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.
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.
Investigators have not yet determined whether Hackman, 95, and Arakawa, 65, died at the same time.
"It appears (to be) several days, possibly even up to a couple of weeks," Santa Fe County Sheriff Adan Mendoza told NBC's Today Show on Friday morning.
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The bodies were found on 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 investigators thought the deaths were "suspicious enough in nature to require a thorough search and investigation".
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 Wednesday, and he called police after finding the bodies.
"No, dude, they're not moving. Just send somebody out here really quick," the caller said.
Police responded to the call and discovered Arakawa's body on the ground inside a bathroom next to an orange prescription pill bottle with scattered pills on the floor, the affidavit says.
The body "showed obvious signs of death, body decomposition, bloating in her face and mumification (sic) in both hands and feet," the affidavit states.
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.
Hackman's body was then found on the ground near the kitchen in a similar condition, with a walking cane and sunglasses next to the body. The deputy suspected he had suddenly fallen, the affidavit says.
A German shepherd dog was also found dead in the bathroom. The dog was in a crate, police have clarified; the affidavit says the dog was in a closet. Two healthy dogs were found on the property.
The maintenance workers told police they had not been in touch with the homeowners for two weeks, the affidavit says.
The sheriff's office planned a Friday afternoon news conference to provide updates on the case.
"There was no indication of a struggle," Mendoza said previously.
"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 are not available yet, sheriff's officials said, noting that carbon monoxide and toxicology test results are pending.
The search warrant affidavit suggests that police appear to have a working theory that "some kind of gas poisoning" happened, but that they don't know yet and aren'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 file one usually believe a specific crime was committed. In this case, no alleged crime was mentioned, Bellin said.
Police tend to overstate what they know, but this is the opposite, said Bellin, who also isn't tied to the investigation.
"It just struck me as very careful in a way that search warrant affidavits often are not," he said.
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."
- Reported with Associated Press and CNN.
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