Gene Hackman dead at 95: Iconic actor and wife, 63, are found dead with their dog at Santa Fe home. #2

[STAGNUM]

This article in People magazine says autopsy on GH is complete. It's a former NYC medical examiners theories of what may have happened.

Gene Hackman and Wife's Deaths: Forensic Pathologist Offers Theory

Dr. Michael Baden presented his theory on Fox News and suggested that the legendary actor could have suffered cardiac arrest and that Betsy Arakawa was in a rush to help him.

people.com

I have absolutely stopped reading reports by "Former Pathologist". They usually hype stuff up and create wild theories.

 

[MassGuy]

https://twitter.com/x/status/1897438776609399245

 

[Spartygirl]

Wow some points I thought were interesting in this article.
1. All the dogs were older, so its unclear why one was I'm crate and others weren't at the time
2. One dog was running around with anxiety and had to be trapped while the other was found near Becky.
3. Dog confirmwd locked in crate. Something happened to them quickly

Ohhh.. I read that They had 3 dogs and 2 dogs were NOT in the home, only one was and that was the one that perished.

Please enlighten me if this is Incorrect

QUOTE--Bear wasn’ t dead at all. As Gaber read the news reports on her phone, the dog was alive and well, resting at a pet daycare facility in Santa Fe, along with the couple’ s other dog, Nikita, a 7-year-old Akita-shepherd mix. USA TODAY learned the dog who perished in the Hackman home was actually Zinna, a 12-year-old reddish Australian Kelpie mixed-breed who had once trained in agility skills to compete at the Westminster Kennel Club Dog Show. Her body was found in a closed crate in the home, according to Joey Padilla, who transported the surviving dogs to his facility, Santa Fe Tails

Sheriff's office makes error about Gene Hackman's dog in initial death report

Authorities are still unraveling the deaths of Gene Hackman and his wife. Equally puzzling were reports their German shepherd had died. He hadn't.

www.usatoday.com

 

[NuttMegg]

I have absolutely stopped reading reports by "Former Pathologist". They usually hype stuff up and create wild theories.

No kidding. Especially that one. Isn't he the one who was so eye rolling at the treadmill killer trial?

 

[NuttMegg]

Ohhh.. I read that They had 3 dogs and 2 dogs were NOT in the home, only one was and that was the one that perished.

Please enlighten me if this is Incorrect

QUOTE--Bear wasn’ t dead at all. As Gaber read the news reports on her phone, the dog was alive and well, resting at a pet daycare facility in Santa Fe, along with the couple’ s other dog, Nikita, a 7-year-old Akita-shepherd mix. USA TODAY learned the dog who perished in the Hackman home was actually Zinna, a 12-year-old reddish Australian Kelpie mixed-breed who had once trained in agility skills to compete at the Westminster Kennel Club Dog Show. Her body was found in a closed crate in the home, according to Joey Padilla, who transported the surviving dogs to his facility, Santa Fe Tails

Sheriff's office makes error about Gene Hackman's dog in initial death report

Authorities are still unraveling the deaths of Gene Hackman and his wife. Equally puzzling were reports their German shepherd had died. He hadn't.

www.usatoday.com

One dead in kennel/crate/closet 10 to 15' from BA. Another one alive. Near her. Another live dog out of the house, harder to capture. Iirc

 

[Spartygirl]

One dead in kennel/crate/closet 10 to 15' from BA. Another one alive. Near her. Another live dog out of the house, harder to capture. Iirc

Thank you.. I wonder why that report said 2 dogs were OUT of the house and one in house and that is the one that perished.

I guess we wont know for sure as there are so many different news that are reporting

 

[Izzylizzy]

Per the 911 tapes, It was Roland B who called 911 and was urging them to respond quickly. As far as I know, Neither Roland or Ryan K entered before the police per the reports. Roland B thought the doors were locked up and was more concerned to get down to the main gate to get police into the neighborhood than answer all the many scripted questions from Dispatcher regarding obviously deceased person spotted through the window. I see nowhere that either caretaker entered via a doggie door.

BBM:
I found it concerning just how out of touch the dispatcher was with what Roland was saying and his answers to questions.
What "patient" for example?

 

[Fabled Automatic]

Looking like perhaps Gene (or Betsy) let the shepherds out when Gene suffered a health event and Betsy went for his meds while the third dog had not yet been let out and something happened to Betsy.

That's exactly how it looked to me from the beginning. We will see Friday.

 

[Izzylizzy]

I have absolutely stopped reading reports by "Former Pathologist". They usually hype stuff up and create wild theories.

And Baden gets paid to spew all his nonsense to boot.

