Circumstances surrounding the death of Gene Hackman and his wife, Betsy Arakawa, remain a mystery to Santa Fe, New Mexico, authorities as they work backwards and piece together evidence to figure out how the couple died.
The late Oscar winner’s nephew, Tim Hackman, admitted his family refuses to jump to any conclusions regarding his uncle’s death.
New Mexico officials found Hackman, Arakawa and one of their dogs dead in their home one week ago. Detectives described their deaths as “suspicious enough in nature to require a thorough search and investigation,” according to a search warrant affidavit obtained by Fox News Digital.
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Hackman and Arakawa tested negative for carbon monoxide, Santa Fe County Sheriff Adan Mendoza confirmed at Friday’s press conference. Their residence was tested for the colorless, odorless gas and was cleared by the Santa Fe City Fire Department after authorities found no evidence of a carbon monoxide leak or poisoning.
“We’re waiting on toxicology. That will tell us everything,” Tim told Us Weekly. “It’s hard to theorize.”
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“There are lots of theories out there and I don’t want to speculate. It’s easy to speculate negative theories,” he said.
“The family wants to keep it positive for now and when we know the truth we will deal with it.”
“There are lots of theories out there and I don’t want to speculate. It’s easy to speculate negative theories.”
— Tim Hackman
Hackman and Arakawa were found by maintenance workers Jesse Kesler and Roland Lowe Begay. Kesler, who worked as a personal contractor for the couple for 16 years, made the frantic 911 call on Feb. 26.
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Detectives recovered two cellphones, an orange prescription bottle and a 2025 planner while inspecting the residence, the search warrant affidavit stated.
“The family wants to keep it positive for now and when we know the truth we will deal with it.”
— Tim Hackman
Mendoza confirmed the last recorded activity on Hackman’s pacemaker occurred on Feb. 17. Authorities assumed this was Hackman’s last day alive, as the Oscar winner’s body was not discovered for nine more days.
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“According to the pathologist, I think that is a very good assumption that that was his last day of life,” Mendoza said during a press conference on Friday.
Officials also revealed that Arakawa’s body was found decomposed with bloating on her face and mummification in her hands and feet. Hackman was also found to have the same signs of decomposition as his wife.
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Recently, sheriffs confirmed a misstep in the investigation after wrongly identifying the dog found dead in the Hackman home.
The dog that was found dead near Arakawa’s body was misidentified by the Santa Fe County Sheriff’s Department in the investigation, Fox News Digital confirmed.
The owner of Santa Fe Tails, the pet care facility that took in Hackman’s two other surviving dogs, explained that the dead dog was a different breed than what is listed in the search warrant affidavit.
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Zinna, a mixed breed, was found in a kennel in a bathroom closet near Arakawa. However, investigators initially noted the discovery of a “deceased brown in color German-Shepard canine,” the search warrant stated.
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Santa Fe County Sheriff’s Office spokesperson Denise Womack-Avila acknowledged that deputies initially misidentified the breed of the deceased dog.
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“Our deputies, they don’t work with canines on a daily basis,” she said, according to The Associated Press.
Fox News Digital’s Stephanie Giang-Paunon and Larry Fink contributed to this report.
