Investigators believe the deaths of actor Gene Hackman and his wife Betsy Arakawa are “suspicious,” according to a search warrant affidavit released Thursday morning.
Hackman, 95, and Arakawa, 63, were found dead in their home in Santa Fe, N.M., on Wednesday afternoon. The cause of their deaths has not been determined, though the Santa Fe County Sheriff’s Office said early Thursday that foul play is “not currently suspected.”
In an application for a search warrant, Det. Roy Arndt told a judge the circumstances are “suspicious enough in nature to require a thorough search and investigation.”
The bodies were found by two maintenance workers. Arakawa was lying on the bathroom floor. A prescription pill bottle was open on the countertop, with pills scattered nearby. Hackman was discovered in the mud room, adjacent to the kitchen, with his sunglasses at his side.
It appeared to the detective that both had fallen to the ground. A dead dog was also found in the bathroom closet, near Arakawa’s body. Two healthy dogs were also found on the property, one near Arakawa and the other running loose outdoors. The front door of the house was open, though there was no sign of forcible entry.
The fire department and the gas company were called out to check for a natural gas leak, which could cause carbon monoxide poisoning. They did not detect anything, and there were “no obvious signs of a gas leak,” Arndt wrote.
“Affiant believes that the circumstances surrounding the death of the two deceased individuals to be suspicious enough in nature to require a thorough search and investigation,” the detective wrote in summarizing the situation.
It was not clear when Arakawa and Hackman had died. Arakawa’s body “showed obvious signs of death, body decomposition, bloating in her face and mummification in both hands and feet.” Hackman’s body was “similar and consistent with the female decedent.”
A space heater was found near Arakawa’s head, and it appeared “the heater could have fallen in the event the female abruptly fell to the ground,” the affidavit adds.
Judge John Rysanek, of the Santa Fe County Magistrate Court, approved the search warrant at 9:30 p.m. on Wednesday.
The Office of the Medical Investigator will conduct autopsies and determine the cause of death. The agency declined to comment Thursday, saying it does not discuss pending investigations.
