is completed.
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On Thursday celebrity news website TMZ and trade magazine Variety obtained a search warrant which gave new details about what officers found during their initial visit. According to the outlet, the search warrant reveals that Hackman and Arakawa had been dead for some time before their bodies were discovered.
[ Gene Hackman: Ageless, everyman actor who never gave a bad performanceOpens in new window ]
A prescription bottle was also found on a countertop in the house, with pills scattered around.
According to the search warrant, Arakawa was found on the floor of a bathroom near the countertop beside a space heater that the deputies believed could have toppled and knocked her over. Hackman was in a separate room, fully clothed; officers believed he might have had a sudden fall.
The warrant indicated that in the initial search, no problems with leaking gas were found.
TMZ quoted the search warrant concluding that the deaths were “suspicious enough in nature to require a thorough search and investigation”.
“All I can say is that we’re in the middle of a preliminary death investigation,” sheriff Adan Mendoza of Santa Fe county told the Santa Fe New Mexican. There were three German Shepherds at the home at the time that the officers entered the property, one of which was found dead inside a kennel.
The officers reported that there were no signs of trauma to the bodies. No suicide note was discovered, according to the New York Times.
[ Gene Hackman 1930-2025: in picturesOpens in new window ]
The couple had lived in New Mexico since 2004 when Hackman retired from Hollywood. They had married in 1991.
Elizabeth Jean Hackman, the actor’s daughter and one of his three children with Faye Maltese, told TMZ that the family suspected that carbon monoxide poisoning might be to blame.
She told the outlet they were not certain, but that they thought toxic fumes might be the cause of death.
Hackman, a former Marine known for his raspy voice, appeared in more than 80 films, as well as on television and the stage during a lengthy career that started 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 was also nominated for best supporting actor in 1971 for I Never Sang for My Father.
It was his turn as Popeye Doyle, the rumpled New York detective chasing international drug dealers in director William Friedkin’s thriller The French Connection, that assured his stardom and a best actor Academy Award.
He also won a best supporting actor Oscar in 1993 as a mean sheriff in the Clint Eastwood western Unforgiven, and was nominated for an Academy Award for his turn as an FBI agent in the 1988 historical drama Mississippi Burning.
Hackman also displayed a talent for comedy with acclaimed turns in Young Frankenstein and Superman, playing the superhero’s nemesis Lex Luthor in the latter
His later film roles included acclaimed comic turns in Heartbreakers and The Royal Tenenbaums and thrillers such as Heist and Runaway Jury. His final film was the 2004 comedy Welcome to Mooseport. In 2008, he confirmed his retirement.
“The straw that broke the camel’s back was actually a stress test that I took in New York,” said Hackman to Empire magazine about his retirement. “The doctor advised me that my heart wasn’t in the kind of shape that I should be putting it under any stress.”
When asked in a 2011 interview, how he would describe his life, he said: “‘He tried.’ I think that’d be fairly accurate.” – Guardian/Agencies.
