“It took everything in my power to not do the thing that was perceived as right.”
UPDATE: New findings have revealed Hackman, Arakawa, and their dog's cause of death.
According to reports, Arakawa died seven days before her husband of hantavirus, a flu-like virus linked to rodent droppings.
Hackman later died from severe heart disease, high blood pressure and advanced Alzheimer's disease. Hackman and Arakawa's dog Zinna likely died of dehydration and starvation.
A search warrant obtained by the Associated Press in March is revealed information about the deaths of actor Gene Hackman, his wife Betsy Arakawa, and their dog.
The original report begins below.
According to the warrant, Hackman, Arakawa, and their dog were found in different rooms of their home. Hackman’s body was discovered in a mudroom, and Arakawa was located in a bathroom next to a space heater.
Santa Fe County Sheriff’s Office is now working with the New Mexico Gas Co, according to the news outlet.
The company has “tested the gas lines in and around the home after the bodies were discovered,” the AP reported.
The warrant noted that the gas company didn’t initially “find any signs of problems."
This comes as Hackman’s daughter, Elizabeth, told TMZ that her family remains unsure what happened to her father and his wife, but that they suspect toxic fumes, like carbon monoxide poisoning, may have played a part in their deaths.
Neither Hackman nor Arakawa had visible wounds, but detectives noted that an open bottle of prescription pills was scattered on a countertop near where Arakawa’s body was found.
According to NBC News, in the warrant has since labeled Hackman and Arakawa’s death as “suspicious enough in nature to require a thorough search and investigation.”
Hackman and Arakawa were found inside their homes after Santa Fe County Sheriff’s deputies responded to a request for a welfare check at approximately 1:45 p.m. on Wednesday, Feb. 26.
In an earlier statement, the a Sheriff’s Office spokesperson told CNN that an investigation into their deaths is ongoing, but that the manner of their deaths “is not believed to be foul play.”
Hackman was 95. Arakawa, a former classical pianist, was 63.
