Outside of Gene Hackman’s home, where the actor was found dead, is shown in body cam footage

By: Susan Montoya Bryan, The Associated Press Posted: 2:34 PM CDT Monday, Mar. 24, 2025 Last Modified: 8:04 AM CDT Tuesday, Mar. 25, 2025

Advertise with us

ALBUQUERQE, N.M. (AP) — Authorities have released body camera footage from outside the home of Gene Hackman, where the actor and wife Betsy Arakawa were found dead in late February.

Read this article for free:

or

Already have an account? Log in here »

To continue reading, please subscribe:

*First annual payment billed as $205.00 + GST for one year. This annual subscription will automatically renew at $233.00 + GST every 52 weeks (10% off the regular annual price of $259.35). Offer available to new and qualified returning subscribers only. Cancel any time.

ALBUQUERQE, N.M. (AP) — Authorities have released body camera footage from outside the home of Gene Hackman, where the actor and wife Betsy Arakawa were found dead in late February.

Read unlimited articles for free today:

or

Already have an account? Log in here »

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 24/03/2025 (541 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

ALBUQUERQE, N.M. (AP) — Authorities have released body camera footage from outside the home of Gene Hackman, where the actor and wife Betsy Arakawa were found dead in late February.

The redacted footage shows deputies talking with the two workers who called authorities to report seeing someone lying on the floor inside the home. With no signs of forced entry or other evidence of suspicious circumstances, the deputies asked about the possibility of a gas leak or carbon monoxide poisoning, and the workers said they didn’t see how that could have been the case.

“Something’s not right,” one of the workers said.

Authorities soon determined there were no leaks that could have been fatal, further fueling a mystery that captured the public’s attention.

It was solved about a week later when medical investigators confirmed that Hackman died of heart disease with complications from Alzheimer’s about a week after hantavirus pulmonary syndrome — a rare, rodent-borne disease — took the life of his wife.

The Santa Fe County Sheriff’s Office released only some of the footage from the investigation.

A New Mexico court last week granted a temporary restraining order against the release of any photographs and video showing Hackman and his wife the inside of their home. Hackman’s estate had filed the petition to withhold images, citing the need to protect the family’s constitutional right to privacy in grief under the 14th Amendment.

Workers who had maintained the property talked to investigators about respecting Hackman and Arawaka’s privacy. One worker described Arawaka as a private person.

Santa Fe County Sheriff Adan Mendoza, center, answers questions about the investigation into the deaths of actor Gene Hackman and his wife Betsy Arakawa during a news conference in Santa Fe, New Mexico, on Friday, March 7, 2025. (AP Photo/Susan Montoya Bryan)

The body camera footage also shows brief sightings of one of the couple’s dogs running in the wooded hills on their property on the edge of Santa Fe. A man who identified himself to officers as a dog trainer who cared for the couple’s pet dogs said the couple were “nuts” about their dogs.

“There’s toys everywhere around the property,” he said.

In a separate video, Arakawa’s hairdresser told investigators that his client took the dogs with her everywhere and that the smallest one would often hang out inside the salon with them during her visits.

That dog was found inside a crate, not far from Arakawa’s body. A report obtained by The Associated Press from the state Department of Agriculture’s veterinary lab states the dog likely died from dehydration and starvation.

The actor’s daughter, Elizabeth Hackman, told authorities she wanted the dog that died to be cremated. Authorities put her in touch with the local animal shelter to talk about the options.