The shocking discovery of Gene Hackman and his wife, Betsy Arakawa, in their New Mexico home has left investigators searching for answers. The legendary actor, believed to have died about ten days before his body was found, leaves behind an air of mystery with no clear explanation yet.
Hollywood icon Gene Hackman was likely dead for around ten days before his body was discovered alongside that of his wife in their Santa Fe home, authorities announced Friday. The 95-year-old actor and classical pianist Betsy Arakawa, 63, were found lifeless on Wednesday, along with the body of one of their dogs. While no signs of foul play were immediately evident, officials deemed the circumstances “suspicious enough” to warrant a full investigation.
An initial examination of Hackman’s pacemaker indicated that "his last recorded activity was on February 17," Santa Fe Sheriff Adan Mendoza stated at a Friday press conference. This suggests that was likely “his final day alive.” “It’s a very strong hypothesis,” Mendoza added.
When authorities entered the home, they found pills scattered near Betsy Arakawa’s body in the bathroom, where a space heater had been placed close to her head. Hackman’s body was discovered in the adjacent room, fully dressed, with a pair of sunglasses nearby.
The possibility of carbon monoxide poisoning, initially raised by the couple’s daughter in the media, has been ruled out, according to the sheriff. Tests conducted on both bodies came back negative. “No signs of trauma” were found, he added. "I assume that if they had fallen or suffered injuries, the medical examiner would have detected it," he noted, without disclosing the nature of the pills found at the scene.
Authorities are keeping all possibilities open, Mendoza stressed. Full autopsy and toxicology reports are expected to take several weeks.
Hackman last appeared on screen in Welcome to Mooseport (2004) before officially announcing his retirement in 2008.
During the 1970s, he became a defining figure of the New Hollywood movement, which revitalized American cinema between the 1960s and 1980s with groundbreaking films like Easy Rider by Dennis Hopper, A Clockwork Orange by Stanley Kubrick, and Taxi Driver by Martin Scorsese.
A two-time Academy Award winner, Hackman earned his first Oscar for Best Actor in 1971 for his role as tough cop Popeye Doyle in The French Connection. His second came in 1993 when he won Best Supporting Actor for Unforgiven, Clint Eastwood’s Western masterpiece, in which he played a ruthless former gunslinger turned small-town sheriff.
With AFP
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