Bodycam footage of Gene Hackman death investigation reveals Betsy Arakawa feared they were being followed
SANTA FE, NEW MEXICO: Santa Fe County Sheriff's Department has released new footage from the investigation into the death of Gene Hackman and his wife Betsy Arakawa, Fox News reported on Monday, March 24.
The clip shows Arakawa's hairstylist revealing that the classical pianist expressed concerns over her husband and herself being followed by a man months ahead of their death.
Hackman and Arakawa were discovered dead in their New Mexico home on February 26, along with one of their three pet dogs. Medical reports suggest the latter was the first to die suffering from hantavirus pulmonary syndrome. A week later, the Academy Award-winning actor died from hypertensive atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease, with Alzheimer's disease as a significant contributing factor.
Betsy Arakawa believed she and Gene Hackman were being followed
In the newly released footage, Betsy Arakawa's hairstylist Christopher is seen telling investigators about her confiding in him about a stranger who apparently followed them on two separate occasions back in December 2024.
"She mentioned to me that there was a man that had parked outside of their gate and followed them," shared Christopher.
"On two separate occasions. One occasion is when they went to White Rock. They went and had lunch there and the guy followed them from parked (outside of their gated community), followed them all the way to White Rock," he added.
"She said, 'Christopher, I'm surprised that security didn't [know] how he got there… because when we left, I noticed that this car had followed us from the residence to White Rock,'" continued the hairdresser.
Betsy apparently told him that the stranger following the couple "pulled out a folder of photos of her husband and wanted him to sign them".
Christopher told Betsy that he found the situation "weird because Santa Fe's not a place of paparazzi and stuff".
"She said… she approached him and said, ‘I told him he needed to have more respect,’" he noted, adding that the person had offered a bottle of wine to the Hackmans, which the couple declined.
"I said, 'Oh my gosh, Betsy, that's crazy. You should not have approached this person. This makes me nervous,'" stated Christopher. "He knew what (they) drove. That's the scary part," he added.
Hackmans' estate attorney opposed releasing footage
According to Fox News, lawyer Kurt Sommer for the Hackmans' estate filed a petition in state District Court on March 13 to prevent authorities from releasing new footage from the investigation into the celebrity couple's death.
He argued that the couple's right to privacy outweighs the public interest in their death, writing, "Undersigned counsel cannot think of respective harm that would come to the State and County offices from respecting the discretion of Mr Hackman's and Mrs Hackman-Arakawa's right to privacy."
"During their lifetime, the Hackmans placed significant value on their privacy and took affirmative, vigilant steps to safeguard their privacy," he added.
The Hackman estate won a temporary restraining order against the release of records regarding the deaths of Hackman and Arakawa last week. The items covered in the restraining order are "any and all photographs or videos containing images of the following: the body of Gene Hackman, the body of Betsy Arakawa-Hackman, the interior of Mr and Mrs Hackman's residence," as well as "any lapel video footage," including the Hackmans' bodies or footage of "images of any deceased animals at the Hackman residence".
