Common Medications and a Monthly Planner Are Found in Gene Hackman's Home

New York Times

28-02-2025

Investigators combing through the secluded home where the actor Gene Hackman and his wife Betsy Arakawa were found dead this week discovered common medication, medical records and a 2025 planner, according to a document released on Friday.
The document, a search warrant return, showed that police officers recovered thyroid medication, Tylenol and diltiazem — a drug often used to treat high blood pressure or chest pain — from the home outside of Santa Fe, N.M., where the couple was found dead on Wednesday.
It was not clear whether the medications listed were the pills that investigators had described as being scattered near Ms. Arakawa's body. The search warrant return, which was signed by a Santa Fe County Sheriff's Office detective, did not give any indication of what was in the monthly planner.
The return said officers had also found records from MyQuest, an online medical portal where patients can review test results and make doctor's appointments. Officers also recovered two green cellphones.
It could be months before clearer answers emerge about how the couple died. The unusual circumstances of their deaths have rocked Hollywood, as well as the Southwestern cultural hub of Santa Fe and film lovers across the globe.
Adan Mendoza, the sheriff of Santa Fe County, said on the 'Today' show on Friday that it could take three months or longer to get toxicology results that could clarify the cause of their deaths.
Mr. Hackman, 95, was found dead in the mud room of his home, and the body of Ms. Arakawa, 65, was found in a bathroom near an open prescription bottle and scattered pills. One of the couple's dogs, a German shepherd, was found dead in a nearby closet, while two other dogs were found alive on the property.
Sheriff Mendoza said that Mr. Hackman and Ms. Arakawa had been dead for 'several days, possibly even up to a couple weeks,' based on the condition of their bodies.
The drugs that were found at the house are used to treat common ailments. Diltiazem is a calcium channel blocker, which lowers blood pressure and can help with abnormal heart rhythms, while thyroid medicine is used to treat low levels of thyroid hormone, a condition that can result in exhaustion, weight gain and depression, among other symptoms.
Dr. Garret FitzGerald, the director of the Institute for Translational Medicine and Therapeutics at the University of Pennsylvania's Perelman School of Medicine, said all of these drugs have the potential to be fatal in large doses.
He said that in very high doses, Tylenol can cause liver failure, thyroid pills can cause arrhythmia, and calcium channel blockers can cause cardiogenic shock. But, Dr. FitzGerald added, 'all of these would be very rare causes of death and would require very high doses and likely some prior susceptibility of the individual.'
On Friday, a small group of reporters gathered outside the neighborhood where the couple had been living. Their gated community, called Santa Fe Summit, is just beyond the city limits, and a security guard was sitting at the entrance, which lies along a winding road with views of the mountains.
A law enforcement affidavit released on Thursday said that after the bodies were discovered, testing by the local fire department had determined that there were no signs of a possible carbon monoxide or gas leak, though it is possible that fumes dissipated in the time since the couple died.
Chief Brian Moya of the Santa Fe Fire Department said in an interview that a door in the back of the home was cracked open, possibly to let the dogs go in and out.
He said that his department — which includes emergency medical services — had not responded to the couple's property for at least three years, since he took over as chief. He added that he was not aware of any calls for help before that, either.
'They were very private people,' Chief Moya said.
Once active members of the Santa Fe community, Mr. Hackman and Ms. Arakawa had grown more reclusive in recent years, their friends said.
'We're trying to put things together, put together a timeline when the decedents were last seen or spoken to,' Sheriff Mendoza said on the 'Today' show.
Two maintenance workers had visited the couple's home on Wednesday and saw them unresponsive through a window before calling 911. The workers told law enforcement that they last had contact with the couple about two weeks ago.
On Jan. 31, a day after Mr. Hackman's 95th birthday, Ms. Arakawa emailed a friend, Lesley Allin, to thank her and her husband for their birthday wishes and desserts they sent to the New Mexico home.
'Time just flies,' Ms. Arakawa wrote in the email, 'so we all have to have fun while we can.'