Legendary Hollywood actor Jean Hackman and his wife Betsy Arakawa were found dead in Santa Fe, New Mexico on Wednesday, urging investigators to call the death “suspectful.”
The bodies of Hackman, 95, and 65-year-old Arakawa, were found in separate rooms, according to the Santa Fe County Sheriff’s Office. One of their dogs was also found dead.
Hackman is an Oscar-winning actor and was best known for his roles in “The French Connection,” “The Conversation,” and “Forrgiven.” Arakawa was a classic pianist.
This is what we know about their deaths.
How did they die?
How Hackman and Arakawa died remains unknown, and authorities are investigating the situation.
The Sheriff’s Office said Thursday afternoon it had not determined the cause of death. Officials said no signs of foul play were apparent, and autopsy found no external trauma on either Hackman or Arakawa.
The sheriff’s office says both toxicology and carbon monoxide testing have been requested, with results still pending.
The Santa Fe Fire Department couldn’t find any signs of carbon monoxide leaks or poisoning, and New Mexico Gas Co. found no evidence of problems with the pipes inside and around the home, according to a search warrant affidavit.
According to the affidavit, “The circumstances surrounding the deaths of two dead individuals are sufficiently suspicious in nature to require thorough search and investigation.”
When were they found?
Hackman and Arakawa were found Wednesday afternoon after someone called 911 to report their bodies. Sheriff Adan Mendoza said Thursday that the couple had died “for quite some time.”
The pest control worker was in the residence Wednesday and found the couple not home, which was clearly unusual. The workers contacted the security guards in the plot, contacted the district, and he went to the house and found a couple inside, Mendoza said.
According to Cole Audio, a man who described himself as the caretaker of a compartment called 911 to report his body. He said the doors were locked and he couldn’t get inside, but he looked at them through the window and wasn’t moving.
According to the affidavit, the two maintenance workers said they found Ajar on the couple’s front door when they went to check their residence.
According to the affidavit, the Santa Fe County representative “did not observe any signs of forced entry into the home.”
Where were they found?
According to the affidavit, deputies found Arakawa’s body on the bathroom floor. A space heater is near her head, an open prescription bottle is on the counter, and pills are “scattered across the countertop.” It wasn’t immediately known what kind of pill it was.
The lawmaker suspected that “if the heater suddenly fell on the ground, it could have been the heater.”
They then found a dead dog, a German shepherd, about 10-15 feet from Arakawa in the bathroom closet.
