Warning: Graphic content, readers’ discretion advised. This story contains a recollection of crime and can be triggering to some readers discretion advised.
On 26 February, 2025, at approximately 1:45pm, Santa Fe County Sheriff’s deputies were dispatched to an address on Old Sunset Trail in Hyde Park where Gene Hackman, his wife Betsy Arakawa, and a dog were found deceased
Actor Gene Hackman and his wife Betsy Arakawa have been found dead in their home, Santa Fe Sheriff Adan Mendoza reports. The couple was found along with their dog, which was also dead.
“All I can say is that we are in the middle of a death investigation and are waiting for approval to conduct a search warrant,” he told the newspaper.
American actor Gene Hackman turned 95 and his wife, pianist Betsy Arakawa, 63. The couple married in 1991.
Last photo of Gene Hackman and Betsy Arakawa – walking with a cane
Gene Hackman and wife believed to have been dead “for a while”
There are many question marks after Gene Hackman and his wife were suddenly found dead.
Now the daughter is speaking out about what she believes may be behind the deaths.
he was in ‘good’ health before mysterious death, hopes he didn’t ‘suffer’
Gene Hackman’s daughter Elizabeth Jean Hackman tells TMZ that she doesn’t know the cause of death, but her theory is that carbon monoxide poisoning may be behind it. However, according to documents from the search of the house at the scene, there were no obvious signs of a gas leak.
At the same time, new police information is coming out about the circumstances surrounding the couple’s death.
Hackman, 95, was discovered in a side room near the kitchen while Arakawa, 65, was found in a bathroom, at the property on Old Sunset Trail in Hyde Park. The couple appeared to have been “dead for quite a while”, said Sheriff Adan Mendoza.
Police initially said they do not suspect foul play and the cause of death is currently unclear. But on Thursday evening, TMZ reported that authorities are treating the deaths as “suspicious.”
The document states that the front door was unlocked and open when police arrived at the scene, but that there was no sign of any unauthorized entry.
Santa Fe police say the bodies show signs that the couple had been dead “for some time,” according to Sky News. Arakawa was reportedly found in the bathroom with an open pill bottle next to him.
Gene Hackman was found in another room of the home. It is suspected that he may have fallen because his sunglasses were right next to him.
Santa Fe County Sheriff Adan Mendoza says they are not ruling out anything in the investigation into the couple’s deaths.
A search of the home was conducted when the bodies were found. Tests have been conducted on gas lines in and around the home, which have shown that there is no sign or evidence that the pipes were not working properly.
In addition to the couple, two dead and two live dogs were also found in the home.
The couple’s 2,300 sq ft ranch-style home, part of a gated community, was valued at around $1m, according to tax records.
The local utility responded and found no sign of a gas leak in the area. The fire department detected no indication of a carbon monoxide leak or poisoning, according to the search warrant.
The detective spoke at the scene to two maintenance workers, one of whom had called the emergency services.
The two workers said they sometimes conducted routine work at the property, but rarely ever saw the couple.
They indicated that they communicated with them by phone and text, primarily with Ms Arakawa.
The two workers said they last had contact with the couple two weeks beforehand.
A recording of the 911 call obtained by the BBC shows the emotional caller telling a dispatcher how he found the two bodies.
“No, they’re not moving,” he says in the audio. “Just send somebody out here really quick.”
The person, who made the call while standing outside the property and peering in through a window, is heard saying “damn” repeatedly.
Hackman met Ms Arakawa when she was working part-time at a California gym in the mid-1980s, the New York Times has previously reported.
He won the best actor Oscar for his role as Jimmy “Popeye” Doyle in William Friedkin’s 1971 thriller The French Connection, and another for best supporting actor for playing Little Bill Daggett in Clint Eastwood’s Western film Unforgiven in 1992.
A relative latecomer to Hollywood, Hackman’s breathrough came in his thirties, when he was nominated for an Oscar for portraying Buck Barrow in 1967’s Bonnie and Clyde – opposite Warren Beatty and Faye Dunaway – and again for I Never Sang for My Father in 1970.
Both films saw him recognised in the supporting actor category. He was also nominated for best leading actor in 1988 for playing the FBI agent in Mississippi Burning.
He played more than 100 roles during his career, including supervillain Lex Luthor in the Christopher Reeve-starring Superman movies in the 1970s and 1980s.
Hackman featured opposite many other Hollywood heavyweights including Al Pacino in 1973’s Scarecrow and Gene Wilder in 1974’s Young Frankenstein.
His last big-screen appearance came as Monroe Cole in Welcome to Mooseport in 2004, after which he stepped back from Hollywood for a quieter life in New Mexico.