Ammon News - Data from actor Gene Hackman’s pacemaker shows he was likely dead for nine days before he and his wife were found dead at their New Mexico home, authorities said.
The pacemaker shows Hackman’s “last event” was recorded on February 17, Santa Fe County Sheriff Adan Mendoza said at a Friday news conference. “According to the pathologist, I think that is a very good assumption, that that was his last day of life,” the sheriff said.
Hackman and his wife, along with their dog, were found dead this week in circumstances officials deemed “suspicious enough” to warrant thorough investigation.
As authorities investigate their deaths, several items have been taken from the couple’s home.
Two green cellular devices were removed, along with three medicines: a thyroid medication, Diltiazem – used to treat high blood pressure or chest pain – and Tylenol, according to the inventory released Friday as part of a search warrant affidavit in Santa Fe County court.
Also seized by sheriff’s deputies were records from MyQuest – a medical diagnostics service – and a 2025 monthly planner, it says.
The causes of death of Hackman, 95, and Betsy Arakawa are not known. The pair did not show any external trauma, and there were no immediate signs of foul play, according to preliminary autopsies and officials. There were also no immediate signs of a carbon monoxide or natural gas leak, authorities said.
Both Hackman and his wife tested negative for carbon monoxide, likely ruling it out as a potential cause of death, Mendoza said Friday.
The couple’s bodies were found in separate rooms in their secluded house, with scattered pills found next to Arakawa, according to the sheriff’s office. Investigators have not yet determined whether Hackman and Arakawa died at the same time, Mendoza told NBC’s “Today Show” on Friday morning, but they both likely had been dead for some time before they were discovered. CNN