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New Details on ‘Suspicious’ Death of Gene Hackman and His Wife, Betsy Arakawa – Twitchy

February 27, 2025
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New Details on ‘Suspicious’ Death of Gene Hackman and His Wife, Betsy Arakawa – Twitchy
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This is a breaking story, so the 24-hour rule applies; All reports within the first 24 hours are suspect. But we will strive to give you the most accurate information.





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Overnight we learned about the shocking news that not only actor Gene Hackman had died, but his wife, Betsy Arakawa had also died, as well as their dog. To be blunt, if it was just Hackman dying at 95 years old, we don’t think the news would be very shocking—just very sad. Yet, at the same time sources indicated that there was no clear sign of foul play so far.

This author speculated on Twitter/X that carbon monoxide poisoning might explain all of this and we even saw where a member of Hackman’s family suspected that:

(Gotta love that needlessly dramatic language: ‘breaks silence.’)

From the article:

Elizabeth Jean Hackman told TMZ the family thinks ‘the cause (of death) might be from toxic fumes’.

However, the publication did state that Hackman’s daughter claimed she and family members remained ‘unsure’.

Frankly, reading that gave me the suspicion that Elizbeth Hackman didn’t actually know anything that we in the public didn’t and therefore she was just speculating based on the same reports we all read.

But new information suggests the theory of carbon monoxide or a similar accident seem less likely. For instance, we can now read a lightly redacted copy of the affidavit filed to support a search warrant.

Now, we will issue a content warning because some of the details you are about to read are pretty awful. Still, going over it, we get these details:

At approximately 1:43 p.m. on Wednesday, February 26th, 2025, Santa Fe Regional Emergency Communications Center (RECC) received a call for service regarding a reporting party (RP) locating two (2) deceased individuals inside … 

…inside Gene Hackman’s home.

When Deputy Thomas and Barron arrived, Deputy Thomas indicated he spoke to two individuals (one of which was the reporting party) who found and located the front door of the residence (1425 Old Sunset Trial) to be opened/ajar. Deputy Thomas identified the reporting party (RP) to be a male named Roland Lowe Begay ( /65). Roland advised he works as maintenance work for a company called ‘Hoam Company.’ The other maintenance worker was identified as Jesse Kesler ( /72.)

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So, to construct it backward, it sounds like Mr. Begay saw the door open, found the two bodies and then called the police. The affidavit goes on to talk about how the police found the door ajar with no signs of forced entry, basically relaying what a Deputy Thomas told him:

After Deputy Thomas entered the residence, he immediately observed a bathroom to the left of the front door. The door to the bathroom was opened. Deputy Thomas advised he observed a deceased female laying on the ground near the countertop, inside the bathroom. The female was observed laying on her right side. He advised she was found wearing dark gray sweatpants and a light in color sweatshirt. The female was observed to have black in color hair.

Deputy Thomas advised he observed a black in color space heater near the female’s head. He advised he suspected the heater could have fallen in the event the female abruptly fell to the ground. He advised he also observed an orange prescription bottle on the counter-top near the deceased female. The prescription bottle appeared opened with pills scattered on the counter-top. Deputy Thomas advised the female decedent showed obvious signs of death, body decomposition, bloating in her face and mumification in both hands and feet.

Affiant learned Deputy Thomas and [Deputy] Barron continued to search the residence where they then observed/found a deceased brown in color German-Shepard canine. The deceased canine was located approximately 10-15 feet from the deceased female in a closet of the bathroom. 

Deputy Thomas and Barron then proceeded to clear the other portions of the residence. In doing so, they observed a pair of feet and legs on the ground near the kitchen area. Deputy Thomas identified a male (to be deceased) in an area of the home he believed to be a mud-room. The deceased male who was found wearing gray sweat pants, a blue in color long-sleeve t-shirt, brown slippers, and walking-cane.

Deputy Thomas indicated he observed a pair of sunglasses located near the decedent’s left of his body. Based on Deputy Thomas’ training and experience he suspected the male individual has suddenly fallen.

Deputy Thomas advised the male decedent also showed obvious signs of death, similar and consistent with the female decedent.

Deputy Thomas advised there were two other dogs located on the property. He advised one of the healthy dogs was initially observed near the deceased female (inside the bathroom) and the other healthy dog was observed outside the residence.

Deputy Thomas advised he and Barron searched the remainder of the property and found all other buildings and the garage to be locked and secured. Deputy Thomas (again) advised he did not observe any signs of forced entry into the residence. Deputy Thomas indicated he did not observe any indication the residence had been rummaged through or items were taken from inside the residence. He advised based on his training and experience nothing appeared to be ‘out of place’ while clearing the residence.

Deputy Thomas indicated he asked Roland and Jesse when the last had contact with the homeowners and they both advised it was approximately two (2) weeks prior. Both individuals advised they rarely saw the owners (of the residence) when conducting routine maintenance on the home.





