Gene Hackman (centre) poses at a photocall with actress Monica Bellucci and actor Thomas Jane for the British director Stephen Hopkins’ film “Under Suspicion” on May 11, 2000, in Cannes. (AFP pic)
SANTA FE: Actor Gene Hackman and his wife, Betsy Arakawa, had died several days and possibly two weeks before their bodies were discovered on Wednesday inside their home in Santa Fe, New Mexico, the county sheriff said on Friday.
The 95-year-old Oscar-winning actor and Arakawa, 64, were found dead in separate rooms of their house in hills north of Santa Fe.
“Based on the body and other evidence on the body, it appears several days, possibly even up to a couple of weeks” that Hackman and Arakawa had been dead, Adan Mendoza, the Santa Fe County sheriff, told NBC News.
“The autopsy report is going to be key to this investigation.”
Asked about an open pill bottle and scattered pills found on a bathroom counter next to Arakawa, Mendoza said he had requested a toxicology report on that medication and others in the house, calling it “something of concern”.
“That’s obviously very important evidence at the scene,” Adan said, adding that the toxicology report could take three months or longer.
Among evidence that deputies took from the house were thyroid and heart medications, a 2025 monthly calendar, two green cellular devices, and MyQuest health records, according to a police inventory.
The sheriff again ruled out foul play, based on lack of evidence. He planned to hold a news conference on Friday afternoon.
The home had natural gas and there remain a “lot of unanswered” questions on whether a gas leak played a part in the deaths, Santa Fe Fire Chief Brian Moya told NBC.
One door was found ajar at the back of the house. Two of the couple’s surviving dogs had moved in and out of the house. A third dog was found dead in a dog crate in the bathroom where Arakawa lay.
Both Hackman and Arakawa appeared to have suddenly fallen to the floor and neither showed signs of blunt force trauma, a police affidavit said.
Hackman, a former marine known for his raspy voice, appeared in more than 80 films, as well as on television and the stage during a lengthy career that started in the early 1960s.
He earned his first Oscar nomination for his breakout role as the brother of bank robber Clyde Barrow in 1967’s “Bonnie and Clyde”. He won an Oscar for best actor in 1972 for his portrayal of detective Popeye Doyle in “The French Connection”, and in 1993 won an Oscar for best supporting actor for “Unforgiven”.
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