Investigation advances into Gene Hackman’s mysterious death, with update by New Mexico authorities
Mar 7, 2025, 7:39 AM | Updated: 7:39 am
Morgan Freeman speaks about Gene Hackman with an image of Gene Hackman on the screen during the Oscars on Sunday, March 2, 2025, at the Dolby Theatre in Los Angeles. (Photo: Chris Pizzello, AP)
(Photo: Chris Pizzello, AP)
Authorities are set to reveal more information about an investigation into the deaths of actor Gene Hackman and wife Betsy Arakawa, whose partially mummified bodies were discovered last month at their home in New Mexico.
The Santa Fe County Sheriff’s Office has said it does not suspect foul play, and tests for聽.
Sheriff Adan Mendoza and state fire, health and forensics officials scheduled an afternoon news conference Friday to provide updates on the case.
Mendoza has said the couple may have聽聽before they were discovered on Feb. 26. Hackman鈥檚 pacemaker last showed activity Feb. 17, nine days before maintenance and security workers showed up at the home and alerted police.
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More details in investigation of Gene Hackman’s death
聽was found with an open prescription bottle and pills scattered on the bathroom counter, while聽聽was found in the home鈥檚 entryway.
One of the couple’s three dogs also was found dead in a crate in a bathroom closet near Arakawa, while two other dogs survived. Authorities initially聽聽of the dead animal.
Authorities retrieved personal items from the home including a monthly planner and two cellphones that will be analyzed. Medical investigators have been working to establish the cause of their deaths, but toxicology reports often take weeks to complete.
When they were found, the bodies were decomposing with some mummification, a consequence of body type and climate in Santa Fe鈥檚 especially dry air at an elevation of nearly 7,200 feet (2,200 meters).
Hackman, a Hollywood icon, won two Oscars during a storied career in films including 鈥淭he French Connection,鈥澛犅燼nd 鈥淪uperman鈥� from the 1960s until his retirement in the early 2000s.
Arakawa, born in Hawaii, studied as a concert pianist, attended the University of Southern California and met Hackman in the mid-1980s while working at a California gym.
The couple鈥檚 stucco, Pueblo-revival style home sits on a hill in a gated community at the southern tip of the Rocky Mountains.聽聽is known as a refuge for celebrities, artists and authors.
Hackman dedicated much of his time in retirement to painting and writing novels far from Hollywood鈥檚 social circuit. He served for several years on the board of trustees at the Georgia O鈥橩eeffe Museum in Santa Fe, and he and his wife were investors in local businesses.
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