Gene Hackman Was Likely Dead For Over A Week Before Oscar Winner & Wife Were Found, Sheriff Says

deadline.com:

Santa Fe County Sheriff Adan Mendoza said Friday his department is still waiting for final autopsy and toxicology reports on the deaths of Gene Hackman and  Betsy Arakawa, but has a fair idea of when the Oscar winner actually died.

An initial interrogation was conducted of Mr. Hackman pacemaker,” the Sheriff said at a short press conference today. “This revealed that his last event was recorded on February 17, 2025, I was advised that a more thorough investigation will be completed.” Noting that getting final autopsy and toxicology reports “could take months,” Mendoza added that initial results seem to rule out carbon monoxide poisoning as a cause of the deaths of the 95-year-old Hackman, the 63-year-old Arakawa and one of their dogs.

Amidst some conflicting information over the past 48 hours, the Sheriff said “there were no apparent signs of foul play” in the Hackmans’ deaths.

Married since 1991 and notoriously private, Hackman and Arakawa’s bodies were first discovered by maintenance workers on the afternoon of February 26.