Police consider Gene Hackman's death suspicious

According to documents obtained by the press from the Santa Fe, N.M., Sheriff's Office, the death of actor Gene Hackman and his wife, Betsy Arakawa, has raised questions that warrant an investigation. The circumstances of the deaths of both people and one of their dogs have raised many questions for investigators.

The media have shared the contents of the authorities' report on Hackman and Arakawa's home, in which Santa Fe sheriff's deputies recount the positioning of the bodies upon their arrival.

Police went to the home because Hackman and Arakawa's neighbors claimed they had given no sign for days. The sheriff's deputies found the door of the house open. Inside, in a walk-in closet, Gene Hackman was found dead, fully clothed, on the floor with sunglasses near him.

On another side of the house, in a bathroom, was the body of Betsy Arakawa with signs of advanced decomposition. The body was also located on the floor of the room, near a heating radiator. Several pills were found on a piece of furniture in close proximity to Arakawa's corpse. It has not yet been specified which drug.

The Hackman and Arakawa's companion dogs also raise a lot of suspicion. One of them, a German shepherd, was found dead. However, two others were alive. One of them was lying near Arakwa's corpse and another one in the garden of the house.

All these details are what have led authorities to consider that the deaths of Hackman and his wife merit a thorough investigation. Elizabeth Jean Hackman, daughter of the actor from his first marriage, assured in statements to the press that the family suspects the poisoning by carbon monoxide.

However, the registration document, which was verified by the local fire department, assures that the pertinent tests were carried out and that no monoxide leaks were found in the house.

The cause of death remains unknown, but it is not considered a crime, according to CNN.