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Gene Hackman and his wife may have been dead inside their Santa Fe home for several days, possible “a couple of weeks” before being discovered on Wednesday, according to Santa Fe County’s sheriff, who said that the timeline of the mysterious death of the two-time Oscar winner and his classical pianist is proving hard to stitch together.
On Thursday, hours after news of the couple’s death broke, Sante Fe’s medical examiner announced that initial autopsies of the legendary actor and his pianist wife, Betsy Arakawashow no signs of external trauma after the couple was found dead, along with one of their three dogs, inside their home at a New Mexico gated community on Wednesday. Santa Fe County Sheriff Adan Mendoza appeared on NBC’s Today on Friday morning to discuss the case.
“We’re trying to put things together, put together a timeline when the deceased were last seen and last spoken to… There’s a challenge because they were very private individuals and a private family. It’s very difficult to put a timeline together, even with the help of the Office of the Medical Investigator,” Mendoza said, adding when questioned about how long the couple may have been dead inside the home, “Just based on their body and other evidence on the body, it appears several days, possibly even up to a couple weeks.”
On Friday, the Sheriff’s Office released a list of items taken from the couple’s home when the search warrant was executed. This included two green cellular devices, thyroid medication, diltiazem medication (a calcium channel blocker), Tylenol, medical records and a 2025 monthly planner.
Details released on Thursday indicate that the couple may have died earlier than originally believed. Both bodies had signs of decomposition, with “mummification in both hands and feet,” according to the Medical Examiner’s report. The 95-year-old actor seemed to have “suddenly fallen” in the mud room off their home’s kitchen and his partner for decades was found in a room off of the ground floor bathroom with prescription “pills scattered on the counter-top,” according to a police search warrant released on Thursday. Speaking with NBC News, Mendoza did not indicate what medication was found at the scene or if it played a part in Arakawa’s death.
Mendoza’s office has stated they do not believe that foul play was a factor in the deaths, but on Friday said all avenues are open as the deaths are investigated. Initial findings from the autopsy performed later on Thursday noted “no external trauma to either individual,” the Sheriff’s Office said. Carbon monoxide and toxicology tests were requested for Hackman and Arakawa. New Mexico gas company said that “no signs or evidence indicating there were any problems associated with the pipes in and around the residence.” However, this does not rule out the possibility of some kind of gas leak into the house at an earlier date. Representative Tim Korte told The Hollywood Reporter on Thursday that the company is assisting the Santa Fe County Sheriff’s Department in its investigation into the deaths.
The privacy that the couple enjoyed is also making it difficult for investigators to figure out their daily schedules and routines to close in on when exactly they died. The couple was last photographed together on March 28 at Pappadeaux Seafood Kitchen in Santa Fe. The 2003 Golden Globes, where Hackman received the Cecil B. DeMille Award, is believed to be the last Hollywood event they attended together.
The couple’s bodies will now be put into a thorough autopsy and more will be revealed in the Medical Examiner’s toxicology report. That, however, could take up to three months, as Mendoza indicated while speaking with Today.
Hackman was known for playing tough guys and starred in classic films, such as The French Connection, Bonnie and Clyde, I Never Sang for My Father, The Conversation, Hoosiers and Unforgiven. He retired from acting in his 70s and was last seen on screen in the 2004 satirical comedy Welcome to Mooseport. Since then, Hackman had lived a quiet, private life in Santa Fe and rarely gave interviews.
Hackman divorced his first wife, Faye Maltese, in 1986. A Arakawa Meta classically trained pianist, while she was working part-time in a California fitness center. They moved to Santa Fe in the late 1980s and married in 1991. She became stepmother to his three children, Elizabeth, Christopher and Leslie.
Arakawa, reportedly born in Hawaii, was a private person and had no social media presence. Hackman, who pivoted to writing novels in the 2000s, very rarely spoke about her but did say she helped him hone his writing.
