The gas company that helped in the investigation into the death of Gene Hackman and his wife Betsy Arakawa discovered a 'miniscule leak in one of the stove in their house in Santa Fe, it originated.
Hackman, 95, and Arakawa, 65, were found dead, along with one of their dogs, in separate rooms of their house in New Mexico last Wednesday.
Early speculation by Hackman's Daughter Elizabeth Jean was that her father and his wife may have died of carbon monoxide poisoning or other 'poisonous vapors'.
But after an extensive investigation, the New Mexico gas company 'no significant findings' made of gas leaks or carbon monoxide in the house, confirmed the Santa Fe County Sheriff's Office in a statement to DailyMail.com.
However, the gas company has issued five 'red tags', including one for the small leak at the stove, which registers '0.03 percent gas in the air' and is 'not a deadly amount'.
“The other four red tags were for code -enforcement offenses – not with regard to gas leaks or carbon monoxide – where a boiler and gas loginists were installed in three fireplaces,” the police said.
Authorities believe that Hackman and Arakawa were whose bodies were Partly mummified at the time of discovery, probably died a few weeks before they were found.
Tests on the Pacemaker of Hackman revealed that he lived on 17 February when a 'last event' was admitted – nine days before his body was discovered. The police say it is a 'reasonable assumption' that he died when his pacemaker had his 'last event'.
The gas company that helped in the investigation into the death of Gene Hackman and his wife Betsy Arakawa discovered a 'miniscule leak in one of the stove in their house in Santa Fe. Hackman and Arakawa were depicted in Santa Fe, New Mexico in March 2024. It was the first time in two decades that the couple were seen and round
Early speculation suggested that the couple may have died of carbon monoxide poisoning or other 'poisonous vapors'. But after an extensive investigation, the New Mexico gas company 'no significant findings' made gas leaks or carbon monoxide in their home (shown)
Santa Fe County Sheriff Adan Mendoza confirmed during a press conference on Friday that both Hackman and Arakawa tested 'negative carbon monoxide'.
“A first interrogation of Mr. Hackman's pacemaker was carried out,” he said. “This revealed that his last event was recorded on February 17, 2025, it was recommended that a more thorough investigation will be completed.”
Mendoza said that the 'first findings have not noticed external trauma for both individuals', but repeated the 'way of death and the cause of death has not been established'. He also said that there were “no clear signs of cheating.”
“The official results of the autopsy and toxicological reports are being treated,” he added.
The shocking discovery of the bodies has surprised researchers, who still try to determine how and when the couple died.
Hackman and Arakawa were found by a district protection officer after employees of the pest control reported that they were unable to contact the residents.
Authorities who have already said the death of the couple of investigations that a deadly leak of carbon monoxide is unlikely.
But an expert who is not involved in the research on Tuesday weighed on another theory that was recently tied up – that Hackman and Arakawa may have died from 'accompanying suicide'.
Authorities believe that Hackman and Arakawa, whose bodies were partially mummified at the time of discovery, probably a few weeks before they were found, died. The couple is shown together on the 60th annual Golden Globe Awards in Beverly Hills, California on January 19, 2003
The shocking discovery of the bodies of Hackman and Arakawa has surprised researchers, who still try to determine how and when the couple died. The couple is depicted in 2005 with their previous dogs
James Gill, Chief Medical Examiner for the Connecticut Office of the Chief Medical Examiner, People Magazine said that the theory is an unlikely explanation for the enigmatic dead.
Gill, who said he had treated with 'such cases' in the past, explained that couples who die in a double suicide' usually … are in bed together.
However, the police said that Hackman was found dead in the mud room of the house, with his gaze and sunglasses in the area on the ground. Arakawa was discovered lying on the bathroom floor with recipe pills that are littered over nearby countertop.
“The fact that they are at two separate locations tells me that I think that is less likely,” Gill continued.
The medical researcher said the first information about the scene makes it seem as if Hackman had collapsed. “He has a history of heart conditions. He has a pacemaker. So that would not be unusual, “he said.
Another detail that Gill concentrated on was the fact that Hackman was 'ambulatory' for his death, of which he thought it was reduced the chance of a scenario in which he remained potentially helpless if Arakawa had first died.
“Sometimes we see cases where someone is bedridden and maybe they have dementia and then their caregiver dies of a natural event, and then there is no one to take care of them, and then they can die from dehydration or what do you have,” he explained. “I don't think this is the case.”
That information can be in particular useful to compare when Arakawa may have died, although Gill admits 'that is a bit of a more gray area'.
The police are seen outside the Hackman house on 27 February in Santa Fe, New Mexico. Authorities have confirmed that both Hackman and Arakawa 'have tested negatively on carbon monoxide'
Santa Fe County Sheriff Adan Mendoza (Center) speaks during a press conference on 28 February 2025 to give an update about the research into the death of Hackman and Arakawa. Mendoza said that the 'first findings have not noticed external trauma for both individuals', but repeated the 'way of death and the cause of death has not been established'
New Mexico Gas Company tested gas pipes in and around the house after the bodies were discovered, according to a house search order, and no signs of problems were found.
Officers are still trying to combine the last known contact of the couple with other people, but “that's one of our challenges because of their privacy,” said Mendoza.
The sheriff had previously said that there were several conflicting stories about that doors were locked up in the house – he said that several had been unlocked and that a back door was open, making two dogs that survived to go in and out.
He also said he thought the front door was closed but unlocked. Two other dogs were found alive at the building, one inside and one outside.
The alarm was raised by a maintenance employee who was fighting pest control at the building, who was worried because he had not seen the couple, the police said.
A search was performed after the bodies were discovered and various items were 'protected from the house for evidence -powerful purposes'.
These include two green mobile phones, two bottles of medication, medical files and a monthly planner from 2025. Work is now being done to 'sift mobile phones' and by looking by a calendar that is found near the bodies of the couple.
Contact is also made with employees, security staff and family members.
Mendoza said there is nothing that suggests that the couple fell and adds: “I don't think there was an indication that there was no trauma again or itself injured, or head injury or brain injury.”
Gene Hackman waves when he starts for a practice run in his Toyota Celica in 1983
The moment when a pacemaker stops working can mark the point when a person dies, but not always, according to Dr. Philip Keen, the retired chief medical researcher in Maricopa County, Arizona.
He later said: 'If your heart needed a pacemaker, there would certainly be an interruption at that time – and it could be the characteristic of when death took place.
“But it is not necessary because some people get a pacemaker to increase things, do not necessarily replace things.”
He also thought it would be unlikely for a person who initially tests a negative test on carbon monoxide to be poisoned by it later.
Hackman, who was generally respected as one of the greatest actors of his generation, was a five-fold Oscar-nominee who won the best actor in a leading role for the French connection in 1972 and best actor in a supporting role for Unforgiven two decades later.
His daughters Elizabeth and Leslie, and his granddaughter Annie, said they will miss the actor 'very' and his 'destroyed by the loss'.
