Gene
Hackman
and
Wife
Betsy
Arakawa
Found
Dead
Feb.
26,
2025

Gene
Hackman
and
his
wife
of
33
years,

Betsy
Arakawa,
were
found
dead
in
their
Santa
Fe,
N.M.,
home
on
Feb.
26
by
two
maintenance
workers
who
spied
their
bodies
through
a
window
from
outside
the
house.
According
to
authorities,
they
alerted
the
caretaker
in
the
gated
community
where
the
couple
lived
and
that
person
called
911.

“No,
they
are
not
moving,”
the
caller
told
911,
per
an
audio
recording. “Please
send
someone
out
here
quick.”

When
Santa
Fe
County
sheriff’s
deputies
arrived,
they
found
Arakawa,
65,
on
the
floor
of
a
bathroom
to
the
left
of
the
frontdoor.
She
was
clad
in
a
sweatshirt
and
sweatpants,
according
to
a
Feb.
27
search
warrant
affidavit
obtained
by
E!
News,
and
there
was
an
open
prescription
pill
bottle
and
loose
pills
scattered
on
the
countertop.

Hackman,
95,
was
on
the
floor
in
what
deputies
described
as
a
mudroom
near
the
kitchen,
per
the
warrant.
A
walking
cane
and
sunglasses
near
the
body.

One
of
the
couple’s
three
dogs—initially

misidentified
as
their
German
shepherd
Bear,
it
was
actually
their
Australian
Kelpie
mix
Zinna—was
found
dead
in
a
closet
of
the
bathroom,
according
to
the
warrant.
Another
healthy-looking
dog
was
found
near
Arakawa’s
body
and
the
other,
also
seemingly
healthy,
was
running
around
outside.

A
search
warrant
was
executed
on
the
house
at
around
9:30
p.m.
Feb.
26
and
Hackman
and
Arakawa’s
bodies
were
removed
the
following
morning.