RIP Gene Hackman

[jon-nyc]

Found dead with his wife and dog in their home. Foul play not suspected. Odd.

He was 95.

https://amp.cnn.com/cnn/2025/02/27/entertainment/gene-hackman-betsy-arakawa-death

[Tom-K]

A great actor from the days when people could and and thell a good story. The Conversation was a really good movie.

I understand a 95 year old guy dying. And I can maybe the wife going at the same time, but the poor dog? That's kind of harsh.

[89th]

Most folks are blaming the cat.

Or carbon monoxide.

[Mik]

An actor's actor.

[Horace]

Never appreciated him in his prime, but eventually became intrigued by all the reports that he's one of the best of the best, and watched him more critically. Sure enough, he's one of the best of the best.

[Mik]

Hoosiers. Unforgiven. French Connection. No Way Out. The list is endless.

[jon-nyc]

Yeah. It’s been ages since I’ve seen any of his movies. I should rewatch a few.

[Klaus]

But why did the dog have to die, too?

[jon-nyc]

The actor Gene Hackman was found dead in a mud room in his New Mexico home and his wife, Betsy Arakawa, was found dead on the floor of a bathroom on Wednesday, according to a search warrant affidavit. An open prescription bottle and scattered pills were discovered on a counter in the bathroom.

A dead German shepherd was found between 10 and 15 feet away from Ms. Arakawa in a closet of the bathroom, the affidavit said. There were no obvious signs of a gas leak in the home, it said, and the Fire Department did not find signs of a carbon monoxide leak.

Detective Roy Arndt wrote in the affidavit that sheriff’s deputies reported to the home on Wednesday afternoon after a maintenance worker made an emergency call. One of the deputies found Ms. Arakawa lying on her side on the bathroom floor with a space heater near her head, the affidavit said. The deputy who found her said he suspected that the heater could have fallen with Ms. Arakawa, the filing said.

Ms. Arakawa’s body showed signs of decomposition, the affidavit said. Two other dogs were found alive on the property.
The deputies found Ms. Arakawa first and then discovered Mr. Hackman lying in the mud room, with his body in a similar condition to his wife’s, the affidavit said.

Sheriff Adan Mendoza of Santa Fe County said in a phone interview that investigators were still trying to determine what caused their deaths, noting that there were no obvious signs of trauma to the bodies and that no note had been found. The sheriff said the home was continuing to be searched on Thursday.

“At this stage in the process there isn’t anything obvious like that,” he said. “The autopsy is going to tell us more“

[89th]

Interesting...

I recall seeing a photo of Hackman recently and he looked so much older and frailer than what I remember from the movies (obviously). If they were in separate parts of the home, I wonder if any form of gas leak could cause their deaths. Presumably at the minimum one person would find another person passed out first and call 911.

[Mik]

An open prescription bottle of WHAT exactly? And no one kills themself in the mud room.

It would be tough to get a dog to swallow enough pills to kill it, and why not the other two dogs? CO is the only thing that makes any sense.

[jon-nyc]

I saw somewhere they are not yet ruling out foul play.

[Horace]

Sure is fishy.

[Copper]

Link to video

[Doctor Phibes]

@Mik said in RIP Gene Hackman:

An open prescription bottle of WHAT exactly? And no one kills themself in the mud room.

It would be tough to get a dog to swallow enough pills to kill it, and why not the other two dogs? CO is the only thing that makes any sense.

He could have died naturally, and then she took her own life with the pills. Not sure how to explain the dog.

[jon-nyc]

He’s the dog that didn’t bark.

[LuFins Dad]

It sounds like she died first? They mentioned decomposition with her but not him.

[LuFins Dad]

She was only 65… Concert pianist. The door was open, so any gas would have dissipated.

[kluurs]

I read that the dog was in a closet.

[LuFins Dad]

@kluurs said in RIP Gene Hackman:

I read that the dog was in a closet.

Yeah, that’s really odd