EXCLUSIVE: Huge Mystery Still Growing Over Circumstances of Gene Hackman and Wife's Double Death As Authorities REFUSE to Disclose Cause of Couple’s Passing at Oscar-Winner's Home
Mystery continues to surround Gene Hackman and his wife Betsy Arakawa's deaths as cops refuse to confirm cause of their passings.
Feb. 27 2025, Published 10:49 a.m. ET
Mystery surrounding the shock double death of Gene Hackman and his wife Betsy Arakawa continues to grow as cops refuse to disclose how the couple passed away – despite RadarOnline.com revealing the actor's daughter has claimed they choked to death on toxic fumes.
We broke the story of how report officers found Hackman, 95, Arakawa, 64, and the pet dog dead when they performed a welfare check at their Santa Fe home around 1.45pm on Wednesday.
Hackman was found dead alongside his wife and the couple's pet dog inside their Santa Fe home.
County Sheriff's deputies said they "do not believe foul play was a factor in their deaths" but added the "exact cause of death has not been determined."
A source added: “The fact the police have given little information is very mysterious.
“It points to a scenario marred in compilations.”
Iconic actor Hackman was renowned for his love of dogs, and rescued two stray German Shepherds that wandered into a stadium in Baltimore where he were filming scenes for movie The Replacements in 1999.
Hackman named one of the dogs Gene and the other Keanu, after his co-star Keanu Reeves.
He later visited the animals in a shelter and adopted Gene after flying his own German Shepherds from New Mexico to see if they would get along.
Taking to X, one person claiming to be a vet said: "I was on critical care late one night my senior year of veterinary school at Colorado State when Gene Hackman and his wife showed up with their elderly sick dog.
"They had driven eight hours to get the best care for their dog. He seemed like a pretty devoted dog lover to me."
Hackman was a renowned dog lover and once adopted a German Shepherd which roamed onto the set of his movie 'The Replacements' in 1999.
The former Marine appeared in more than 80 films, as well as on television and the stage during his lengthy career that started in the early 1960s.
Hackman was first propelled into the spotlight when he starred in Bonnie and Clyde in 1967, and he went on to star in a slew of hit movies and TV shows including Superman, The French Connection and Get Shorty.
He retired from acting in 2004, citing a back issue caused by stress, and was asked in a 2011 interview if he would ever be tempted to make one more movie.
Hackman replied: "If I could do it in my own house, maybe, without them disturbing anything and just one or two people."
But he didn't completely stay completely from the industry, as he has narrated two Marine Corps documentaries: The Unknown Flag Raiser of Iwo Jima (2016) and We, The Marines (2017.)
Hackman, pictured in 2000 alongside Monica Bellucci and Morgan Freeman, at a photo call for their movie 'Under Suspicion.'
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Born in California on January 30, 1930, the actor left school after a row with his baseball coach and, lying about his age, joined the U.S. Marines aged 16 "looking for adventure".
For the next four years, he served in post-war China and Japan as a field radio operator. His weakness for brawling got him into trouble to the extent that, after being promoted to corporal, he almost immediately lost his stripes.
He was discharged in 1952 after he was injured in a road accident.
After moving back to California following his military service, he decided to pursue acting after briefly living in New York.
He had previously joined the Pasadena Playhouse in 1956, where he befriended fellow aspiring actor Dustin Hoffman.
According to the Rain Man star, Hackman was squeamish when it came on-screen violence but loved a real-life scrap.
Hoffman recalled his friend once announcing "I gotta go" and disappearing off to a bar because he "had to get in a fight."
And he was still getting into fights in his seventies.
In 2001, a 71-year-old Hackman started a fist fight with two men over a minor traffic accident in West Hollywood.
"He brushed against me and I popped him," he recalled. "Then the other guy jumped on me. We had this ugly wrestling match on the ground.
"The police came ... I got a couple of good shots in. The guy had me around the neck. That's the ugly part. When you're down on the ground and you're nearly 72 years old."
