Oscar-winner Gene Hackman, his wife and one of their dogs were apparently dead for some time before a maintenance worker discovered their bodies at the couple’s home in Santa Fe, New Mexico, investigators said.

The bodies were found Wednesday. Denise Avila, a sheriff’s office spokesperson, said there was no indication they had been shot or had any wounds that would indicate foul play. But Santa Fe County Sheriff’s Office detectives wrote, in a search warrant affidavit, that investigators thought the deaths were “suspicious enough in nature to require a thorough search and investigation”.

Hackman, 95, was in an entranceway, and his 65-year-old wife, Betsy Arakawa, was lying on her right side in the bathroom. A space heater was next to her head and may have fallen when she abruptly dropped to the floor, according to the affidavit.The New Mexico Gas Co. tested the gas lines in and around the home after the bodies were discovered, according to the warrant. At the time, it didn’t find any signs of problems and the Fire Department found no signs of a carbon monoxide leak or poisoning. A detective wrote that there were no obvious signs of a gas leak, but he noted that people exposed to gas leaks or carbon monoxide might not show signs of poisoning.

The gruff but beloved Hackman was among the most accomplished actors of his generation, appearing as villains, heroes and antiheroes in dozens of dramas, comedies and action films from the 1960s until his retirement in the early 2000s.

“He was loved and admired by millions around the world for his brilliant acting career, but to us he was always just Dad and Grandpa,” his daughters and granddaughter said in a statement Thursday.

“We will miss him sorely and are devastated by the loss.”

Actor Gene Hackman, winner of Best Supporting Actor at academy awards in March 1993. (Source: Associated Press)

Worker found bodies of Hackman and his wife

According to the search warrant affidavit, a maintenance worker reported that the home’s front door was open when he arrived to do routine work on Wednesday, and he called police after finding the bodies.

But in a 911 call, the maintenance worker said he was unable to get inside when the operator asked whether the people in the house were breathing.

“I have no idea,” the subdivision’s caretaker said.

“I am not inside the house. It’s closed. It’s locked. I can’t go in. But I can see she’s laying down on the floor from the window.”

He and another worker later told authorities that they rarely saw the homeowners and their last contact with them had been about two weeks ago.

Hackman appeared to have fallen, a deputy observed. A cane was nearby.

A dead German shepherd was found in a bathroom closet near Arakawa, police said. Santa Fe County Sheriff Adan Mendoza said during a press conference on Thursday that the dog was found in a kennel. Two healthy dogs were found on the property — one inside and one outside.

“There was no indication of a struggle,” Mendoza said.

“There was no indication of anything that was missing from the home or disturbed, you know, that would be indication that there was a crime that had occurred.”

Results of autopsies conducted on both bodies were not available yet, sheriff’s officials said, noting that carbon monoxide and toxicology test results were pending.

The search warrant affidavit suggested that police appeared to have a working theory that “some kind of gas poisoning” happened, but that they didn’t know yet and weren’t ruling anything out, Loyola Marymount University law professor Laurie Levenson said.

“They don’t have clear evidence that it’s any type of homicide, but they’re asking for blunt instruments or other weapons that could be used,” said Levenson, who has no connection to the investigation.

“It doesn’t also look like some kind of planned double-suicide.”

William & Mary Law School professor Jeffrey Bellin said the request for a search warrant was somewhat unusual because investigators who filed one usually believed a specific crime was committed. In this case, no alleged crime was mentioned, Bellin said.

Police tended to overstate what they knew, but this was the opposite, said Bellin, who also wasn’t tied to the investigation.

“It just struck me as very careful in a way that search warrant affidavits often are not,” he said.

Actor Gene Hackman reacts during an interview on March 24, 1972. (Source: Associated Press)

Actor known for his versatility

Hackman routinely showed up on Hollywood list of greatest American actors of the 20th century. He could play virtually any kind of role, from comic book villain Lex Luthor in Superman to a coach finding redemption in the sentimental favorite Hoosiers.

Hackman was a five-time Oscar nominee who won for The French Connection in 1972 and Unforgiven two decades later. His death came just four days before this year’s ceremony.

Tributes quickly poured in from Hollywood.

“There was no finer actor than Gene. Intense and instinctive. Never a false note. He was also a dear friend whom I will miss very much,” actor-director Clint Eastwood, Hackman’s Unforgiven co-star, said in a statement.

Hackman and Arakawa settled in Santa Fe

Hackman met Arakawa, a classically trained pianist who grew up in Hawaii, when she was working part-time at a California gym in the mid-1980s, the New York Times reported in 1989. They soon moved in together, and by the end of the decade relocated to Santa Fe.

Their Southwestern-style ranch on Old Sunset Trail sat on a hill in a gated community with views of the Rocky Mountains. The sprawling four-bedroom home on six acres was built in 1997 and had an estimated market value of a little over US$4 million (NZ$7 million), according to Santa Fe County property tax records.

Hackman and his wife also owned a more modest home next door.

Hackman also co-wrote three novels, starting with the swashbuckler, Wake of the Perdido Star, with Daniel Lenihan in 1999, according to publisher Simon & Schuster. He then penned two by himself, concluding with Pursuit in 2013, about a female police officer on the trail of a predator.

In his first couple decades in New Mexico, Hackman was often seen around the historic state capital, known as an artist enclave, tourism destination and retreat for celebrities.

He served as a board member of the Georgia O’Keeffe Museum in the 1990s, according to the local paper, The New Mexican.

The entrance to the gated community where actor Gene Hackman, his wife Betsy Arakawa and their dog were found dead in their home in Santa Fe. (Source: Associated Press)

Hackman’s later years

In recent years, he was far less visible, though even the most mundane outings caught the attention of the press. The Independent wrote about him attending a show at a performing arts centre in 2018. The New York Post reported on him pumping gas, doing yard work and getting a chicken sandwich at Wendy’s in 2023.

Aside from appearances at awards shows, he was rarely seen in the Hollywood social circuit and retired from acting about 20 years ago. His was the rare Hollywood retirement that actually lasted.

Hackman had three children from a previous marriage. He and Arakawa had no children together but were known for having German shepherds.

Hackman told the film magazine Empire in 2009 that he and Arakawa liked to watch DVDs she rented.

“We like simple stories that some of the little low-budget films manage to produce,” he said.