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

[tree1]

Makes me realise how blessed i am my daughter and Sister who both live some distance away would worry on the same day if they couldnt get hold of me.

Plus i am fit well and active!

 

[Sunshynn]

Or is it possible to feel no symptoms and then suddenly lose consciouness?

Warning Signs of Carbon Monoxide Poisoning

Contact emergency services if you suspect you have carbon monoxide poisoning. Symptoms include dizziness, nausea and shortness of breath.

my.clevelandclinic.org

Yes, it can cause death within a few minutes if the concentration is high enough.

 

[iamshadow21]

Yes but at the onset of these symptoms, in two awake people, one of whom is vulnerable, surely one of them would call for help?

This is the bit that I'm struggling with. If you feel very ill, and you care for a 95 year old man, then you call 911.

If he feels ill, you call 911.

Younger people might ignore weakness, chest pain, vomiting. But you would never ignore those symptoms in a 95 year old man. And surely if CO poisoning, he would have suffered/struggled first?

If they had been found in bed, I would find this a more convincing explanation.

Or is it possible to feel no symptoms and then suddenly lose consciouness?

CO poisoning can also cause confusion, memory loss, disordered thinking.

Have you ever read the story about the guy who thought someone was breaking in and leaving sinister post it notes to him in his apartment? Was scared silly, got on Reddit legal advice, and asked WTF to do? The people who replied correctly advised him that it sounded like CO poisoning. He was leaving the notes himself. He also thought he had a webcam set up to monitor the home. All he'd done was created an empty folder labelled 'webcam'.

It's all still there in all its glory, if you're interested. Just google Reddit co poisoning, it's like the first hit on Google.

MOO

 

[Fabled Automatic]

True. I did just read that investigators said that these were prescription pills, so that rules out something like Tylenol as some have conjectured.

Could you please source this, if possible? I must have missed that detail. I read they were in an orange prescription bottle. That doesn't necessarily mean they were prescription, nor indicate whose prescription.

If the maintenance man saw both bodies, then why didn't he see that the front door was open?

Given that Betty was by the front door and he saw her through the window?

I'm not very good at spatial awareness imagining, so maybe it's a geography question. But it's confusing.

This has been the thing I've thought about the most. Could be nothing, or misreporting, but I find it odd.

 

[Sunshynn]

If the maintenance man saw both bodies, then why didn't he see that the front door was open?

I don't have a doggy door, but could they mean when they say that the door was 'unsecured and open' that the doggy door was accessible.
Is there even a way to 'lock' a doggy door?

 

[Skigh]

Warning Signs of Carbon Monoxide Poisoning

Contact emergency services if you suspect you have carbon monoxide poisoning. Symptoms include dizziness, nausea and shortness of breath.

my.clevelandclinic.org

Yes, it can cause death within a few minutes if the concentration is high enough.

If something happened to cause such a high concentration which caused two people to instantly fall down dead then I would have thought that the cause would be quite obvious to investigators sent to check the house for CO leaks.

 

[BrianJohnson]

If something happened to cause such a high concentration which caused two people to instantly fall down dead then I would have thought that the cause would be quite obvious to investigators sent to check the house for CO leaks.

Plus the other 2 dogs would probably be dead too, most unlikely to be CO

 

[NuttMegg]

the report says the garage was locked but no idea if it was attached to the house

Earlier on this thread someone posted that the garage(s) were detached and they posted a schematic of the buildings.

 

[SMK777]

Could you please source this, if possible? I must have missed that detail. I read they were in an orange prescription bottle. That doesn't necessarily mean they were prescription, nor indicate whose prescription.



This has been the thing I've thought about the most. Could be nothing, or misreporting, but I find it odd.

Yes, I just read it this morning & will try and find the article.

An open prescription bottle and scattered pills were discovered near her body on a counter in the bathroom.

Scattered Pills Found Near Body of Hackman’s Wife as Inquiry Continues

The sheriff’s office in Santa Fe County, N.M., is investigating after the actor Gene Hackman, his wife and one of their dogs were found dead inside their home.

www.nytimes.com

Its from the NY TIMES and I will edit in the link. I assume the pills belong to the prescription bottle they were in.

