By SUSAN MONTOYA BRYAN and BRIAN MELLEY
SANTA FE, N.M. (AP) — Actor Gene Hackman, his wife and one of their dogs were apparently dead for some time before a maintenance worker discovered their bodies at the couple’s Santa Fe home, investigators said.
Hackman, 95, was found dead Wednesday in an entryway, and his 65-year-old wife, Betsy Arakawa, was in a bathroom next to a space heater, Santa Fe County Sheriff’s Office detectives wrote in a search warrant affidavit. There was an open prescription bottle and pills scattered on a countertop near Arakawa.
Denise Avila, a sheriff’s office spokesperson, said there was no indication they had been shot or had any wounds.
The New Mexico Gas Co. tested the gas lines in and around the home after the bodies were discovered, according to the warrant. At the time, it didn’t find any signs of problems and the Fire Department found no signs of a carbon monoxide leak or poisoning. A detective wrote that there were no obvious signs of a gas leak, but he noted that people exposed to gas leaks or carbon monoxide might not show signs of poisoning.
The gruff but beloved Hackman was among the most accomplished actors of his generation, appearing as villains, heroes and antiheroes in dozens of dramas, comedies and action films from the 1960s until his retirement in the early 2000s.
“He was loved and admired by millions around the world for his brilliant acting career, but to us he was always just Dad and Grandpa,” his daughters and granddaughter said in a statement Thursday. “We will miss him sorely and are devastated by the loss.”
Worker made 911 call
According to the search warrant affidavit, a maintenance worker reported that the home’s front door was open when he arrived to do routine work Wednesday, and he called police after finding the bodies.
But in a 911 call, the maintenance worker said he was unable to get inside when the operator asked whether the people in the house were breathing.
“I have no idea,” the subdivision’s caretaker said. “I am not inside the house. It’s closed. It’s locked. I can’t go in. But I can see she’s laying down on the floor from the window.”
He and another worker later told authorities that they rarely saw the homeowners and their last contact with them had been about two weeks ago.
Hackman appeared to have fallen, a deputy observed. A cane was nearby.
One of the couple’s dogs, a German shepherd, also died. Police said the pet was found in a bathroom closet near Arakawa, but Santa Fe County Sheriff Adan Mendoza said during a press conference Thursday that the dog was found in a kennel. Two healthy dogs were found on the property, one inside and one outside.
“There was no indication of a struggle,” Mendoza said. “There was no indication of anything that was missing from the home or disturbed, you know, that would be indication that there was a crime that had occurred.”
Results of autopsies conducted on both bodies are not available yet, sheriff’s officials said, noting that carbon monoxide and toxicology test results are pending.
The search warrant affidavit suggests that police appear to have a working theory that “some kind of gas poisoning” happened, but that they don’t know yet and aren’t ruling anything out, Loyola Marymount University law professor Laurie Levenson said.
“They don’t have clear evidence that it’s any type of homicide, but they’re asking for blunt instruments or other weapons that could be used,” said Levenson, who has no connection to the investigation. “It doesn’t also look like some kind of planned double-suicide.”
William & Mary Law School professor Jeffrey Bellin said the request for a search warrant was somewhat unusual because investigators who file one usually believe a specific crime was committed. In this case, no alleged crime was mentioned, Bellin said.
Police tend to overstate what they know, but this is the opposite, said Bellin, who also isn’t tied to the investigation.
“It just struck me as very careful in a way that search warrant affidavits often are not,” he said.
Gated community in the hills
The couple’s Southwestern-style ranch on Old Sunset Trail sits on a hill in a gated community with views of the Rocky Mountains. The sprawling four-bedroom home on 6 acres was built in 1997 and had an estimated market value of a little over $4 million, according to Santa Fe County property tax records.
They also owned a more modest home next door.
Hackman met Arakawa, a classically trained pianist who grew up in Hawaii, when she was working part-time at a California gym in the mid-1980s. They soon moved in together and relocated to Santa Fe by the end of the decade.
Hackman also co-wrote three novels, starting with the swashbuckler, “Wake of the Perdido Star,” with Daniel Lenihan in 1999, according to publisher Simon & Schuster. He then penned two by himself, concluding with “Pursuit” in 2013, about a female police officer on the tail of a predator.
In his first couple of decades in New Mexico, Hackman was often seen around the historic state capital, known as an artist enclave, tourism destination and retreat for celebrities.
He served on the board of trustees for the Georgia O’Keeffe Museum from 1997-2004, the museum said in a statement.
Hackman’s later years
In recent years, he was far less visible, though even the most mundane outings caught the attention of the press. There were articles about him attending a show at a performing arts center in 2018, as well as pumping gas, doing yard work and getting a chicken sandwich at Wendy’s in 2023.
Aside from appearances at awards shows, he was rarely seen in the Hollywood social circuit and retired from acting about 20 years ago. His was the rare Hollywood retirement that actually lasted.
Hackman had three children from a previous marriage.
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Melley reported from London. Associated Press writers Felicia Fonseca in Flagstaff, Arizona; Andrew Dalton in Los Angeles; Jacques Billeaud in Phoenix; Mead Gruver in Cheyenne, Wyoming; John Seewer in Toledo, Ohio; Sylvia Hui in London and Hallie Golden in Seattle contributed.