Gene Hackman and Betsy Arakawa's longtime contractor describes horror of finding couple's dead bodies: ‘One of the worst days of my life'

Yahoo

14-03-2025

Gene Hackman and Betsy Arakawa's contractor, Jesse Kesler, recalled the horror of finding their dead bodies last month.
The 52-year-old, who worked for the couple as a handyman and contractor for 16 years, said he grew worried when he hadn't heard from the actor and his wife.
'I wish I'd gone in quicker … I might have been able to save Gene or the dog,' the 52-year-old told Daily Mail via a phone interview this week.
'To be honest, it was awful. It was one of the worst days of my life, and I've had some bad days. To see someone like that …' Kesler said before his voice trailed off.
'I was hoping for a better outcome, that maybe they were out of town and they just didn't tell anyone, or they got locked in the wine cellar by accident.'
He told the outlet that he had last seen the 'Enemy of the State' actor driving in the area three months before his death and had spoken with Arakawa via email days prior to her passing.
Kesler previously declined to comment to the media about Hackman and Arakawa's deaths, writing in a printed letter posted on his front door that he did not want to comment about the 'extremely private' couple.
However, he told Daily Mail that the distressing experience and the 'misinformation' surfacing about the case had prompted him to speak out and also seek therapy.
After not hearing from the pair, Kessler and a security guard named Ron decided to try to the house.
Kesler confirmed that he saw Arakawa's body on the bathroom floor, and Ron quickly called the police who later, with the help of the couple's two living dogs, located Hackman's body in the mudroom of the house.
Ron's frantic 911 call was released to the public, in which he pleaded with the dispatcher to send first responders to the $4 million New Mexico home.
Kesler told the outlet: 'We did not enter. The door was open to the bathroom from outside. We looked in, she was close and it was very obvious she was gone.
'I was told to stay out of the house, and [not to] go in there. I was hysterical. I pretty much lost it.'
Hackman and Arakawa's bodies were found in their Santa Fe, N.M., home on Feb. 26. Zinna, one of the couple's three dogs, was also deceased in its crate.
An autopsy confirmed that Arakawa died nearly a week earlier than her husband after she contracted a rare rodent-transmitted virus called hantavirus pulmonary syndrome (HPS). She was 65.
The 95-year-old Oscar winner's cause of death was listed as hypertensive and atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease, with 'evidence of advanced Alzheimer's disease' as a significant contributory factor.
Medical professionals believe that Hackman may not have known his wife was dead due to his Alzheimer's disease.