“Suspicious Enough”: Gene Hackman & Wife’s Deaths Probed By Cops; Scattered Pills Found, No Gas Leak
- Gene Hackman and his wife Betsy Arakawa were found dead in their Santa Fe home, prompting suspicion from the police and the issuance of a search warrant.
Gene Hackman’s death has raised enough suspicion among the Santa Fe police that they have obtained a search warrant for the Oscar winner’s home after the nonagenarian, his wife Betsy Arakawa and one of their dogs were found dead last night.
“At this time; the manner and cause of death pertaining to Eugene ‘Gene’ Allen Hackman and Betsy Arakawa passing is unknown,” said Santa Fe Sheriff’s department Det. Roy Arndt late Wednesday night in an affidavit submitted to a state judge just hours after the bodies were discovered in the couple’s longtime New Mexico home.
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“Affiant believes that the circumstances surrounding the death of the two deceased individuals to be suspicious enough in nature to require a thorough search and investigation because the reporting party found the front door of the residence unsecured and opened, deputies observed a healthy dog running loose on the property, another healthy dog near the deceased female, a deceased dog laying 10-15 feet from the deceased female in a closet of the bathroom, the heater being moved, the pill bottle being opened and pills scattered next to the female, the male decedent being located in a separate room of the residence, and no obvious signs of a gas leak,” the document adds.
READ THE AFFIDAVIT ON GENE HACKMAN’S DEATH & POLICE REQUEST FOR A SEARCH WARRANT HERE
Two men who worked on Hackman’s property reported the decomposed bodies in the home on Wednesday . The 30-year long married couple had not been seen for a few weeks, sources say.
There are no indications of a home invasion or anything like that, sources tell me, but the cops do believe more is going on than first assumed. At point strongly implied in the affidavit when Det. Arndt says: “There are no immediate signs or indications of blunt force trauma. However, Affiant is seeking to seize any blunt force objects in the event there is any indication of blunt force trauma once the Office of Medical Investigations arrives on scene; and conducts their initial field investigation and possible cause of death.”
The affidavit was approved almost immediately by Magistrate Court Judge John Rysanek at 9:30 pm local time.
In the authorization , the judge wrote:
“YOUR ARE HEREBY COMMANDED to search forthwith the person of place described in the Affidavit between the hours of 6:00 a.m. and 10:00 p.m., unless I have specifically authorized a night-time search. For the person or property described in the Affidavit. Serving this warrant with a copy of the Affidavit, and making the search and if the person or property to be found there, to seize the person or the property and hold for safekeeping until further order of this court.
You are further directed to prepare a written inventory of any person of property seized. You are further directed to file the return and written inventory with the Court promptly after its execution”.
While not revealing any details, the Santa Fe Coroner’s office has said that cause of death would be determined in the next month or so. The Sheriff’s department will be providing more information of the death of the 95-year old Hackman and the 63-year-old Arakawa later Thursday, Deadline has been told.
These latest developments are a dramatic shift from initial statements from the Sheriff’s department last night.
“On February 26, 2025 at approximately 1:45 p.m., Santa Fe County Sheriff’s deputies were dispatched to an address on Old Sunset Trail in Hyde Park where Gene Hackman, 95 and his wife Betsy Arakawa, 64, and a dog were found deceased,” they said. “Foul play is not suspected as a factor in those deaths at this time however exact cause of death has not been determined. This is an active and ongoing investigation by the Santa Fe County Sheriff’s Office.”
Out of the public eye for the last two decades, Hackman won Oscars for The French Connection (1971) and Clint Eastwood’s Unforgiven (1992), and was Oscar-nominated for roles in Bonnie and Clyde (1967), I Never Sang for My Father (1970), and Mississippi Burning (1988).
Admired and respected among his peers, as well as a loved by audiences, Hackman had a wide range. He played arch-villian Lex Luthor in Superman (1978) and its sequel Superman II a far departure from Popeye Doyle. Along with the iconic Hoosiers (1986), Hackman also starred in the likes of Francis Ford Coppola’s acclaimed The Conversation (1974, the sequel by any other name Enemy of the State (1998) with Will Smith. Additionally, giving a masterclass in The Royal Tenenbaums (2001) and going head-to-head with Denzel Washington in Crimson Tide (1995), Hackman starred in The Poseidon Adventure (1972), Scarecrow (1972), ), A Bridge Too Far (1977), Under Fire (1983), Power (1986), Loose Cannons (1990), The Firm ( 1993), The Quick and the Dead (1995), The Birdcage (1996), Behind Enemy Lines (2001), and Runaway Jury (2003). His last on-screen appearance was in 2004’s Welcome to Mooseport .
The Santa Fe Sheriff’s department was in the local, national and international spotlight in the aftermath of Rust cinematographer Halyna Hutchins being killed by a bullet from Alec Baldwin ‘s gun on the New Mexico set of the indie Western in October 2021. The involuntary manslaughter trial against Baldwin was halted and all charges dropped just a few days into the proceedings last summer when defense attorneys successfully accused prosecutors and police of surpressing evidence.
Melanie Goodfellow contributed to this report.
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