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

[Fabled Automatic]

My best guess is, she suffered some sort of medical distress (which explains the spilled prescription meds) & passed, then he found her. In distress himself, likely fell & knocked himself out and then also passed. The dog would have died of thirst or starvation if locked in the crate in the closet. Terribly sad no matter how it all went down.

What's puzzling is how the 2 dogs survived without anyone feeding or watering them.

I find it a little unusual (not implying anything nefarious) that they had been deceased for so long without being discovered, or having anyone check on them.

I have an elderly parent. Last summer I hadn't heard from them for about 24 hours, so I damaged their door to gain access to their home when they didn't answer their phone or doorbell.

Turns out they'd just forgotten to charge their phone and had been doing a puzzle for like a day and a half. lol

 

[Ontario Mom]

Not discounting your theory but he was found in an opposite area of the house, he was found in the mud room by the front door

Yes, my guess is he attempted to seek help for her, and fell before he made it out the door.

 

[Ontario Mom]

The two dogs may have drunk water from a fountain or tub outside, or from the toilets. They may also have been found emaciated, though still alive, from lack of food.

I assume the dog inside was drinking from the toilet but the earlier reports all said the 2 dogs were found "alive and healthy", one inside and one outside. No mention of emaciation at all.

 

[BrianJohnson]

Yes, my guess is he attempted to seek help for her, and fell before he made it out the door.

Certainly possible but if happened with me I would dial 911 from the bathroom, then again he was 95 so may not have had the clear thinking that others would have

 

[TailSpin]

CO leak would mean 3 dead dogs not 1, least likely theory after murder/suicide and suicide pact for me

I'm not getting a vibe that there was murder involved. Suicide possibly but this looks like a sequence of accidental deaths to me.

 

[Ontario Mom]

Certainly possible but if happened with me I would dial 911 from the bathroom, then again he was 95 so may not have had the clear thinking that others would have

Earlier reports mentioned the 2 handymen that worked on their home stayed in contact with the wife via text.
My guess is, Mr. Hackman didn't have or even use a cell phone. Or just panicked and tried to hurry out the door to get help.

 

[armchairagatha]

The fact that only 1 dog died while 2 others are alive and well clearly indicates that this was not a planned murder-suicide pact or anything of that sort. The dogs were suddenly left without their caretaker. It is unclear if the dead dog was found locked in the closet or outside next to Betsy's body in the bathroom. If the former, it probably died of thirst and starvation. If the latter, it probably ate the fallen pills. The other 2 dogs being loose, managed to find something to eat and drink especially if there was a doggy door that they could use to go outside.
So what happened to Gene and Betsy? Occam's razor suggests that since both of them appeared to have suddenly fallen, Betsy probably had a medical incident and fell first. Could have been a heart attack. With no one to help her in that medical emergency, she passed. Gene might have called out to her when he needed help but no one came. We don't know if he even found her in the bathroom. Maybe he decided to head outside to see if she was there. He wasn't going outside to call for help. He was simply looking for her and thought she was outside, since she didn't respond to him when he called. But given his advanced age and health conditions, he didn't make it too far. Fell in the mudroom and couldn't get up and didn't have anyone to help him or respond to his calls for help. Eventually passed. Very sad if that is how it went down. I guess this is why older people should always have an emergency button or something they can press when they need help or fall. In this case, given Betsy was much younger than him, they probably thought they didn't need external support. MOO. RIP to both of them and the dog.

 

[Diddian]

sorry, dogs don't eat human pills

My dogs will try almost anything, especially if they see me eating whatever it is first.

 

[whitelilac]

I assume the dog inside was drinking from the toilet but the earlier reports all said the 2 dogs were found "alive and healthy", one inside and one outside. No mention of emaciation at all.

My dog knows where the bag of dry food is. It's possible those dogs did too and were able to access it. The deceased dog may have been trapped in the kennel in the bathroom closet.
It's not stated if there was a mess of kibbles in the kitchen or elsewhere, so who knows?

