Gene Hackman likely dead 10 days before found, pills are ‘important evidence’, sheriff says
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Actor Gene Hackman was likely dead for 10 days before he and his wife’s body were discovered at their Santa Fe, N.M., home earlier this week.
The Oscar winner and his wife were found dead with one of the family’s three dogs by maintenance workers who made the discovery on Wednesday. Authorities said there were no obvious signs of foul play but the circumstances of their deaths warranted further investigation.
Santa Fe Sheriff Adan Mendoza said at a news conference Friday that Feb. 17th was the last day Hackman’s pacemaker showed activity and “a very good assumption that it was his last day of life.”
Investigators are now looking closely at the pills found at the scene and the couple’s cellphones to piece together the last days of their lives.
“We’ll be analyzing cell phone data, phone calls, text messages, events, photos in the cell phone, to try to piece a timeline together,” Mendoza said.
Here is the latest information on the case.
The bodies of actor Gene Hackman, his wife and their dog were discovered in Santa Fe, N.M., on Wednesday afternoon during a welfare check, officials said.
Where were they found?
Hackman, 95, and Arakawa, 64, were found by a pair of maintenance workers in their housing community shortly before 2 p.m. on Wednesday.
The workers then notified a community caretaker, who went to the home and then called 911.
The caretaker didn’t have all the information when he called but knew he was looking through a window at two bodies lying on the ground inside.
The caller can be heard on audio telling the dispatcher that he can see what appears to be two motionless bodies inside the house. Shaken, he repeatedly says “damn” and urges authorities to rapidly respond.
“No, they are not moving. Please send someone out here quick,” the caller says.
The Oscar winner’s body was found on the floor near the kitchen with a walking cane and a pair of sunglasses nearby, according to a court affidavit. Arakawa’s body was found in a bathroom by the home’s main entrance and prescription pills were scattered on a nearby counter top. Authorities have not revealed what type of pills were found.
One dog was found dead inside the home while two others were alive on the property and able to enter the residence through a door at the back.
Investigators removed two green cellular devices, diltiazem and thyroid medications, Tylenol, medical records, and a 2025 monthly planner from the home, according to a search warrant summary.
Actor Gene Hackman got his break in ‘Bonnie and Clyde’ and rose to stardom in ‘The French Connection.’ He was 95.
How did they die?
That’s still to be determined.
There were no signs of forced entry, no obvious signs of blunt force trauma and no signs of carbon monoxide poisoning, sheriff’s officials revealed in court records. Mendoza said there were no signs of foul play, but investigators are not ruling that out.
“This is an open investigation that’s a couple days old. We’re putting together the timeline. We’re trying to figure out all the evidence and the autopsy is key, and that is going to take some time. A little bit of patience on the family’s part, on everybody’s part, so we can have some answers to these deaths,” Mendoza told the news program “Today.”
When paramedics arrived, they did not attempt any life-saving procedures, because Arakawa and Hackman showed obvious signs of death, Santa Fe Fire Chief Brian Moya told the “Today” show.
“My paramedics did do an evaluation and it was obvious we didn’t do any life-saving measures,” he said. “We didn’t really need to get any closer, due to the fact that it was an obvious death.”
Firefighters tested for a carbon monoxide leak in the home and didn’t find any signs, Moya said. When asked if it was possible that whatever carbon monoxide was in the home could have dissipated over time, Moya said it was a possibility but they can’t know for sure.
Medical investigators have not released an official cause of death for the couple or the German shepherd that was also found dead in the home. The Sheriff’s Animal Control Division worked with couple’s family to ensure the safety of the two surviving dogs.
Mendoza said that the space heater found next to Arakawa’s body on the bathroom floor is not central to their investigation because the couple tested negative for carbon monoxide poisoning.
“Right now, there’s no indication that [the space heater] has anything to do with it,” he said.
What happens next?
The bodies will be inspected by the county’s medical investigator, who is tasked with determining a cause of death.
A toxicology screen will be performed on both Hackman and Arakawa, with results potentially months away. Mendoza said there was no sign of trauma, brain injury and the couple tested negative for carbon monoxide poisoning. The medical examiner has ordered several tests to be expedited, Mendoza said.
Investigators will build out a timeline for when the couple were last seen alive and try to evaluate who spoke to them last. Mendoza described Hackman and Arakawa as “private individuals” who kept to themselves. There are no security cameras inside or outside the home for the investigators to draw upon, Mendoza said Friday.
The maintenance workers who discovered their bodies said they last communicated with the couple about two weeks prior and mainly only spoke to Arakawa through text messages or over the phone.
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