So basically these two guys were paid to maintain the outside of the home and didn’t actually see them very often, usually communicating entirely by text. They had come to the house to do their work and opened the door and found the bodies. Then the police came and verified the two dead bodies as well as the dead dog. They also showed no sign of robbery so far or break in, so far.

And in fact, this author believes that we are not even sure that Hackman is dead, but we think a typo has obscured that fact. Allow us to explain.

The affidavit also says:

These two males identified Betsy’s husband and Gene Hackman (or Eugene Allen Hackman) ( /30), however did not positively identify him as the deceased male. At this time the male’s true identity is unknown, until further investigative research can be made/conducted

This paragraph doesn’t make very much sense unless you suppose that the author of the affidavit made a typo—and regular readers know this author’s ‘dyslexic superpowers’ makes him very good at detecting typos. It says:

These two males identified Betsy’s husband and Gene Hackman…

But we suspect that the author meant to write:

These two males identified Betsy’s husband as Gene Hackman…

(emphasis added). In other words, the maintenance workers told them that Betsy was married to Gene Hackman, but they couldn’t be sure that the male body was him, presumably because of the condition of his body. So technically they are not sure it is Mr. Hackman and theoretically he could be alive, but the cops clearly believe it is him.

Moving on, the fire department was called out and verified that there were no signs of a carbon monoxide leak or poisoning. Presumably they used a device that detects carbon monoxide to be sure. Also:

Affiant learned New Mexico Gas Company responded the residence and was conducting active testing on the gas line in and around the residence. … As of now, there are no signs or evidence indicating there were any problems associated to the pipes in and around the residence.

But the author of the affidavit seems to think that a gas leak or poisonous gas might still be in the cards. Additionally:





There are no immediate signs or indications of blunt force trauma. However, Affiant is seeking to seize any blunt force objects in the event there is any indication of blunt force trauma once the Office of Medical Investigations arrives on scene; and conducts their initial field investigation and possible cause of death.

In other words, right now they don’t see any signs of murder. But that can change. 

And that is about is in terms of details. 

Incidentally, we got the affidavit from this article:

Under these circumstances, we presume the author of the affidavit is being honest and trying his best to get things right, but even the author admits there might be mistakes in it. For instance, it explicitly relies on hearsay. That is legal when dealing with probable cause, but there is a reason why hearsay is not considered as reliable as direct testimony.

And naturally Arakawa being partially mummified also raised our eyebrows. How long does that take to happen naturally? Well, we are not forensic experts, but we found an academic article discussing a specific case of it…

From the abstract:

Immediately after death, specific changes occur in the human body, leading to the total dissolution of the soft tissues and internal organs. In some cases, when in suitable conditions, the decomposition process could stop and be displaced by mummification. The last one is time-consuming and needs several weeks to months to set in completely. We present a case of a 34-year-old man found dead 16 days after being last seen alive in a stage of complete mummification. Natural mummification occurring in less than one month is termed precocious mummification and is rarely observed in temperate regions. With only a few cases reported globally, this case is essential for the forensic community. It will help better know the mummification processes and estimate the time since death.





In any case, with that information and assuming this reporting is accurate, it’s hard to see how some kind of gas leak might explain it. One scenario that might make sense is if Hackman died of a natural cause like a heart attack, possibly shortly after entering the house, and then Arakawa decided she didn’t want to live without her husband. But all of that is rank speculation and prior speculation has already been called into question, so … honestly, who knows? While all of this is interesting, we think we are just going to have to wait to hear what the police has to say.

One of our Twitchy writers also thought of Weird Al’s parents.

And we wanted to highlight this because we have heard a lot of people say it.

The theory goes that it was announced last night that at least some of the Epstein files would be released today, so the theory is Hackman knew he would be exposed and killed himself. However, if Arakawa was partially mummified and Hackman couldn’t even be identified, it sounds like they have been dead for a while. So that theory doesn’t seem likely. But we say that based on some Googling, so we could be wrong. Honestly, most of what we know about mumification is from listening to nerdy documentaries about Ancient Egypt. Still, the authorities should be able to determine a rough time of death and tell us more.





That’s actually very plausible as speculation goes.

One of this author’s favorites was in ‘A Bridge Too Far.’

Yes. Look, it’s human to speculate, but remember that you might not know critical facts. So, approach the issue with humility. After all, Socrates said that the beginning of wisdom is ‘I don’t know,’ so be careful to respect the limits of your own knowledge. 

Finally:

This is probably the most sensible approach. Still, there’s nothing wrong with speculating in the comments, especially if our readers have any relevant expertise, as long as we recognize the limits of our ability to speculate. Still, if there is anyone out there who worked in forensics or knows anything useful at all, this author would love to hear from you.

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