Gene Hackman's death: Police await autopsy results for famous couple but rule out carbon monoxide poisoning

While the cause of death for Gene Hackman and his wife, Betsy Arakawa, is still unknown, investigators have ruled out possible carbon monoxide poisoning and external trauma, Santa Fe County Sheriff Adan Mendoza said in a Friday afternoon press conference.

“Both individuals tested negative for carbon monoxide,” Mendoza said he was told by Dr. Heather Jarrell, a pathologist from the New Mexico Office of the Medical Investigator. There are several more tests that will be expedited to help determine what killed the Academy Award-winning actor and his wife, he added.

Revealing that the actor also had a pacemaker, Mendoza explained that Hackman’s “last event” as recorded on the device took place on Feb. 17. When asked if that indicated Hackman’s probable date of death, Mendoza said that was most likely.

“According to the pathologist, I think that is a very good assumption that that was his last day of life,” he said.

Mendoza noted that there were no apparent signs of foul play or any external trauma to either Hackman or Arakawa. In addition to two bottles of medication found at the scene, investigators also collected two green cellphones, one bottle of over-the-counter Tylenol and a 2025 monthly planner, Mendoza said.

Asked if the planner included any scheduled future events, the sheriff said that would be part of the investigation. So far, investigators have not obtained access to the contents of the two cellphones found at the residence, Mendoza said. He added that the sheriff’s office will also be contacting family members, maintenance and security workers, and will inspect the entry and exit records for the subdivision where the couple lived.

The pathologist is awaiting the results of a toxicology report, Mendoza said, that will help determine the cause and manner of the deaths.

“It could be a month or three months or longer in my experience,” he said.

There has been no shortage of questions surrounding the “suspicious” deaths of Hackman and Arakawa at their New Mexico home, from how long their bodies were there before being discovered to concern over the couple’s dogs.

Santa Fe County Sheriff’s Office deputies found the body of the two-time Oscar-winning actor, who was 95, on the floor of the mudroom off the kitchen in the couple’s home in the gated community of Santa Fe Summit, in Hyde Park, N.M., on Wednesday. The body of Arakawa, 65, was in a bathroom near the front door of the home, with a dead German shepherd nearby. Two other dogs survived.

"The Santa Fe Animal Control Division worked with [the] family to ensure the safety of the two surviving dogs," Mendoza said at the press conference.

Dead for ‘several days and possibly up to a couple weeks’

Santa Fe County Sheriff Adam Mendoza and Santa Fe Fire Chief Brian Moya appeared on Friday’s Today show to share case updates, including thoughts on how long the couple had been dead. Arakawa’s body showed signs of “mummification,” according to the search warrant affidavit. Hackman's body was in a “similar and consistent” state.

“We’re trying to put together a timeline of when the decedents were last seen or spoken to,” Mendoza said. He said it was “a challenge” because they were “very private individuals and a private family.”

While the office of the medical examiner helps work to pinpoint the time of deaths, Mendoza said, “Just based on their body and other evidence on the body, it appears [they had been deceased for] several days and possibly even up to a couple weeks.”

Moya said no resuscitation efforts were made because the couple was clearly deceased.

A caretaker for the gated community was the one to call 911 after seeing the bodies through windows. The search warrant said workers hadn’t seen the couple in about two weeks.

Hackman’s daughter Leslie, from his first marriage, to Faye Maltese, told the Daily Mail that she hadn’t seen her father or stepmother in a “few months” because she lives in California. She also “hadn’t talked to them for a couple months” but added that they were “close.” She said everything seemed normal and good. Her father was in good shape, doing Pilates and yoga multiple times a week.

Mendoza said on Friday they believe the timing of Hackman’s and Arakawa’s deaths occurred “pretty close” to one another. He said the “autopsy report is going to be key to this investigation.”

Moya spoke about the possibility of carbon monoxide poisoning being the cause of death. He said before deputies searched the sprawling house set on 12 acres, they tested for a gas leak with their meters and nothing “was concerning.”

Because weeks could have passed since the deaths, a leak in the home “possibly could” have dissipated, Moya acknowledged. He said his team checked the home again on Thursday and didn’t find a leak. The New Mexico Gas Company had also checked the home.

The search warrant affidavit stated that the front door of the Hackman residence was open, but Mendoza said he believes it was closed but not locked. He said that there were “several doors that were unlocked” at the house. There was one door that was ajar toward the rear of the residence.

As for the prescription pills that were scattered in the bathroom near Arakawa, Mendoza called it “very important evidence at the scene.” The medical examiner, which is doing toxicology testing that could take up to three months for results, is making a determination about them. Mendoza said the pills as well as other medication possibly in the home are “something of concern.”

Moya said they still believe that Hackman and Arakawa fell before they died and said he thinks it was “sudden death.”

Mendoza said he remains “pretty confident” that there was no foul play, but they are “not ruling it out” as they continue to investigate.

What about the dogs?

According to a search warrant affidavit, deputies found the deceased dog “in a closet of the bathroom” that was 10 to 15 feet from Arakawa, the classical pianist who married Hackman in 1991. However, Mendoza clarified to ABC News that the dog was in a dog crate or kennel, not a closet.

There were two other dogs. Upon arrival, “deputies observed a healthy dog running loose on the property [and] another healthy dog near” Arakawa’s body in the bathroom, according to the search warrant.

Mendoza said on Today that the open door near the rear of the house allowed the surviving dogs “to come in and out of the residence.”

An animal rescue group from which "dog lover" Hackman adopted shared a tribute to the star:

According to a press release from the sheriff’s department on Thursday, the Santa Fe County Animal Control Division “worked with the family to ensure the safety of the two dogs.”