 

[Fabled Automatic]

I'm not getting a vibe that there was murder involved. Suicide possibly but this looks like a sequence of accidental deaths to me.

It is worth noting that there were no obvious signs of trauma to any of the bodies.

 

[Fabled Automatic]

Betsy Arakawa, a classical musician and small-business owner who was married to Gene Hackman and helped edit his novels, died on Wednesday with him at their home in Santa Fe, N.M., the local authorities said on Thursday. She was 65. RIP Ms. Betsy

Betsy Arakawa, a Classical Musician and the Wife of Gene Hackman, Dies at 65

As the spouse of a two-time Oscar winner, she avoided interviews and stayed off social media. But in private, she typed up Mr. Hackman’s novels and helped edit them.

www.nytimes.com

I had no idea Gene was an author! I've always loved his films though. My wife's favourite of his is The Birdcage. Mine is Mississippi Burning.

 

[BrianJohnson]

Earlier reports mentioned the 2 handymen that worked on their home stayed in contact with the wife via text.
My guess is, Mr. Hackman didn't have or even use a cell phone. Or just panicked and tried to hurry out the door to get help.

I am still leaning towards the opposite, he fell and she found him dead, in grief/emotion took a load of pills and died from overdosing, see what the toxicology reports come up with but I still feel he died before her

 

[Cedars]

Sounds like the only really suspicious thing about the deaths is that there were multiple simultaneous deaths. If they had occurred on their own it would just simply seem to be a death due to a fall.

People don't normally die from a fall. Only if they have, eg, fallen on a rock and there is evidence of head trauma.

If Gene had fallen and his wife called 911, an interview with her could have described signs of a heart attack and that would probably be the ruling.

The unexplained death of a 65 year old woman in a bathroom with pills, reported by her husband, wouldn't, IMO, have been ruled as caused by a fall.

 

[CityKid]

sorry, dogs don't eat human pills

Our dog snouted her way into the drawer of my bf's bedside table, decided that a plastic pill bottle would be a good chew toy, crunched it until the pills came out and ate a bunch of them. She survived because luckily we were home and got her to the emergency vet within 15 minutes. She was 8 years old, not a puppy, and had never done anything like this before.

 

[Firstsnow4]

I had no idea Gene was an author! I've always loved his films though. My wife's favourite of his is The Birdcage. Mine is Mississippi Burning.

I was born in the 80’s and even I know several of his films - my favourite was the Poseidon adventure. Very sad news. RIP.

 

[SMK777]

I have the same question. Google says a dog can go 5 days without food. From all reports, Mr. & Mrs. Hackman were deceased much longer than 5 days.

Exactly. And where were the dogs getting water? [ETA: Just read that perhaps from toilets or outside tubs]. Still: The whole set of circumstances is very strange.

 

[MassGuy]

Audio of 911 call: Gene Hackman 911 Caller Emotional on Phone, Says He Can't See Anyone Moving

 

[Fabled Automatic]

Does anyone know if Betsy's body was found clothed or nude? this article mentions she was "uncovered", which doesn't necessarily imply she was nude. The first article I came across described the clothes Gene was wearing, but didn't specifically mention Betsy's clothing.

 

[cenazoic]

"It is with great sadness that we announce the passing of our father, Gene Hackman and his wife, Betsy….

Was just kinda struck by the reference to ‘his wife’. I mean, BA and GH have been married for 35 years at this point. Why not ‘stepmother’? Or any other words about missing her? Anyway, just nattering nabobbery; I loved GH in the Royal Tenenbaums and French Connection.

 

[Fabled Automatic]

'there was no indication that there was any problem' with her father prior to his death.

'Despite his age, he was in very good physical condition,' she revealed, while adding that her father did not have any major surgeries these last few months.

'He liked to do Pilates and yoga, and he was continuing to do that several times a week. So he was in good health.'

Quote from Gene's daughter who, admittedly, hadn't seen or spoken to him in months. In theory, he could have had health issues she wasn't aware of.