Gene Hackman likely died nine days before he was found, sheriff says
Actor Gene Hackman likely died nine days before he and his wife, Betsy Arakawa, were found dead inside their home in Santa Fe, New Mexico, the county sheriff said.
A pathologist had determined the last signal from the 95-year-old Oscar-winning actor’s pacemaker was from February 17, Santa Fe county sheriff Adan Mendoza said on Saturday (AEDT).
Santa Fe County police at the home of actor Gene Hackman and his wife Betsy Arakawa, where they were found dead.Credit: AP
“It is a good assumption that was his last day of life,” Mendoza said, adding the cause of death in each case had not yet been determined.
Tests on Hackman and Arakawa, 64, for carbon monoxide poisoning have proved negative. Mendoza said it was not clear who of the pair died first, after the bodies of Hackman and Arakawa were discovered in separate rooms in their house on Wednesday.
The sheriff again ruled out foul play.
Hackman and Arakawa called Santa Fe home from the 1980s and were active in the city’s arts community and culinary scene. In recent years, the couple were seen less often as Hackman’s health deteriorated. The couple lived a very private life before their deaths, Mendoza said.
Gene Hackman and wife Betsy Arakawa in 2003.Credit: AP
The caretaker at their gated community discovered the couple dead on Wednesday when he looked into the home through a window, according to his call to emergency services.
Sheriff’s deputies found Hackman in the kitchen. Arakawa and a dog were found in a bathroom, with scattered pills from an open prescription bottle on the bathroom counter.
