Officials investigating the death of Gene Hackman and his wife have confirmed there was no carbon monoxide in their bodies, and that the star actor had been lying dead for nine days until he was found.
Hackman, 95, and his wife Betsy Arakawa, 64, we’re found decomposing inside their $3.3 million home in Santa Fe on Wednesday the 26th.
At a press conference on Friday afternoon, Santa Fe County Sheriff Adan Mendoza said his pacemaker’s last event was recorded on February 17.
Authorities said it was a very good assumption that February 17 was the last day of his life due to the lack of pacemaker activity thereafter.
Officials also said that there was no trace of carbon monoxide in the bodies of the couple, and that there was still no official cause of death.
Arakawa was found decomposed with bloating on her face and mummification in her hands and feet, per search warrant obtained by DailyMail.
Hackman was found in a mud room off the kitchen. His sunglasses and cane were on the floor and it has been suggested the actor had suffered a fall.
Meanwhile Arakawa was found dead on the bathroom floor. A prescription bottle of pills was open and its contents were strewn across a bathroom counter.
Its unclear what those meds were or who they’d been prescribed for. A space heater was on the floor next to Arakawa and investigators believe it may have fallen around the time of her death.
Officials have refused to speculate further on what may have killed the couple or who died first. Autopsy results are set to take four to six weeks to be published.
