The actor Gene Hackman was found dead in a mud room at his New Mexico home, and his wife, Betsy Arakawa, was found dead on the bathroom floor Wednesday, according to the search warrant affidavit. An open prescription bottle and scattered pills were found near the counter counter in the bathroom.
A dead German shepherd was found in the bathroom closet, 10 to 15 feet from Ms. Alakava, the affidavit said. It said there were no obvious signs of gas leaks in the house and the fire department found no signs of carbon monoxide leaks.
“There are no obvious signs of fouls,” the Santa Fe County Sheriff's Office said in a statement Thursday afternoon.
The sheriff's office said an autopsy on Thursday was conducted on Mr. Hackman and Ms. Alakava. None of them showed initial signs of external trauma. Both require carbon monoxide tests and toxicological tests, but the results are pending and the cause of its death has not been determined.
“It's still a public investigation,” the sheriff's office said.
Roy Arndt wrote in the search warrant affidavit that Ms. Alakava was found lying on one side of the bathroom floor with a space heater near her head. The document said her agent found her said he suspected the heater might fall with Ms. Alakava.
The affidavit said Ms. Achuan's body showed signs of decomposition. The dead dog was found near the closet near her and two other dogs were found on the property.
Deputies were called to the scene after a maintenance worker went to the home on Wednesday afternoon to do some work, the sheriff's office said in a statement. The worker asked local security personnel to conduct welfare checks and their bodies were not responding when they arrived and saw the 911's window through the window.
The affidavit says a pair of deputies arrived and found Ms. Alakava in the bathroom, and then found Mr. Hackman lying in the mud room, his body in a similar condition to his wife. The affidavit says he was wearing gray sweatpants, a blue long-sleeved T-shirt, brown slippers and crutches. A pair of sunglasses were found on his left. A representative at the scene said he “suddenly fell down.”
Santa Fe County Sheriff Adan Mendoza said in a telephone interview that investigators are still trying to determine what caused the death, noting that there were no obvious signs of the body and no signs were found. The sheriff said the house will continue to search on Thursday.
“There is no such obvious in the process,” he said. “The autopsy will tell us more.”
Mr. Hackman was nominated for five Academy Awards and won two awards over a 40-year career. He appears in the films, which include millions including “Bonnie and Clyde”, “French Connection”, “Poseidon Adventure”, “Mississippi Burning”, “No Pore”, “Superman”, “Hoosiers”, “Hoosiers”, “Hoosiers”, “Hoosiers”, and “Royal Tenenbaums”.
In an affidavit seeking a search warrant, Detective Arndt wrote Wednesday: “The deaths surrounding the two dead are inherently suspicious enough to require a thorough search and investigation.”
The District Magistrate approved a search warrant so that authorities can collect items from their homes, including documents, any found narcotics and flammable substances.
The couple found the couple in their secluded neighborhood above downtown Santa Fe, winding roads and views of the mountains.
Mr. Hackman moved to Santa Fe County in the 1980s after filming some movies there. After he quietly retired from Hollywood more than two decades ago, he wrote several historical adventure novels with his friend Daniel Lenihan. He was seen from time to time in downtown Santa Fe.
Mr. Hackman is a passionate painter who will be inspired by the surrounding mountains and once served as a board member of the O'Keeffe Museum in Georgia, one of the main cultural attractions in Santa Fe. He spoke at the opening ceremony of the museum in 1997 and later described a short documentary about the artist.
Doug Lanham, the owner of the restaurant, said many of his paintings, including landscapes and portraits, were hung in Jinja at the Asian Fusion Restaurant in Santa Fe.
Mr. Langham, a friend of Mr. Hackman, recalls his role as a famous prankster. He said Mr. Hackman once persuaded a child at a local country club event to give him a spray gun and fill it with red wine.
“He loved Santa Fe because people treated him like a part of the community,” Lanham said.
Mr. Lanham said Mr. Hackman has withdrawn more in recent years as he grows older, but remains committed to his wife and dogs.
Mr Lenihan’s wife and the couple’s friend Barbara Lenihan said she last spoke to Arakawa, a partner in her local home decoration business, for more than 30 years. She said Mr. Hackman seemed to be getting more vulnerable, but he was still painting and painting.
“Even if everyone likes to be around, they're always a little secluded,” she said.
Kirsten Noyes Contribution report.