 

[NuttMegg]

Plus the other 2 dogs would probably be dead too, most unlikely to be CO

There was a doggy door, I posted the link a few minutes ago. One healthy dog was found by BA, and the other healthy dog was outside. So, to my mind they could enter/leave at will or the dog near BA's body would be dead, as you say.

 

[Marantz4250b]

I've kinda missed the news the past few days so only just heard of the strange nature of this.

A truly great bloke who did some amazing movies. One of the big names who no one ever seemed to have a bad word for. A sad loss.

Coincidentally, I only rewatched Superman a couple of weeks ago. I came across a random video on YouTube a few weeks ago about a film he did in the 70's called "Night Moves" - that I immediately sought out and watched.......although not for the acting skills of Mr Hackman

 

[Fabled Automatic]

Gene and Betsy's home is 8761 square feet. I'm far from an expert on the subject, but I have doubts that their home would be able to fill with a lethal amount of carbon monoxide before they noticed early stage symptoms of poisoning.

Source of house
Source of carbon monoxide poisoning

 

[Sunshynn]

If something happened to cause such a high concentration which caused two people to instantly fall down dead then I would have thought that the cause would be quite obvious to investigators sent to check the house for CO leaks.

Fair enough.
I agree that it would probably be noticeable when they discovered them.

 

[Marantz4250b]

Surely they would have had a CO detector? But yet it does sound like the most likely cause at this time.

I think that that's almost certain from what I've read so far.

After initially saying there were no suspicious circumstances the police are not saying that it's "worthy of attention" or similar. If it's CO poisoning there will be possible criminal charges somewhere. Highly doubt they're looking at anything violent or anything.

 

[LoveyG]

As some others suggested, maybe the wire crate was in a big walk-in type of closet, and the crate door was kept open. And the closet door could have been kept open, too. I don’t think we know.

And for all we know, the other two dogs could have had crates of their own in the same closet, too. As you say, it could be that the one that died walked into its crate on its own because it didn’t feel well, or was anxious and afraid due to the circumstances.

Just thoughts.

Yes, my thoughts too. I picture their closets being larger than my bedrooms.

 

[kurtneverdied]

I don't think we even know what the pills were.

But they were spilt so 1. She didn’t take them all and 2. Unless they were like arsenic or something, I can't imagine instant effects. As to whether she purposefully intended to overdose, it doesn't seem like the scene supports that, to me. The spilt pills and sudden fall seem to have occurred in stereo. IMO that's more consistent with her in distress, making her way as far as the bathroom, trying to take medication for whatever symptom she may have been experiencing, and then collapsing.

The nature of those pills will likely shed light.

JMO

As one who takes a lot of pills daily, splitting pills can be done in advance. We don't know how many pills she had or what else there might have been available other than what is mentioned by the police.
Considering the toxicology report is just about all that's left to explain what happened then it is highly likely there will be something in her system at least, just how much and what it was is the question.
Suicide by poisoning is right up there as the most common by women her age.

 

[iamshadow21]

As one who takes a lot of pills daily, splitting pills can be done in advance. We don't know how many pills she had or what else there might have been available other than what is mentioned by the police.
Considering the toxicology report is just about all that's left to explain what happened then it is highly likely there will be something in her system at least, just how much and what it was is the question.
Suicide by poisoning is right up there as the most common by women her age.

Spilt and split are different things.

 

[NuttMegg]

Spilt and split are different things.

I was wondering about that, I haven't seen anything that describes the pills as being split. I too have one of those doodads for splitting pills. But once split I wouldn't put them back in the bottle.

 

[Sunshynn]

Spilt and split are different things.

Agreed.
They were saying that the pills were spilt not split, as far as I have read.

 

[friendlysleuther]

IMO, (as i have discussed earlier) -- I think this may be more of a case of poisoning via food rather than carbon monoxide.