 

[priyaya]

Thank you.. I wonder why that report said 2 dogs were OUT of the house and one in house and that is the one that perished.

I guess we wont know for sure as there are so many different news that are reporting

I agree with what was said earlier. This report felt rushed and not thoroughly reviewed and vetted before it went out. At least in comparison to the presser and followup interviews.


Hopefully Friday's presser will clarify a lot of the questions. Seems far oo early to get toxicology reports back for both.
Perhaps the autopsies revealed something they can now release?; or would we still need.to wait on toxicology before they release any info?

 

[Steelhead]

It was the caretaker for the subdivision who called 911 , was that Jesse Kesler?
At times you can hear the other guy in the background.

Thank you, Izzylizzy. This helped a lot. I wonder what happened for him to want to investigate more closely. Maybe the dogs acting unusually. It sounds like Jesse Kesler is someone else though. I wonder when/how/why he entered the picture. I apologize if I missed it.

 

[Izzylizzy]

Thank you, Izzylizzy. This helped a lot. I wonder what happened for him to want to investigate more closely. Maybe the dogs acting unusually. It sounds like Jesse Kesler is someone else though. I wonder when/how/why he entered the picture. I apologize if I missed it.

I remember reading In one of the first reports that the caretaker/maintenance guy (Roland) contacted Jesse Kesler the Hackman's personal contractor when he either couldn't make contact with the couple to enter the house or saw a body through a window?
I'll look for the article.

 

[AggieLou]

I have absolutely stopped reading reports by "Former Pathologist". They usually hype stuff up and create wild theories.

Are you also not believing that autopsy is complete and showed no injury, no carbon monoxide, that he had severe heart disease

 

[Auntie Cipation]

didnt realize he said this. damn i get that he was emotional, but at that point he already knew there were 2 bodies and the medical examiner mentioned there were no visible injuries. I wonder if there were other things we dont know about that shocked him? Its a strange statement to make in general when there was no foul play suspected

Did he actually say "no visible injuries" or might he have said something more carefully worded, like "no obvious injuries that caused death."

Because decomposition would indeed be visible and traumatic to look at, and I can also think of other potential post-mortem occurrences that might be lastingly traumatic for someone to come upon but not be the cause of death. 'Nuff said.

I don't suspect foul play but I agree with you that there may be more we don't know about.

 

[al66pine]

Media Conf. Scheduled for Friday, 2:00pm MST (4:00pm EST)

https://twitter.com/x/status/1897438776609399245

TYVM (as always) @MassGuy for the news w link.
Per release, sheriff will be joined by officials from NM Ofc of Med. Examiner and
NM Dept of Health re the "death investigation."

If there was an arrest expected re the deaths, seems someone from Prosecutor's office would be there. So why the state DoH? A few posts last week mentioned hantavirus as possibly relating to the deaths.

FWIW, from NM DoH website
Hantavirus Pulmonary Syndrome factsheet, updated Mar. 2025

https://www.nmhealth.org/publication/view/help/887/

Hantavirus pulmonary syndrome
Hantavirus

HPS Complications, per Mayoclinic.org:
"Hantavirus pulmonary syndrome can quickly become life-threatening. Severe disease can result in failure of the heart to deliver oxygen to the body. Each strain of the virus differs in severity. The death rate due to the strain carried by deer mice ranges from 30% to 50%."

Hantavirus pulmonary syndrome-Hantavirus pulmonary syndrome - Symptoms & causes - Mayo Clinic

Learn about the rodent-transmitted virus that causes severe — and sometimes fatal — lung disease with flu-like symptoms that can rapidly worsen.

www.mayoclinic.org

But wait, other possibilities, from NM DoH website:
"Zoonotic diseases are diseases that are transmitted between animals and humans. They include all diseases that people can catch from animals such as wildlife, domestic animals, insects, primates, and birds. Some important zoonotic diseases of New Mexico include Hantavirus Pulmonary Syndrome, Plague, Rabies, West Nile Virus, and Zika Virus. "
Zoonotic Diseases

Not saying that the publicly avail. info ATM about timing or symptoms match re anything ^. IDK. Just puzzling imo that NM DoH will be at media conf.

 

[DD Byrd]

If they are absolutely sure this wasn't monoxide, gas or chemicals that had dissipated by the time the bodies were found, I think Gene went down first. Either a heart attack or stroke and he was unconscious quickly, as I'd like to think he didn't fall and break a hip and start hollering for help. Either way, there are now 2 medium/large dogs who likely lose their minds and go to find Betsy.

