Authorities share update on Gene Hackman death investigation
Further updates have arrived surrounding the death of Gene Hackman and his wife, Betsy Arakawa, which come a week after the couple and their dog were found dead at their Santa Fe, New Mexico, home.
The 95-year-old actor was found dead in his home along with his wife, Betsy Arakawa, and his dog on February 26th, 2025. The deaths were labelled “suspicious enough” by the Santa Fe police department to warrant a thorough investigation to take place to understand what caused their deaths.
Hackman’s family immediately suspected carbon monoxide as the cause of his death. However, the police have revealed that their investigation found no significant leak. According to a press release obtained by Fox News, the gas company investigating ”confirmed it conducted an extensive investigation for gas leaks and carbon monoxide” on February 26th. They made “no significant findings” at the home.
They did find what they called “a minuscule leak (0.33% gas in air – not a lethal amount) at one of the stove burners,” but nothing fatal. They also noted there were four “red tags” for code enforcement violations, involving “a water heater and gas log lighters installed in three fireplaces,” but again, these did “not involving gas leaks or carbon monoxide.”
Police also revealed recently that Hackman’s body tested negative for carbon monoxide poisoning. Initial medical records also checked his pacemaker for any abnormalities in Hackman’s heart at the time of his death. However, during their investigation, further findings have found that there had been unexpected events since February 17th, nine days before he was found.
Authorities believe both Hackman and Arakawa had been dead for over a week before their bodies were found.
“One of the things is, in an investigation, we try to piece the timeline together, usually before the event happens, and that gives us a lot of information,” the Santa Fe police sheriff Adan Mendoza said during a news conference, “But, in this case, it seems like we’re doing a reverse timeline.”
He continued, “We’re doing a timeline from the time of death and the autopsy and the results. We’re going to start working our way backwards.” It is clear that authorities are determined to get to the bottom of the case as they added, “We’re going to do both and then hopefully make a determination as to what may have happened to both of the individuals.”
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