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Gene Hackman's “last day of life” probably on February 17th

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The authorities in New Mexico have announced that the actor Gene Hackman died almost 10 days before the body found.

The actor, his wife, the pianist Betsy Arakawa, together with a dog, were found dead in her house in New Mexico by security officers in the neighborhood on Wednesday. The authorities still investigate the cause that is still considered “suspicious” at that time.

Hackman's pacemaker revealed that “his last event was recorded on February 17, 2025,” said Adan Mendoza, Sheriff of Santa Fe County, during a press conference on Friday. Mendoza said that it was “a very good assumption” to conclude that Hackman's “last day of life” was found more than a week before his found.

He also said that tests had excluded carbon monoxide poisoning as the cause of death for the couple.

The deputies found the 95-year-old actor and Arakawa on Wednesday at 1:45 p.m., as can be seen from a explanation of the Sheriff's Office of the Santa Fe County on Thursday. Mendoza said the “Today” show on Friday that he “is quite confident that there is no bad game”, although the police “do not exclude”.

Hackman and Arakawa have tested negatively for carbon monoxide, said Mendoza during the press conference. According to the sheriff, the couple was brought to the medical investigator's office early Thursday.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wn2dl5wby4o

After Hackman left California, Hackman led an intensive “private life” in New Mexico

Jennifer Labar-Tapia from the Santa Fe-Filmbüro mourned at the beginning of the conference for the loss of Hackman.

“Gene was not only a legendary actor whose talent shaped generations of storytelling, but he and Betsy were also long-time residents of our community,” said Labar-Tapia and added that the couple in Santa Fe, New Mexico, lived a withdrawn life in Hollywood.

After leaving California, the Hollywood icon led a quiet life in his beloved New Mexico, but the authorities throw new light on what was found in the Hackman house.

The inventory for the search command carried out on Thursday was found two green cell phones, thyroid medication, diltiazem medication (for the treatment of high blood pressure and control disorders), Tylenol, Myquest records and a monthly planner from 2025 (calendar).

On Friday, Mendoza said that his office would “look and try to get access to the mobile phones. We will analyze cell phone data, telephone calls, text messages, events and photos on the mobile phone to put together a timeline”.

“One of the things is in an investigation that we are trying to put together a timeline,” said Mendoza, that they normally take place and go forward from the time of the “event”, but revealed that the investigators also plan to work “backwards” in the Hackman case.

Hackman, who has largely stood out of the spotlight in the past two decades, undergone an angina magic in 1990. According to the Mayo clinic, angina is chest pain that occurs when blood flow to the heart is restricted.

In 2012, the Oscar winner was hit by a pickup on a bike. At CNN, Hackman's publicist said at the time that the accident was not serious, “only a few bumps and bruises”.

Hackman and Arakawa met in a Californian gym where she was released in 1989 in the New York Times Magazine. In an article from 2000 in the Irish independent newspaper, further details were unveiled about the withdrawn couple. In the article it was found that Arakawa “often travels with (hackman) and seems to share his sense of humor and his preference for a quiet life in the desert”.

“Where we live in Santa Fe,” he told Irish paper. “You can lead your own life and do not bother from the latest gossip. In addition, a film actor does not have to live in LA. Not so many films are made anymore.”

Gene Hackman, Betsy Arakawa Death: Like the authorities, a few discovered

The authorities found the actor in a mud room near his stick and rails, while Ms. Arakawa was found in an open bathroom near space heating, according to the arrest warrant.

One of the couple's German shepherds was found in a closet of less than 15 feet from Arakawa from Arakawa, while their other two dogs were found alive in the bathroom near Arakawa and outside.

Mendoza said to “Today” that it would be a “challenge” to create a timeline of her death because Hackman and Arakawa were “private individuals and a private family”.

He added that there was no “indication that someone moved through the house or did something else. So it is very difficult to determine” if the couple died at different times or together.

Anika Reed contributed to this report.