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Gene Hackman and wife’s deaths ‘suspicious enough’ for investigation, warrant says

Warrant raises questions about scattered pills, after Betsy Arakawa’s body had ‘mummification in hands

Gene Hackman and Betsy Arakawa in 1989. Photograph: MediaPunch Inc/Alamy

Gene Hackman and Betsy Arakawa in 1989. Photograph: MediaPunch Inc/Alamy

An active investigation is under way into the deaths of the Oscar-winning actor Gene Hackman and his wife, classical pianist Betsy Arakawa, after their bodies were found “in a state of decomposition” along with that of one of their dogs in their home in New Mexico, the local sheriff’s department has confirmed.

The local gas provider, the New Mexico Gas Co, was involved in the investigation alongside the Santa Fe county sheriff’s department, Associated Press reported, raising speculation that carbon monoxide poisoning lay behind the deaths. The emergence later on Thursday of a search warrant, however, cast doubts about a possible gas leak and raised alternative questions about the discovery of prescription pills near Arakawa’s body.

Hackman, 95, and Arakawa, 63, were found by deputies in their house in the Hyde Park area of Santa Fe on Wednesday. The sheriff’s spokesperson said that foul play was not suspected, “however exact cause of death has not been determined”.

The spokesperson added that the cause of death was unlikely to be known until autopsies are completed.

Further questions were raised on Thursday after TMZ and Variety obtained a search warrant which gave new details about what deputies found during their initial visit. According to the outlet, the search warrant reveals that Hackman and Arakawa had been dead for some time before their bodies were discovered as “the body was in a state of decomposition with bloating in her face and mummification in her hands and feet”.

A prescription bottle was also found on a countertop in the house, with pills scattered around.

According to the search warrant, Arakawa was found on the floor of a bathroom near the countertop beside a space heater that the deputies believed could have toppled and knocked her over. Hackman’s body was in the mud room of the house, fully clothed in gray sweatpants and a long-sleeve T-shirt and with a cane.

Deputies believed he might have had a sudden fall.

The search warrant indicated that in the initial search no problems with leaking gas were found. TMZ quoted the search warrant concluding that the deaths were “suspicious enough in nature to require a thorough search and investigation”.

“All I can say is that we’re in the middle of a preliminary death investigation,” the sheriff, Adan Mendoza of Santa Fe county, told the Santa Fe New Mexican. Three German shepherds were at the home at the time that deputies entered the property, one of which was found deceased inside a closet in the bathroom about 10-15ft from Arakawa’s body.

Deputies reported that there were no signs of trauma to the bodies. No suicide note was discovered, according to the New York Times

The couple had lived in New Mexico since 2004 when Hackman retired from Hollywood. They had married in 1991.

A longtime friend of the couple, Barbara Lenihan, told the New York Times that she had spoken with Arakawa in January. At that time Hackman appeared to be becoming more frail but was still active.

“They always were somewhat reclusive even though everyone loved to be around them,” she told the newspaper.

Elizabeth Jean Hackman, the actor’s daughter and one of his three children with Faye Maltese, told TMZ that the family suspected that carbon monoxide poisoning might be to blame.

She told the outlet they were not certain, but that they thought toxic fumes might be the cause of death.

Author: Ed Pilkington

Source: The Guardian

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