An investigation has been launched into the deaths of Gene Hackman and his wife, Betsy Arakawa.
The couple and their dog were found dead inside their Santa Fe, NM, home by Santa Fe County police on Wednesday afternoon.
The Santa Fe County Sheriff’s Office told NBC News Thursday that there’s “an active and ongoing investigation” into Hackman and Arakawa’s deaths.
Gene Hackman and wife Betsy Arakawa in 1986. Getty Images
The couple and their dog were found dead inside their home. Facebook / Animal Rescue, Inc.According to a statement from the sheriff’s public information officer, Denise Womack Avila, deputies were called at about 1:45 p.m. Wednesday to an address on Old Sunset Trail in Hyde Park.
Police went to Hackman’s home after a neighbor called authorities to carry out a welfare check, the sheriff’s office told an Albuquerque reporter, per NBC News.
Hackman and Arakawa’s bodies were not identified until 12:30 a.m. Thursday.
According to the sheriff’s office, police went to Hackman’s home after a neighbor called authorities to carry out a welfare check. Jerry Ruelas for the NYPost
Betsy Arakawa and Gene Hackman at the 2003 Golden Globes. Getty Images“Foul play is not suspected as a factor in those deaths at this time however exact cause of death has not been determined,” Avila’s statement said.
The Post has reached out to Hackman’s representatives and the sheriff’s office for comment.
Celebrity forensic pathologist Michael M. Baden appeared on Fox on Thursday and said he thinks the couple died of “accidental carbon monoxide poisoning.”
He speculated that a car’s motor engine may not have been turned off and the exhaust went from the garage into the house, killing Hackman, Arakawa and their dog.
Gene Hackman and Betsy Arakawa at the 63rd Annual National Board of Review Awards in 1992. Ron Galella Collection via Getty Images
Law enforcement officials outside the home on Thursday. AP
Celebrity forensic pathologist Michael M. Baden said he thinks the couple died due to “accidental carbon monoxide poisoning.” AP“They don’t feel any pain. They don’t know anything’s wrong,” said Baden. “It’s silent, carbon monoxide, it’s painless, and they just go to sleep.”
Baden added, “It can also happen from a boiler that malfunctions and produces carbon monoxide,” he said.
Hackman, one of the most accomplished actors of all time, was 95.
Arakawa, a classic pianist who was married to Hackman since 1991, was 65.
Gene Hackman and his wife out in LA in 2001. GC ImagesHackman won two Oscars for his roles in “The French Connection” and “Unforgiven.” He also won three Golden Globes and was bestowed the Cecil B. DeMille Award in 2003.
His other famous films include “Bonnie and Clyde,” “Mississippi Burning,” “Superman,” “A Bridge Too Far,” “Hoosiers,” “The Firm” and “The Royal Tenenbaums.”
Gene Hackman at “The Royal Tenenbaums” premiere in LA in December 2001. AFP via Getty ImagesHe took his final bow in 2004’s “Welcome to Mooseport” and retired from Hollywood, opting to move to New Mexico with his wife.
“The straw that broke the camel’s back was actually a stress test that I took in New York,” Hackman told Empire in 2009. “The doctor advised me that my heart wasn’t in the kind of shape that I should be putting it under any stress.”
After quitting acting, Hackman went on to co-write adventure novels such as “Justice For None” and “Wake of the Perdido Star” with his friend, underwater researcher Daniel Lenihan.
Betsy Arakawa and Gene Hackman at the 1994 Vanity Fair Oscar Party. Ron Galella Collection via Getty ImagesHackman and his wife made their final appearance in public together nearly a year before their deaths.
The couple were pictured on March 28, 2024, at Pappadeaux’s Seafood Kitchen in New Mexico. Hackman used a cane at the time.
Hackman was previously married to Faye Maltese, who died in 2017. They had three children together, Christopher, Elizabeth Jean and Leslie Anne.
