Oscar-winner Gene Hackman, his wife and one of their dogs were apparently dead for some time before a maintenance worker discovered their bodies at the couple’s Santa Fe home, investigators said.
Hackman, 95, was found dead Wednesday in an entryway, and his 65-year-old wife, Betsy Arakawa, was found in a bathroom next to a space heater, Santa Fe County Sheriff’s Office detectives wrote in a search warrant affidavit. There was an open prescription bottle and pills scattered on a countertop near Arakawa.
Denise Avila, a sheriff’s office spokesperson, said there was no indication they had been shot or had any wounds.
The New Mexico Gas Co. tested the gas lines in and around the home after the bodies were discovered, according to the warrant.
At the time, it didn’t find any signs of problems and the Fire Department found no signs of a carbon monoxide leak or poisoning. A detective wrote that there were no obvious signs of a gas leak, but he noted that people exposed to gas leaks or carbon monoxide might not show signs of poisoning.
The gruff but beloved Hackman was among the most accomplished 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 loved and admired by millions around the world for his brilliant acting career, but to us he was always just Dad and Grandpa,” his daughters and granddaughter said in a statement Thursday. “We will miss him sorely and are devastated by the loss.”
Worker found bodies of Hackman and his wife
According to the search warrant affidavit, a maintenance worker reported that the home’s front door was open when he arrived to do routine work Wednesday, and he called police after finding the bodies.
But in a 911 call, the maintenance worker said he was unable to get inside when the operator asked whether the people in the house were breathing.
“I have no idea,” the subdivision’s caretaker said. “I am 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.”
FILE – Actor Gene Hackman reacts during an interview on March 24, 1972. (AP Photo/George Brich, File).
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He and another worker later told authorities that they rarely saw the homeowners and their last contact with them had been about two weeks ago.
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Hackman appeared to have fallen, a deputy observed. A cane was nearby.
A dead German shepherd was found in a bathroom closet near Arakawa, police said. Two healthy dogs were found on the property — one inside and one outside.
Results of autopsies conducted on both bodies are not available yet, sheriff’s officials said, noting that carbon monoxide and toxicology test results are pending.
The search warrant affidavit suggests that police appear to have a working theory that “some kind of gas poisoning” happened, but that they don’t know yet and aren’t ruling anything out, Loyola Marymount University law professor Laurie Levenson said.
“They don’t have clear evidence that it’s any type of homicide, but they’re asking for blunt instruments or other weapons that could be used,” said Levenson, who has no connection to the investigation. “It doesn’t also look like some kind of planned double-suicide.”
William & Mary Law School professor Jeffrey Bellin said the request for a search warrant was somewhat unusual because investigators who file one usually believe a specific crime was committed. In this case, no alleged crime was mentioned, Bellin said.
Police tend to overstate what they know, but this is the opposite, said Bellin, who also isn’t tied to the investigation.
“It just struck me as very careful in a way that search warrant affidavits often are not,” he said.
“Foul play is not suspected as a factor in those deaths at this time. However, (the) exact cause of death has not been determined,” the Santa Fe County Sheriff’s Office said in a statement to CBS News.
“This is an active and ongoing investigation by the Santa Fe County Sheriff’s Office,” the statement added.
Actor known for his versatility
Hackman routinely showed up on Hollywood lists of greatest American actors of the 20th century. He could play virtually any kind of role, from comic book villain Lex Luthor in Superman to a coach finding redemption in the sentimental favorite Hoosiers.
Hackman was a five-time Oscar nominee who won best actor in a leading role for The French Connection in 1972 and best actor in a supporting role for Unforgiven two decades later. His death comes just four days before this year’s ceremony.
FILE – Actor Gene Hackman, winner of Best Supporting Actor at academy awards in March 1993. Hackman will turn 80 years on Jan. 30, 2010. (AP Photo, File).
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Tributes quickly poured in from Hollywood.
“There was no finer actor than Gene,” Clint Eastwood, Hackman’s Unforgiven co-star and director, said in a statement. “Intense and instinctive. Never a false note. He was also a dear friend whom I will miss very much.”
“The loss of a great artist, always cause for both mourning and celebration: Gene Hackman a great actor, inspiring and magnificent in his work and complexity,” director Francis Ford Coppola, who helmed 1974’s The Conversation starring Hackman, wrote on Instagram.
Hackman and Arakawa settled in Santa Fe
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. They soon moved in together and relocated to Santa Fe by the end of the decade.
Their Southwestern-style ranch on Old Sunset Trail sits on a hill in a gated community with views of the Rocky Mountains. The sprawling four-bedroom home on 6 acres (2.4 hectares) was built in 1997 and had an estimated market value of a little over $4 million, according to Santa Fe County property tax records.
Hackman and his wife also owned a more modest home next door.
Hackman also co-wrote three novels, starting with the swashbuckler, “Wake of the Perdido Star,” with Daniel Lenihan in 1999, according to publisher Simon & Schuster. He then penned two by himself, concluding with “Pursuit” in 2013, about a female police officer on the tail of a predator.
In his first couple of decades in New Mexico, Hackman was often seen around the historic state capital, known as an artist enclave, tourism destination and retreat for celebrities.
He served on the board of trustees for the Georgia O’Keeffe Museum from 1997-2004, the museum said in a statement.
FILE – Actor Gene Hackman with wife Betsy Arakawa in June 1993. (AP Photo, File).
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In recent years, he was far less visible, though even the most mundane outings caught the attention of the press. There were articles about him attending a show at a performing arts center in 2018, as well as pumping gas, doing yard work and getting a chicken sandwich at Wendy’s in 2023.
Aside from appearances at awards shows, he was rarely seen in the Hollywood social circuit and retired from acting about 20 years ago. His was the rare Hollywood retirement that actually lasted.
Hackman had three children from a previous marriage. He and Arakawa had no children together but were known for having German shepherds.
Hackman told the film magazine Empire in 2020 that he and Arakawa liked to watch DVDs she rented.
“We like simple stories that some of the little low-budget films manage to produce,” he said.
Associated Press writers Felicia Fonseca in Flagstaff, Arizona; Andrew Dalton in Los Angeles; Jacques Billeaud in Phoenix; Mead Gruver in Cheyenne, Wyoming; John Seewer in Toledo, Ohio; and Sylvia Hui in London contributed.
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