5mo ago

Oscar-winning actor Gene Hackman and his wife and dog found dead in their New Mexico home

Oscar-winner Gene Hackman, wife Betsy Arakawa and their dog were dead for some time, warrant shows

Summary

Oscar-winning actor Gene Hackman, 95, his wife Betsy Arakawa, and their dog were found dead in their New Mexico home, authorities confirmed Thursday.

Foul play is not suspected, but an investigation is ongoing.

Hackman, a revered actor known for The French Connection and Unforgiven, retired from Hollywood two decades ago and spent his later years writing novels.

He lived in New Mexico since the 1980s, remaining largely out of the public eye. His death comes just days before this year’s Academy Awards.

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jeffw @lemmy.world

5mo ago

Oscar-winner Gene Hackman, wife Betsy Arakawa and their dog were dead for some time, warrant shows

apnews.com /article/gene-hackman-found-dead-f6c106e92987aeaaab7b35c1b956a5c8

65 comments

Both and the dog dead? It's currently 7am in New Mexico. Article posted 2 hours ago. So before 5am.
So they were found dead between 12am and 5am at least. "No foul play suspected", 3 dead, someone was probably responding to something, and if there's no fire, it was almost definitely CO.
Put CO detectors on all levels people. It doesnt take long for it to overwhelm you, and if you don't get out, that's it.
- Put CO detectors on all levels people. It doesnt take long for it to overwhelm you, and if you don't get out, that's it.
  Per TMZ:
  The fire department came and advised they did not see any signs of carbon monoxide leak or poisoning. The New Mexico gas company came to the residence and conducted testing on the gas lines in and around the house, and concluded, "As of now, there are no signs or evidence indicating there were any problems associated to the pipes in and around the residence."
  Looks like she maybe preceded him for a short time, whatever the hell that implies.
- NM is just jealous that CO is better. Don't put up detectors to keep CO out of your home, embrace it with open arms and lungs!
  
  a CO detector is counting the number of subarus around you while driving. under 3 is safe
  
  Those detectors go off so much that they give me a headache.
- Goddamn Coloradans killing our best actors!
- Yeah this was my first thought as well.
Y'all, hundreds of people die every year from accidental carbon monoxide poisoning, and tens of thousands are hospitalized annually. Weird Al Yankovic lost his elderly parents to CO poisoning in April 2004. It's winter time and Santa Fe is at 7,000 ft (2130 m) of elevation. Please don't rush to blame and conspiracy.
- Can we stop piping natural gas into our homes pls k thx
  
  Gas is nice for some things, but for heating a brand new heat pump is best.
  Actually, the one thing that gas is good for is cooking, but induction is far better. So yeah. No real need for gas to the home.
  
  You say this but up here in the PNW electric power isn't very reliable at all. Look up Washington lake. This past year during the holidays everyone around the entire length of the lake lost power for a week. The week after power got restored we started getting into the low 30's and hitting the freezing mark a few times. Everyone got lucky. But still lost food and it was a pain in the ass because it 5pm but its pitch black outside your house. We burnt wood in the chimney to keep cold as fuck but not freezing. Meanwhile the politicians keep peddling the removal of gas lines. I'm totally fine if they do. I'll just ger myself a large battery bank, a generator, a solar panel etc. Having backup power is important. Gas makes it so much easier to keep massive amounts of power ready to go when the grid goes down. Otherwise agree with most comments about point of use heaters that are electric as well as heat pumps which are crazy good.
  
  When you find another way to transport that much energy, that doesn't always need to be directly connected to infrastructure, to us with such a high ROI, you'll be famous and rich because you'll have solved the world's energy crisis.
- I know who did it and how. But I can't talk about it here. Meet me behind Chili's.
- But they said it wasn't carbon monoxide poisoning.
  Agree with the comment about conspiracies.
- It’s winter time and Santa Fe is at 7,000 ft (2130 m) of elevation.
  Wow never would have expected that!
  That's way higher than our highest City in Switzerland, Davos, (which is also the heighest of Europe) at only 1560 m. Not to mention that Santa Fe is 7 times as populous as Davos.
  
  You think that's crazy, check out Leadville, Colorado. (3,095m)
  
  Sure, but keep in mind that Santa Fe is also the same latitude as Tangier, southern Sicily, and Crete. The entirety of mainland Europe is north of Santa Fe, so being at elevation is what keeps the weather relatively nice most of the year, rather than a desert like Texas or Arizona.
Foul play is not suspected
Does "foul play" include gas leaks, etc., or are those counted as accidents or similar?
- Unless the leak was caused intentionally, it'd be considered an accidental death.
- She couldve passed first and been sole care taker
  
  That's dark. Fingers crossed they tried to barbeque indoors then.
- Suicide? Old people sometimes decide to end life on their own schedule.
  
  Suuure sounds like carbon monoxide poisoning, which accidentally kills lots of people every year.
  
  It's the dog that knocks it off the possibility list for me. Most people who commit to the act of suicide start giving stuff away. That and a sudden 'happiness burst' are things that you sometimes see in people who have made the decision. Why would you take a chance to kill your dog, when you could just take a half day and get a vet to do it, or just ask someone to take care of the dog for a few days with the excuse you'll be out of town or are hosting a party or a half dozen of the other plausible reasons?
- It doesn't, but per comments from the fire department and the gas company there were no signs of leaking pipes or carbon monoxide.
  The fact that the dog died makes me think it was environmental of some kind though. Maybe something they all ate/drank?
- Apparently not a gas leak.
I never would have guessed that Gene Hackman and Michelle Trachtenberg would be in the same celebrity death triplet.
- Is nr 3 already known or are tey 1 and 2
Longtime Democrat voter, was very proud to be labelled the enemy of Richard Nixon. I haven't read his novels, I might look into them.
That's some weird circumstances.
He was great in everything he played. The bird cage and get shorty were ridiculous. Quick and the dead was one of my fav westerns. He really left a mark on my childhood.
Welp, time to watch Young Frankenstein right after watching prime cut. Maybe throw in some unforgiven and loose cannons for some show of range.
I didn't realize he was 95 years old. Wow.
Damn. I just looked him up a month ago after rewatching Bat 21. I was happy to see he was still alive. I should have knocked on wood.
- Bat 21 great fucking movie. Today is a sad day indeed.
  
  Insane that it’s based on a true story.
This would be a good time to rewatch Mississippi Burning
Per TMZ: Gene Hackman, Wife Betsy Deaths Called 'Suspicious' https://www.tmz.com/2025/02/27/gene-hackman-death-investigation-suspicious/
- That's just their probable cause to enter the property and search. The bar on that is incredibly low and they'd likely have succeeded with the bodies alone and not just the door unlocked.
Alec Baldwin was not available for comment.

65 comments