Authorities have not ruled out that Gene Hackman, his wife, and a family dog were fatally poisoned by carbon monoxide or gas leak in their New Mexico mansion.
Santa Fe’s fire chief told Today on Friday there were no signs of toxic gas when first responders arrived at the actor’s estate on Wednesday, but said their deaths “could have” been caused by some sort of toxic gas that had since dissipated.
“When we arrived, we made sure that our people, as well as the sheriff, were safe, and there was nothing we found,” Chief Brian Moya said of the gas theory. “We also went back again yesterday to do another round of searches with the sheriff’s department, and we didn’t find anything.”
Authorities are yet to pinpoint an exact cause of death for Hackman, who was 95, or his wife, Betsy Arakawa, who was 64. The married couple of 34 years’ bodies were discovered only after a concerned neighbor called in a welfare check on Wednesday.
A search warrant said one of Hackman’s doors were ajar when police arrived to find the couple lying dead in different rooms, with one of their three German Shepherds also dead in a kennel.
Autopsies said their extremities were in a mummified state, suggesting they may have been lying dead for some time. It took investigators at least 12 hours to positively identify the couple, furthering speculation their bodies had been lying for an extended period.
All sorts of rumors have swirled about what may have killed the couple, especially after police said there were no signs of a gas leak, trauma, or forced entry. The star actor’s daughter, Elizabeth, told TMZ she feared carbon monoxide poisoning was to blame.
Moya also suggested a gas leak may ultimately be their cause of death, telling Today that Hackman’s home did use natural gas. He also clarified that foul play has not been ruled out—despite there still being no evidence to suggest it.
Police wrote in a search warrant it found the couple’s deaths to be “suspicious” in part because an open pill bottle was discovered near Arakawa with pills scattered across the floor. They also cited the home’s open door, a supposedly out-of-place space heater, and the fact their bodies were discovered in separate rooms.
Hackman’s two daughters have both said their dad was in great health for his age, perhaps thanks in part to a strict diet that Arakawa kept him on. He could still walk on his own as of last spring, when he was photographed getting around town with the help of a cane.
The couple’s other German Shepherds have been put in the care of authorities.