I think it's entirely possible she was tripped up by one or both dogs who come barreling into the bathroom in a panic, and even more so if she heard Gene and was rushing herself. The commotion probably also set off Zinna, so I'm envisioning a chaotic few seconds. Betsy tripping over the dog/s would explain her own fall, as well as taking out the heater and scattering pills on her way down (whether already in her hand for herself, grabbed for Gene, or simply knocked off the counter if she was flailing for balance). But even the dogs could have knocked Betsy, the heater and the pills to the ground, I imagine there are scene sketches or photos, released or not. If she hit her head and suffered a brain bleed it wouldn't necessarily leave an abrasion (or even be visible if under her hair), and any bruising would be masked by so many days of mottling and lividity from decomposition.

It's also feasible Betsy witnesses Gene's fall and heads to the bathroom (with the dogs in tow) for the blood pressure meds thinking that will help a heart issue, much like some still run for aspirin. Her second goal was to get the phone and she didn't get that far.

 

[Fabled Automatic]

Are you also not believing that autopsy is complete and showed no injury, no carbon monoxide, that he had severe heart disease

He did have heart disease

He retired from acting in 2008, and said in an interview that his heart issues contributed to his decision.

“The doctor advised me that my heart wasn’t in the kind of shape that I should be putting it under any stress,” Hackman said in the 2009 interview with Empire magazine.

Some of the details of Hackman’s Oregon treatment were reported in a July 5, 1990, UPI story. According to the article, Oregon doctors helped Hackman “avoid a heart attack” by using a balloon-catheter to unblock an artery supplying blood to his heart muscle.

Source

 

[airportwoman]

This article in People magazine says autopsy on GH is complete. It's a former NYC medical examiners theories of what may have happened.

Gene Hackman and Wife's Deaths: Forensic Pathologist Offers Theory

Dr. Michael Baden presented his theory on Fox News and suggested that the legendary actor could have suffered cardiac arrest and that Betsy Arakawa was in a rush to help him.

people.com

I thought Dr. Michael Baden was deceased! Got him mixed up with Dr. Cyril Wecht. Anyway, Dr. Baden is 90 years old himself.

 

[airportwoman]

Media Conf. Scheduled for Friday, 2:00pm MST (4:00pm EST)


TYVM (as always) @MassGuy for the news w link.
Per release, sheriff will be joined by officials from NM Ofc of Med. Examiner and
NM Dept of Health re the "death investigation."

If there was an arrest expected re the deaths, seems someone from Prosecutor's office would be there. So why the state DoH? A few posts last week mentioned hantavirus as possibly relating to the deaths.

FWIW, from NM DoH website
Hantavirus Pulmonary Syndrome factsheet, updated Mar. 2025

https://www.nmhealth.org/publication/view/help/887/

Hantavirus pulmonary syndrome
Hantavirus

HPS Complications, per Mayoclinic.org:
"Hantavirus pulmonary syndrome can quickly become life-threatening. Severe disease can result in failure of the heart to deliver oxygen to the body. Each strain of the virus differs in severity. The death rate due to the strain carried by deer mice ranges from 30% to 50%."

Hantavirus pulmonary syndrome-Hantavirus pulmonary syndrome - Symptoms & causes - Mayo Clinic

Learn about the rodent-transmitted virus that causes severe — and sometimes fatal — lung disease with flu-like symptoms that can rapidly worsen.

www.mayoclinic.org

But wait, other possibilities, from NM DoH website:
"Zoonotic diseases are diseases that are transmitted between animals and humans. They include all diseases that people can catch from animals such as wildlife, domestic animals, insects, primates, and birds. Some important zoonotic diseases of New Mexico include Hantavirus Pulmonary Syndrome, Plague, Rabies, West Nile Virus, and Zika Virus. "
Zoonotic Diseases

Not saying that the publicly avail. info ATM about timing or symptoms match re anything ^. IDK. Just puzzling imo that NM DoH will be at media conf.

I did clinicals in the Four Corners region in the spring of 1994, 8 months after the outbreak started. We didn't know then, but do now, that Sin Nombre Disease (Spanish for "the disease without a name") is primarily a summertime illness.

It also turned out not to be a new disease; among other things, the Navajo medicine men had long known that the deer mouse carried a deadly infectious disease, and ordered that any belongings known to have come into contact with them be destroyed by burning.

 

[PaulaDC]

Did anyone post this? If so apologies.

Gene Hackman Death: Gas Company Finds Minor Leak But ‘No Significant Findings’

The New Mexico Gas Company found 'no significant findings' in its inspection of Gene Hackman and Betsy Arakawa's home.

variety.com