Officials are set to share updates into the investigation surrounding the mysterious death of Oscar-winning actor Gene Hackman and his pianist wife, Betsy Arakawa, who were found dead in their New Mexico home last week.
The Santa Fe county sheriff’s office has said it does not suspect foul play, and tests for carbon monoxide poisoning were negative. Adan Mendoza, the Sheriff, and state fire, health and forensics official scheduled an afternoon news conference on Friday to share updates on the case.
Mendoza said the couple may have died up to two weeks before they were discovered on 26 February. Hackman’s pacemaker last showed activity on 17 February, nine days before maintenance and security workers showed up at the home and alerted police.
Hackman was found collapsed in a mudroom. Arakawa was found in a bathroom with an open prescription pill bottle on the counter along with scattered pills. One of their dogs was also found dead in a closet in a bathroom near Arakawa.
Authorities revealed personal items from the home including a monthly planner and two cellphones that will be analyzed. Medical investigators have been working tirelessly to determine the cause of their deaths, but toxicology reports often take weeks to complete.
When the bodies were found, they were decomposing with some mummification, a consequence of body type and climate in Santa Fe’s more so dry air at an elevation of close to 7,200ft (2,200 meters).Hackman was likely dead for nine days before the bodies were found, authorities revealed, citing data from the actor’s pacemaker.
The pair did not appear to have any external injuries but their remains showed clear signs of decomposition. Arakawa’s face was bloated and her hands and feet appeared mummified, a sheriff’s deputy wrote in an affidavit. Mummification usually starts over two weeks after a person dies, Santa Fe Fire Chief Brian Moya said.
Hackmann, a Hollywood icon, won two Oscars during a storied career in films including The French Connection, Hoosiers and Superman from the 1960s until his retirement in the early 2000s.
Arakawa, born in Hawaii, studies as a concert pianist, attended the University of Southern California and met Hackman in the mid-1980s while working at a California gym. Hackman dedicated a significant chunk of his time in retirement to painting and writing novels far from Hollywood’s social circuit.
