In the quiet hills above Santa Fe, a home that once sheltered a celebrated actor and his wife became the setting for a grim discovery that now sits in public view. Police footage, released after being obtained by TMZ, shows officers moving room by room through a house overtaken by rodents, searching for two people whose absence had already grown troubling. The story arrives as a reminder of how fragile private lives can become when age, illness, and neglect quietly converge, and how the ordinary objects of a household can reveal what no one wished to see.
Body Cam Footage From Gene Hackman Death Probe Shows Scene Inside Santa Fe Home
Actor Gene Hackman and his wife Betsy Arakawa died at their Santa Fe home, and a dog was found dead in a crate.
One dog lay alive beside her; another was dead in a crate.
Mark
What does this footage add that we didn't already know?
Mimi
Mostly the order and the setting. Officers find Betsy Arakawa first, near a locked exterior door, with a live dog beside her. Gene Hackman is found later near the kitchen.
Mark
And the dogs?
Mimi
One was alive next to her. Another was dead in a crate, reportedly crated after a vet appointment.
Luke
Worth noting that's one outlet's account of the video. TMZ describes the footage and the vet detail; I can't tell from this how that was confirmed.
Mark
The house itself seems to matter here.
Mimi
It does. The footage shows a disorganized home, and a state health department assessment found rodents, with dead pests and nests across eight detached outbuildings.
Luke
Careful, though. "Disorganized" is TMZ's description, not a measurement. The assessment is the firmer piece.
Mark
And the causes of death?
Mimi
Arakawa died February 12 of hantavirus pulmonary syndrome. Hackman died days later, around February 17 or 18, from heart disease and advanced Alzheimer's.
Luke
Note the "around." His date is approximate, and the report doesn't say how that was pinned down.
Le Pouls
- Officers move through the Santa Fe home room by room, and the search ends with two lives already lost.
- Body camera footage captures a live dog beside Betsy Arakawa near a locked exterior door, while a second dog lies dead in a crate.
- A health department assessment finds rodent infestation and nests spread across eight outbuildings on the property.
- Causes of death tied to hantavirus and heart disease with advanced Alzheimer's leave questions about the home's conditions hanging in the air.
- Public attention turns toward the property's condition, and further reporting may follow the health findings.
In the quiet hills above Santa Fe, a home that once sheltered a celebrated actor and his wife became the setting for a grim discovery that now sits in public view. Police footage, released after being obtained by TMZ, shows officers moving room by room through a house overtaken by rodents, searching for two people whose absence had already grown troubling. The story arrives as a reminder of how fragile private lives can become when age, illness, and neglect quietly converge, and how the ordinary objects of a household can reveal what no one wished to see.
Police in Santa Fe have released body camera video from the day officers searched the New Mexico home of actor Gene Hackman and his wife, Betsy Arakawa. TMZ obtained the footage, which follows officers as they moved through the house until they found both of them dead.
The officers found Arakawa first, on the floor near a locked exterior door, with one of the couple's dogs still alive beside her. Hackman's body was found later, near the kitchen. A second dog was found dead in a crate, reportedly after a veterinary visit.
The footage also shows the home in a state of disorder. A New Mexico Department of Public Health assessment found the property infested with rodents, with dead pests and nests spread across eight detached outbuildings.
According to the report, Arakawa died of hantavirus pulmonary syndrome on February 12. Hackman died a few days later, around February 17 or 18, from heart disease, with advanced Alzheimer's disease also cited. Together, the video and the assessment offer a sober picture of the setting in which the couple died.
Police in Santa Fe have released body camera video from the day officers went through the New Mexico home of actor Gene Hackman and his wife, Betsy Arakawa, searching room by room until they found both of them dead. TMZ obtained the footage on Tuesday.
The video shows officers moving through the house looking for the couple. They found Arakawa first. She was on the floor near a locked exterior door, and one of the couple's dogs, still alive, was lying beside her. Hackman's body was found later, near the kitchen.
A second dog was found dead in a crate. According to the report, the dog had been crated after a veterinary appointment.
The footage also shows the condition of the home, which TMZ describes as disorganized, to say the least. That fits an environmental assessment by the New Mexico Department of Public Health, which found the property infested with rodents. Dead pests and nests were scattered across eight detached outbuildings on the grounds.
The causes of death, as reported, tie into those findings. Arakawa died on February 12 of hantavirus pulmonary syndrome. Hackman died a few days later, around February 17 or 18, of heart disease, with advanced Alzheimer's disease also cited as a cause.
Taken together, the video and the assessment give a fuller picture of the setting in which the couple died: a Santa Fe home and a set of outbuildings overrun by rodents, one surviving dog beside Arakawa, and another dog that did not survive. Further reporting on the condition of the property may build on the health department's findings.
Citations marquantes
The home was disorganized, to say the least, according to TMZ's description of the footage.— TMZ
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Crime & Justice