A local caretaker was horrified when he stopped by Gene Hackman’s home Wednesday afternoon and found the Hollywood legend and his wife, Betsy Arakawa, motionless on the floor.
“They’re not moving—just send somebody out here really quick!” the subdivision caretaker pled in a phone call to 911.
The distressed man told the dispatcher that he was not inside the house but instead looking through the window at their stationary bodies. He wasn’t sure if they were breathing.
“Damn, damn, damn,” he said, beginning to weep.
The caretaker begged for immediate assistance, adding that he could not enter the couple’s $3.3 million Santa Fe mansion.
The sheriff’s office announced the pair’s death later that evening.
Detectives applied for a search warrant, saying that the death was “suspicious enough in nature to require a thorough search and investigation.” The reporting party, the sheriff added, found the residence’s front door open but no signs of forced entry. One of the couple’s three dogs was found dead in the bathroom closet. A space heater, which may have fallen, was found next to Arakawa’s head, and a pill bottle was also opened, with its contents scattered near her. Hackman was in a separate room, and detectives said there were “no obvious signs” of a gas leak.
Although Hackman’s daughter speculated that a carbon monoxide leak may have killed the pair, the cause of death has still not been revealed. The Santa Fe Sheriff’s Department said it does not currently suspect foul play, but the investigation is ongoing.
Hackman was a legendary two-time Oscar-winner best known for his roles in Unforgiven and The French Connection. The film icon had turned 95 in January and lived with Arakawa, his wife of nearly three and a half decades. She was a classical pianist and only 64 when she passed away.
Both lived a private life in New Mexico. Hackman retired from acting in 2004 and fled to Santa Fe, where the two spent their time biking, fishing, and renovating their home. The lifelong companions were rarely seen in public in the years leading up to their deaths. In fact, they weren’t even photographed in public for 21 years until somebody snapped their pic in early 2024.
The tragedy comes only days before the 97th Academy Awards, where celebrities will likely pay tribute to the five-time nominee and his talented wife.
