An active investigation is under way into the deaths of the Oscar-winning actor Gene Hackman and his wife, the classical pianist Betsy Arakawa, after their bodies were found “in a state of decomposition” along with that of one of their dogs in their home in New Mexico, the local sheriff’s department has confirmed.
The local gas provider, the New Mexico Gas Co, was involved in the investigation alongside the Santa Fe county sheriff’s department, the Associated Press reported, raising speculation that carbon monoxide poisoning was behind the deaths. The emergence later on Thursday of a search warrant, however, cast doubts about a possible gas leak and raised alternative questions about the discovery of prescription pills near Arakawa’s body.
Hackman, 95, and Arakawa, 65, were found by deputies in their house in the Hyde Park area of Santa Fe on Wednesday. The sheriff’s spokesperson said that foul play was not suspected, “however exact cause of death has not been determined”.
The spokesperson added that the cause of death was unlikely to be known until autopsies are completed.
Preliminary findings from a medical investigation found that Hackman and Arakawa had suffered “no external trauma”, the sheriff’s office said on Thursday. No suicide note was discovered, according to the New York Times.
Further questions were raised on Thursday in a search warrant, a copy of which was obtained by the Guardian, which gave new details about what deputies found during their initial visit. The search warrant revealed that Hackman and Arakawa had been dead for some time before their bodies were discovered as “the body was in a state of decomposition with bloating in her face and mummification in her hands and feet”.
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’s body was in the mud room of the house, fully clothed in gray sweatpants and a long-sleeve T-shirt and with a cane.
Deputies believed he might have had a sudden fall.
The warrant indicated that in the initial search no problems with leaking gas were found. The search warrant concluded 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,” the sheriff, Adan Mendoza of Santa Fe county, told the Santa Fe New Mexican. Three German shepherds were at the home at the time that deputies entered the property, one of which was found deceased inside a closet in the bathroom about 10-15ft from Arakawa’s body.
The couple had lived in New Mexico since 2004, when Hackman retired from Hollywood. They had married in 1991.
A longtime friend of the couple, Barbara Lenihan, told the New York Times that she had spoken with Arakawa in January. At that time, Hackman appeared to be becoming more frail but was still active.
“They always were somewhat reclusive even though everyone loved to be around them,” she told the newspaper.
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.
• This article was amended on 28 February 2025. A previous version, based on initial reports from the US authorities, gave Betsy Arakawa’s age as 63; however, it has since been confirmed that she was 65.
