Gene Hackman Death Still Unexplained; Autopsy Results Could Take Months

LOS ANGELES (CNS) - A mystery remains today over the cause of death for legendary actor Gene Hackman, his wife and one of their dogs, who were all found dead in their remote Santa Fe home Wednesday afternoon.

Initial testing showed no signs of carbon monoxide poisoning in the bodies of Hackman and 63-year-old Betsy Arakawa, and data from the actor’s pacemaker suggests he had been dead for about 10 days, the county sheriff said Friday. The cause of death for both remains unknown pending a full autopsy and toxicology reports, which Sheriff Adan Mendoza said could take three months or longer.

A German shepherd was also found dead near the body of Arakawa. A search warrant affidavit filed by the sheriff’s department described the deaths as “suspicious” enough to warrant a thorough investigation.

Speaking to reporters Friday, Mendoza said initial tests conducted by the Office of the Medical Investigator found no signs of carbon monoxide poisoning. While additional testing is still needed, Mendoza said that would appear to rule out such poisoning as the cause of death. He also said neither Hackman nor Arakawa had any signs of external trauma.

Mendoza said the “last event” recorded by Hackman’s pacemaker was on Feb. 17, suggesting that was the day he died. “According to the pathologist, I think that is a very good assumption that that was his last day of life,” Mendoza said. It remained unclear if Arakawa died at the same time.

Mendoza also noted that the couple lived very private lives, and there was no indication of surveillance cameras or other similar equipment at the home. According to court records, investigators who searched the couple’s home found several medications in the home, but they appeared to be common drugs–such as Tylenol, a thyroid medication and high blood pressure medication.

According to the search warrant affidavit, Hackman was found dead in a mudroom, and his wife was found in a bathroom next to a space heater. An open prescription bottle was found on a countertop near Arakawa, along with some scattered pills. The German shepherd was found dead near Arakawa’s body, but two other dogs were found alive at the home, according to the affidavit. The affidavit noted that Arakawa’s body was showing signs of decomposition.

Deputies responded to the home Wednesday afternoon in response to a 911 call from a caretaker who said he could see the bodies in the home, although he did not go inside. He can be heard telling a dispatcher the couple were “not moving” but he couldn’t tell if they were breathing.

Hackman’s family issued a statement saying 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. We will miss him sorely and are devastated by the loss.”

Barbara and Daniel Lenihan, friends of Hackman and Arakawa, told CNN on Friday that they had seen the couple recently and nothing seemed out of the ordinary. “Last time we saw them, they were alive and well,” Daniel Lenihan said, while Barbara added that she saw Arakawa a few weeks ago at a shop in Santa Fe. “They were so delightful to be around,” Barbara Lenihan said. “Probably never seen a couple that got along and enjoyed each other so much.”

Hackman–a two-time Oscar winner–was born on Jan. 30, 1930, in San Bernardino and grew up in Danville, Illinois, where his father worked as a pressman for a local newspaper and his mother was a waitress. Hackman’s parents divorced when he was 13.

He lied about his age and enlisted in the U.S. Marines when he was 16, at the end of World War II. He served four years in the military as a radio operator and moved to New York after he was discharged. He went to college briefly after his military service, studying to become a journalist, but dropped out after six months.

He worked in TV production in New York before moving to Pasadena to study acting. While taking classes at the Pasadena Playhouse, he met Dustin Hoffman, who was known as Dusty at the time. Hackman moved back to New York, and Hoffman followed him shortly thereafter, and shared an apartment with another young actor, Robert Duvall.

Hackman had roles in some of the most popular and celebrated movies in Hollywood history. He played Lex Luthor in “Superman” in 1978, high school basketball coach Norman Dale in “Hoosiers” in 1986, and the conservative senator Kevin Keeley opposite Robin Williams in “The Birdcage” in 1996.

His most celebrated roles came as playing law enforcement figures in “The French Connection” and “Unforgiven.” He won his first Academy Award for his role as New York City police Detective Jimmy “Popeye” Doyle in 1971’s “The French Connection,” and his second 20 years later playing corrupt Sheriff “Little Bill” Daggett in director Clint Eastwood’s 1992 Western, “Unforgiven.”

Hackman had other memorable roles throughout his acting career, including a conflicted surveillance expert in Francis Ford Coppola’s 1974 suspense thriller “The Conversation”; an FBI agent who pushes ethical boundaries while investigating the murders of three civil rights workers in the 1988 drama “Mississippi Burning”; and Capt. Frank Ramsey, the rigid nuclear submarine commander in 1995’s “Crimson Tide,” opposite Denzel Washington.

“You go through stages in your career that you feel very good about yourself. Then you feel awful, like, ‘Why didn’t I choose something else?’ ” Hackman told GQ magazine in 2011, seven years after his retirement from acting. “But overall I’m pretty satisfied that I made the right choice when I decided to be an actor. I was lucky to find a few things that I could do well as an actor and that I could look at and say, ‘Yeah, that’s all right.’ ”

After appearing in nearly 80 films over 40 years, Hackman’s final role was in the 2004 political satire “Welcome to Mooseport.” He received five Academy Award nominations as well as two BAFTA Awards out of five career nominations. Hackman was nominated for eight Golden Globe awards and won three, in addition to being presented with the Hollywood Foreign Press Association’s Cecil B. DeMille Award in 2003 for his “outstanding contributions to the world of entertainment.”

Hackman was married twice, the first time for 30 years to Faye Maltese, with whom he had three children. They divorced in 1986. He married Arakawa, a classical pianist 30 years his junior, in 1991. He is survived by his son and two daughters.

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