The sheriff who is investigating the deaths of Gene Hackman, 95, and his wife, Betsy Arakawa, 65, says there’s one piece of evidence that is “very important” in determining the couple’s causes of death.
On Wednesday, the bodies of the Oscar winner, his classical pianist wife and one of their dogs were found in their Santa Fe, New Mexico, home. An anonymous caretaker for the community in which the couple lived found them after coming by their home for a welfare check around 1:45 p.m.
According to a search warrant affidavit obtained by several news outlets on Thursday, the officers who arrived at the scene “observed an orange prescription bottle on the counter-top” near Arakawa’s body. The affidavit also states that the “prescription bottle appeared opened with pills scattered on the counter-top.”
Santa Fe County Sheriff Adan Mendoza — who is leading the investigation into the couple’s death — told Savannah Guthrie of NBC’s “Today” Friday that this prescription bottle is “very important evidence.”
“That information was collected, that information was passed to the office of the medical investigator to help them make a determination,” Mendoza said. “So, yes, we’re looking at that specifically and other medications, of course, that were possibly in the residence. So that is something of concern.”
Mendoza did not tell “Today” what the prescription drug was. On Friday, a search warrant return detailed that three medications had been removed from the home as part of the investigation: Diltiazem, typically used to treat high blood pressure; a thyroid medication; and Tylenol.
When Guthrie asked Mendoza how long it’ll be until a toxicology report is concluded, Mendoza replied: “Based on my experience, a toxicology report could take some time, it could take up to three months or even possibly longer.”
He continued, “It just depends how busy the laboratory is. But we’re hoping it comes sooner than later so we can answer some of these questions and hopefully it’ll help us in our investigation to help determine …the matter and cause of death.”
According to the affidavit, Hackman and Arakawa’s bodies were found in different rooms of their home.
The “French Connection” star was found in the home’s mudroom. The officer who found his body observed a pair of sunglasses near Hackman’s body and suspects they may have ended up on the floor after the actor had “suddenly fallen.”
Arakawa was found lying on her side in a bathroom, with a space heater near her head. The officer who found her body “suspected the heater could have fallen” in the event that Arakawa “abruptly fell to the ground.”
One of the couple’s dogs was also found dead about 10 to 15 feet from Arakawa “in a closet of the bathroom,” per the affidavit.
Two other dogs were found on the property as well, but both appear to be healthy, authorities said.
The affidavit also states that the bodies appeared as if they had been lying there for at least 24 hours, noting that Arakawa’s body was decomposing with “bloating in her face” and desiccation of her hands and feet.
Police have said that no foul play is suspected in the deaths, and despite initial speculation, experts did not observe any obvious signs of a gas leak, per the affidavit.
Yet, Mendoza told “Today” on Friday that while he’s “pretty confident that there is no foul play just based on the lack of evidence of foul play,” investigators “are not ruling that out.”
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“The autopsy results, the official results, are going to help steer us in the right direction. That could change, obviously, and we’re not ruling that out,” Mendoza said.
“This is an open investigation, it’s a couple of days old, and so we’re putting together the timeline, we’re trying to look at all the evidence.”
He added: “The autopsy is key. That is going to take some time, so I hope a little bit of patience on the family’s part, on everybody’s part, so we can have some answers into these deaths.”