Legendary actor Gene Hackman and his wife tested negative for carbon monoxide, but what caused their deaths remains unknown, the sheriff leading the investigation said on Friday.
Hackman was probably dead for more than a week before his body was found because his pacemaker last showed activity on February 17, nine days before maintenance and security workers showed up at his home, said Santa Fe County Sheriff Aden Mendoza.
The 95-year-old Oscar winner was found Wednesday in an entryway of the couple’s Santa Fe home. His wife, Betsy Arakawa, 65, was found lying on her side in the bathroom. A dead German shepherd was found in a kennel near Arakawa, Mendoza said.
There were no obvious signs of foul play, and initial autopsy findings “noted no external trauma to either individual”, Mendoza said.
The sheriff said he spoke with the pathologist from the New Mexico office of the medical investigator, who said that both Hackman and Arakawa tested negative for carbon monoxide.
No cause or manner of death has been determined, and it will be up to the medical investigators to answer many of the questions about when and how the couple died, the sheriff said.
