One of the legends. Very strange that his 63 year old wife and dog were discovered deceased, as well. Carbon monoxide poisoning? Suicide?
Gene was 95.
S/F
https://www.foxnews.com/entertainment/oscar-winning-actor-gene-hackman-wife-found-dead-santa-fe-home (https://www.foxnews.com/entertainment/oscar-winning-actor-gene-hackman-wife-found-dead-santa-fe-home)
Great actor. Watched most of his movies. RIP.
RIP a great actor.
RIP
Not everyone is lucky enough to reach the age of 95.
Quote from: Jarhead0331 on February 27, 2025, 04:45:22 AMOne of the legends. Very strange that his 63 year old wife and dog were discovered deceased, as well. Carbon monoxide poisoning? Suicide?
Gene was 95.
S/F
https://www.foxnews.com/entertainment/oscar-winning-actor-gene-hackman-wife-found-dead-santa-fe-home (https://www.foxnews.com/entertainment/oscar-winning-actor-gene-hackman-wife-found-dead-santa-fe-home)
RIP. He was one of the greats. Local law enforcement say they don't believe it was foul play.
My all-time favorite actor. This one just guts me. And the multiple tragedy of the wife and dog also. How horrid.
Oh wow....so sad. Plus it makes me feel old. Older.
Time to quote-mine his films in an honorarium!
....gosh I haven't watched one in so long, my memory has failed. This must be corrected.
Deaths are now being investigated as "suspicious". Bodies showed signs of mummification and door to residence was found ajar at time of investigation.
Something is obviously not natural, whether criminal or not.
Three (times) is enemy action. :undecided:
.... mummification? :huh:
Quote from: al_infierno on February 27, 2025, 04:54:12 PM.... mummification? :huh:
Desiccation. When a corpse begins to dry out. Usually due to heat. The front door was open and it is in Santa Fe...
Quote from: Jarhead0331 on February 27, 2025, 07:31:46 PMQuote from: al_infierno on February 27, 2025, 04:54:12 PM.... mummification? :huh:
Desiccation. When a corpse begins to dry out. Usually due to heat. The front door was open and it is in Santa Fe...
Gotcha. I also read that the police came to perform a welfare check, which seems to indicate they'd likely been dead for at least a day or two before being discovered. That would also explain the desiccation/decomposition.
EDIT - From what I've read, it sounds like the most likely scenarios are either CO poisoning, or either Hackman or his wife died, the other partner found them, and proceeded to intentionally OD on pills. Apparently there were a bunch of pills on the ground, which the deceased dog might have eaten.
Yeah, not mummification, that was just the term I was hearing at the moment.
CO poisoning has been eliminated. No evident external physical damage. I heard a professional Law Enforcement Officer adjacently involved in the investigation opine that the main investigators DEFINITELY must have more examination information they're working with which they haven't made public yet.
Feb 12th was the last time GH's heart monitor reported anything. (I may be slightly misremembering that date.)
GH was found dead on the floor in his mud room, cane etc indicating he fell over and died (or maybe vice versa). His wife had the spilled pills in a bathroom (iirc). One of the German Shepherds was found dead locked in its kennel in what has been described as "a closet", apparently from starvation. The other two dogs (also GerSheps) were free to move in and out of the house, and are still alive.
Late last night I saw a news update pass by (which I don't know the accuracy of), which claimed the coroners decided that GH died at least 12 days before his wife! I haven't seen anything directly corroborating that yet this morning, though I haven't been in much position to pay attention to the news -- only some vague language from investigators reporting to the news, saying they're trying to figure out who died first, implying they already know the deaths were not simultaneous. The claim about starvation definitely indicates they think the dog survived them for several days.
Investigators were looking into cell phone activity in the area this morning.
New report out on their deaths. Apparently his wife, Betsy Arakawa, died first of Hantavirus. Gene Hackman lived with his dead wife's body for a full week before succumbing to complications from heart problems and Alzheimer's disease.
Sad for them both.
https://nypost.com/2025/03/07/us-news/gene-hackman-wifes-cause-of-death-revealed-as-sheriff-reveals-possible-timeline/
That is a very sad ending to their lives. RIP.
Truly awful - sounds like she was his caretaker and he slowly succumbed after she died. Also, apparently hantavirus is a pretty nasty way to go, common in New Mexico from heat and rat droppings.
Sad end to an amazing lifetime. :sad:
Man, so sad.
The Associated Press released a forensic timeline yesterday, which I'm going to steal, don't tell them. (The NYPost article Steve linked to upthread is much better for detail.)
QuoteFeb. 11
Arakawa's last known activities happened this day. She emailed with a massage therapist in the late morning, visited a grocery store in Santa Fe in the afternoon, then went to a pharmacy and a pet food store, Santa Fe County Sheriff Adan Mendoza said.
At 5:15 p.m., Arakawa entered the gated community to the home she shared with Hackman. Mendoza said investigators found no other communication or activity by Arakawa after Feb. 11, which they believe to be the day of her death. The medical examiner said she may have been experiencing symptoms of hantavirus before her death.
Feb. 17-18
Hackman's initial pacemaker data revealed cardiac activity Feb. 17. Subsequent pacemaker investigation showed an abnormal rhythm of atrial fibrillation Feb. 18, the last record of heart activity.
Based on this information, chief medical examiner Dr. Heather Jarrell said it is reasonable to conclude that Hackman probably died around Feb. 18.
Feb. 26
A maintenance worker who showed up to do routine work at the house could not get inside and called a security worker, who spotted two people on the ground inside the home, Mendoza said. The worker called 911 and told an operator he did not know if they were breathing. He and another worker later told authorities that they rarely saw the homeowners and that their last contact with them had been about two weeks prior.
Police found Hackman in an entryway and Arakawa in a bathroom, as well as a deceased dog in a closet.
Arakawa had picked up the kelpie mix named Zinna from Gruda Veterinary Hospital on Feb. 9 after a procedure was done, according to the sheriff. He said the hospital visit might help explain why the dog was found dead. A necropsy is being done on Zinna to determine the cause of death, he said.
Two healthy dogs were found on the property — one inside and one outside.
Feb. 27
Autopsies were done on Hackman and Arakawa. Detectives wrote in a search warrant that the couple and the dog had been dead for some time when the maintenance worker discovered their bodies.
Feb. 28
Preliminary autopsy results didn't reveal causes of death but showed Hackman and Arakawa were not killed by carbon monoxide poisoning, the sheriff said. The initial autopsies also found no external trauma to either body.
March 7
Authorities reveal causes of death for Hackman and Arakawa. Jarrell said both deaths were from natural causes.
Hackman's death was tied to heart disease with Alzheimer's disease contributing. Authorities linked Betsy Arakawa's death to hantavirus pulmonary syndrome, a rare but potentially fatal disease spread by infected rodent droppings.