Search warrant sheds light on pills that were found scattered in Gene Hackman’s home near wife's body
SANTA FE, NEW MEXICO: A search warrant has disclosed what kind of pills were found near the dead body of Gene Hackman’s wife, Betsy Arakawa, when they were discovered on Wednesday, February 26.
The Hollywood icon was discovered dead at his New Mexico home in Santa Fe.
His body was located in a mudroom while his 63-year-old wife was found in the bathroom with an open bottle of prescription pills, as reported by PEOPLE.
Pills found near Betsy Arakawa’s body were for high blood pressure
The publication citing the warrant noted that they were general thyroid pills, Tylenol, and diltiazem — a medication normally prescribed to treat high blood pressure.
While the 95-year-old star was clothed and a pair of sunglasses was also found near him, his wife’s body showed signs of “mummification.”
The warrant noted that the classical pianist “showed obvious signs of death, body decomposition, bloating in her face and mummification in both hands and feet.”
A forensic pathologist, who is not involved in the case, told Us Weekly, “Mummification can happen anywhere from days to weeks [after death], given the right conditions, all the way through months.”
“There’s certain circumstances that favor a body going into a mummification type stage as opposed to decomposition,” they added.
Santa Fe sheriff claims Gene Hackman and wife could have been dead for weeks
Meanwhile, as per Santa Fe County Sheriff Adan Mendoza, it was possible the couple had been dead for weeks and the officials are “trying to put together a timeline,” but that might not be an easy task since ‘The French Connection’ actor and Betsy Arakawa were very private people.
“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,” Mendoza said on Friday morning, February 28, episode of 'Today'.
Though an official affidavit stated that there were “no obvious signs of a gas leak,” Santa Fe Fire Department Chief Brian Moya has not completely dismissed the possibility.
Moya reportedly shared, “That was a home with natural gas in it, so it could have [played a factor]. There’s a lot of unanswered [questions] there. When we arrived, we made sure our people as well as the sheriff were safe, and there was nothing that we found.”
“We also went back again yesterday to do another round of searches … and we didn’t find anything as well,” he added.
Gene Hackman talked about death years ago
Amid the tragic chaos, an old interview of Hackman has resurfaced, where he talked about the “fear” of death.
In the 2024 interview, the Oscar winner reportedly told Larry King, “I try to take care of myself. I don't have a lot of fears.”
“I have the normal fear of passing away, you know, I guess we all think about that, especially when you get to be a certain age,” Hackman stated.
