After Gene Hackman, his wife Betsy Arakawa and their pet dog were found dead in their Santa Fe home, speculation ran wild about their “suspicious” deaths. Now, a leading forensic expert has put forth a chilling theory, suggesting their tragic deaths were the result of a heartbreaking accident.
On February 26, Hollywood was rocked by the tragic news that legendary actor Gene Hackman, 95, and his wife, Betsy Arakawa, 65, were found dead in their Santa Fe home. One of their beloved dogs was also found dead, while two other dogs in the home survived.
Peculiar details
The search warrant application reveals some intriguing details about the discovery of the bodies, raising further questions about the circumstances of their deaths.
When officers entered the home, they “immediately observed a bathroom to the left of the front door. The door to the bathroom was opened.”
Arakawa was discovered on the bathroom floor, “a black in color space heater near the female’s head,” and an open prescription bottle with scattered pills were found on the counter.
The body of a German-Shepard dog was also found, “approximately 10-15 feet from the deceased female in a closet of the bathroom.”
Upon further inspection of the home, the Unforgiven star was found on the ground of what’s “believed to be a mudroom,” a cane and sunglasses on the ground near him.
Both Hackman and Arakawa, who he married in 1991, showed signs of decomposition and appear to have fallen suddenly.
Theories ruled out
According to Santa Fe County Sheriff Adan Mendoza, the reclusive couple “had been deceased for quite a while.” He later revealed that Hackman’s pacemaker recorded its last heartbeat on February 17.
Despite the unusual scene, authorities noted that neither Hackman nor Arakawa displayed any signs of blunt force trauma and that there were no visible signs of forced entry, ruling out an obvious break-in.
And, after finding no traces of the toxic gas in the home, Santa Fe City Fire Department eliminated the possibility of carbon monoxide poisoning.
Wife tried to help
Recently, Dr. Michael Baden, the former chief medical examiner in New York City, spoke with Fox News and suggests that Hackman’s pacemaker offers a hint into the circumstances surrounding all three deaths.
“That event would have been a cardiac arrest caused by an abnormal pulse rate,” Baden said. “The pacemaker keeps track of the pulse, and when it gets down too low, it discharges. And that’s all in the record.”
According to the forensic pathologist, the actor likely suffered a fatal heart attack.
“So the autopsy showed he didn’t have any injury,” Baden said. “There was no carbon monoxide. And he had – the most common cause of death in this country – severe heart disease, coronary artery disease and high blood pressure perhaps, from what’s been released. So that would cause him, having cardiac arrest in the mudroom, to collapse right there.”
As for Arakawa, Baden suggests she was still alive when Hackman had his episode.
“His wife was found in the bathroom. They haven’t released the information about her findings, except that she did not have carbon monoxide in her,” Baden said. He next explains that before she died, she was likely rushing to get his blood pressure pills from the bathroom when she spilled the pills, slipped and had the space heater strike her head.
“She may have struck her head on the way down and had some internal injury to the brain that doesn’t show up on the outside or bleeding in the inside of the brain,” the doctor said. “Or that she may also, at 65, had severe heart disease and excitement can cause a trigger to the cardiac rhythm causing death under those circumstances. I think the first, that striking her head would be more common.”
Evidence found at the scene supports this possibility. Pills were discovered near her body, suggesting she had managed to locate the medication but never made it back to her dying husband.
Trapped dog
The couple had three dogs. The deceased dog was found “10-15 feet” away from Arakawa “in a closet of the bathroom” and two others, healthy and alive, were discovered on the property.
According to the warrant, “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.”
“What was perplexing to me initially with the release was the death of a dog also, which I thought was free in the house,” Baden said, referring to the affidavit that claims the dog was in a bathroom “closet” and other reports that say he was trapped in a kennel.
He adds, “And that’s why I think that the carbon monoxide [theory] was a very good thought with them breathing in the same air. But it turns out from what they say, that the dog was constrained in his cage or kennel and would have died from just dehydration and lack of water during the nine-day period that he couldn’t get out of the kennel.”
If Baden’s theory proves correct, the death of Hackman, Arakawa, and their dog was a heartbreaking accident!
Please let us know your thoughts on. This theory and then share it with others so we can hear from them!
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