How It Could Take THREE MONTHS to Unravel Triple Death Mystery of Hollywood Icon Gene Hackman, 95, Wife Betsy Arakawa, 63, And Pet Dog — As Cops Announce Couple’s Two Other Pet Pooches are 'Safe and Well' After Killer Carbon Monoxide Poisoning Theory Is Dismissed
Both Gene Hackman and his wife, Betsy Arakawa, were found dead in their New Mexico home on February 26.
March 1 2025, Published 1:00 p.m. ET
It could take three months to unravel the mystery surrounding the deaths of Gene Hackman, his wife Betsy Arakawa and one of their three dogs, RadarOnline.com can reveal.
Santa Fe Sheriff Adan Mendoza said prescription pills found near the body of the actor's wife were "important evidence" and cannot rule out "foul play".
The deaths of Gene Hackman and his wife, Betsy Arakawa, were 'suspicious enough in nature to require a thorough search and investigation'.
Mendoza revealed police also retrieved "other medications" from the gated ranch house in Santa Fe, New Mexico, US, where the partially mummified bodies of the Hollywood icon, 95, his wife, 65, and one of their three dogs were found.
The sheriff said toxicology tests could take months but revealed the initial examination by the medical examiner, Dr. Michael Baden, showed no sign of carbon monoxide.
Gene Hackman's pacemaker stopped working nine days before his body was discovered.
An examination of the 95-year-old Hackman's pacemaker showed it stopped working on February 17, which means he may have died nine days earlier.
Dr. Philip Keen, the retired chief medical examiner in Maricopa County, Arizona, said the moment when a pacemaker stops working could dictate a time of death, but not always.
Keen said: "If your heart required a pacemaker, there would certainly be an interruption at that point – and it might be the hallmark of when the death occurred.
"But it's not necessarily because some people get a pacemaker to augment things, not necessarily replace things."
The medical examiner said there was no sign of carbon monoxide poisoning.
Hackman's body was found in an entryway. His wife, Betsy Arakawa, was found in a bathroom on her side. A space heater was near her head, and pills were scattered next to an open prescription bottle on the counter. Investigators said the heater likely was pulled down when she fell.
The pills were identified on Friday, February 28, as an unspecified thyroid medication, Tylenol, and a high blood pressure medication, diltiazem.
Detectives wrote in a search warrant affidavit that investigators thought the deaths were "suspicious enough in nature to require a thorough search and investigation".
Sheriff Mendoza told reporters during a press conference: "It's not normal to find two people deceased in the residence. That's concerning. And then there was also a dog that was in a kennel that was also found deceased."
Authorities also do not believe the home had any surveillance cameras.
Gene Hackman's two other dogs were found alive and safe.
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The Santa Fe County Sheriff's Department confirmed the two other dogs from the property were alive and safe.
A statement from the sheriff's department read: "The Santa Fe County Animal Control Division worked with the family to ensure the safety of the two dogs."
