I Do Not Like Mondays

Lead image: Christopher Michael Little, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons

When I saw the news notice on my phone Thursday morning, Feb. 27, I almost instinctively raised an eyebrow. The notice said simply that Gene Hackman and his wife had been found dead in their New Mexico home, with no foul play suspected.

I thought at first it was some other person. Gene Hackman, the longtime, almost legendary actor? That Gene Hackman? Found dead along with his wife as well?

“Okay,” I thought to myself. “That’s weird.” I didn’t click to read any further, since I was getting ready for work and scrambling a bit to get out the door and on my way. I filed the info away in my mind.

As I was driving back home later that day, I was talking on the phone with a friend, and he happened to mention, oddly enough, the movie “Mississippi Burning,” which stars Gene Hackman. I’ve never seen that movie, and he recommended I do so. But I told my friend that, indeed, apparently Hackman had just died, along with his wife.

It was an odd coincidence, and it surprised him as it had surprised me. I think of Gene Hackman, and one of the first things that comes to my mind is his role as Lex Luther in the Superman series of films. I think of the Wild West lawman you ultimately can’t help but hate in the 1992 flick “Unforgiven,” and who, when I watched it, I wanted Clint Eastwood’s and Morgan Freeman’s outlaw characters to take out. Hackman won a Golden Globe and Academy Award for best supporting actor for that latter role.  

So I was curious about Hackman’s death, and the fact that foul play was apparently so instantly dismissed. It turns out that’s not quite the case.

Catching up with the news when I got home, I found there were somewhat conflicting reports about the couple’s three dogs. One of the dogs was found dead along with the couple’s bodies, reported ABC News. According to the outlet, the dog’s body was “in a crate or kennel” about 10 or 15 feet from the body of Hackman’s wife.

But the New York Times reported Friday, Feb. 28 that one dog, a German shepherd, was found dead in a closet inside Hackman’s large Santa Fe, New Mexico residence. Hackman, who just turned 95 years old in January, was found lying deceased in a “mud room” of the home, while his wife, Betsy Arakawa, 63, was found apart from Hackman and also lying deceased in one of the home’s bathrooms, according to the Times.  

Reading the various reports, my initial thought, and that of others, was the couple and possibly one of their dogs had been killed by carbon monoxide poisoning. According to a number of news outlets, however, including NEWSNATION and KOAT Action News of Albuquerque, New Mexico, that potential cause of death has been ruled out. 

The New York Times and others have also reported that Santa Fe County, New Mexico Sheriff, Adan Mendoza, revealed that the final “event” recorded on Hackman’s pacemaker dates back to Monday, Feb. 17, meaning it’s likely he died on that day.

Often, if you want to get at the news, you have to listen to those closest to it.

In an interview Friday morning, Feb. 28 with TODAY news, Sheriff Mendoza was asked if he had any more insight into what caused these deaths — and to that, he did not yet have any definitive answer. Further, he said it could be months before a cause of death is certain for Hackman and his wife, since it could take up to three months “or even longer” for a toxicology report on their bodies to be completed.

“We executed the search warrant yesterday, starting on the evening of [Feb.] 26th all into yesterday afternoon,” Mendoza said, “and one of our investigators attended the autopsy yesterday. We don’t have more information.” He noted investigators are trying to put together a timeline of when Hackman and his wife were last seen and when they died.

“Of course, we understand that is a challenge, because they were very private individuals and a very private family,” he said.

The TODAY reporter noted investigators have concluded that the couple had been deceased for some time, and asked Mendoza, “Are we talking days, are we talking weeks?”

“It’s very difficult to put a timeline together, even with the help of the Office of the Medical Investigator,” the sheriff said. Based on the evidence, though, he added the couple appear to have been dead for “several days, possibly even up to a couple weeks.”

Pressing further, the reporter also asked Mendoza if Hackman and his wife died at the same time.

“I think that’s very difficult to determine,” Mendoza replied. He said that investigators are working to piece together that information, and that the autopsy report will be key in that regard.

Then, speaking to Santa Fe Fire Chief Brian Moya, whose team was first to arrive at the scene, the reporter asked if carbon monoxide poisoning or a gas leak “has been ruled out definitively, or is that still a potential cause here?”

Moya couldn’t quite answer that, noting that when his team arrived at Hackman’s residence, “we did not determine anything that was in the house with our meters that was concerning towards our guys doing the searches, so, at the time of the incident, we did not find anything in the home.”

But the reporter pointed out that, since days or even weeks apparently passed from time of death to discovery of the bodies, perhaps there had been carbon monoxide or a gas leak present and it had simply dissipated in the time that elapsed. Moya agreed that’s a possibility — though, again, news reports now have it that the couple’s bodies have tested negative for such poisoning.  

The reporter asked Moya to provide “more detail on the layout” and if the bodies were found close to each other. Moya said paramedics had discovered a body in one room, “and the other one was a little farther apart.”

The reporter, returning to Mendoza, noted that the sheriff’s department’s search warrant affidavit states the front door of the home was open and not secure. “So, was it just unlocked, or was it ajar — wide open?” she asked.

“Well, the information that I gathered from the investigators was there were several doors that were unlocked at the residence. I believe the front door was closed but unlocked, unsecured,” Mendoza said. “There was one door that was ajar, and that was towards the rear of the residence that two of the dogs that survived were [using to come] in and out of the residence.”

Fire Chief Moya noted separately in a Feb. 28 press conference that, by allowing them to go in and out of the house, the open door at the rear of the home may have been how two of the couple’s three dogs survived.

Yet, on that note, Mendoza said, “There’s a little bit of conflicting stories, based on emergency response and things. We’re not sure if that door was open upon the arrival of emergency personnel, or if it was opened upon entry of emergency personnel. So that’s another question, and something that we just need to answer.”

The reporter also noted that the search warrant affidavit indicates that there was an opened prescription bottle near one of the deceased bodies, “potentially with pills splayed out.” She asked Mendoza if he believes that prescription is in some way related to the deaths.  

“That’s obviously very important evidence at the scene,” Mendoza affirmed, noting that the information had been collected and passed on to the Office of the Medical Investigator. “So, yes, we’ve looking at that specifically, and other medications that were possibly in the residence — that is something of concern.”

However, E! NBC News on Friday evening, Feb. 28 reported that those pills found at the residence have been identified: “The medications taken from the home were an unspecified thyroid medication, the pain killer Tylenol, and the blood pressure medication Diltiazem.”

According to the Mayo Clinic, Diltiazem “relaxes the blood vessels, lowers blood pressure, and increases the supply of blood and oxygen to the heart while reducing its workload.” And yes, just to note in this case, it is possible to overdose on the medication, but whether that’s any element of the Hackman/ Arakawa case is unknown at this time. 

In that vein, the reporter asked how long it’ll take to complete the toxicology report on the bodies. Sheriff Mendoza said that “could take some time,” perhaps three months or even longer, depending on the laboratory’s workload.

“But we’re hoping it comes sooner than later so we can answer some of these questions,” he added, “and hopefully it’ll … help or might determine the manner and cause of death.”

Getting to the point, the TODAY reporter asked if there’s a working theory now as to what caused the deaths of Hackman, his wife, and their dog, and if Mendoza is still confident there’s been no foul play involved.

 “I think I’m pretty confident that there is no foul play, just based on the lack of evidence of foul play. But we, of course, are not ruling that out,” Mendoza said. “Again, I think the autopsy results, the official results, are going to help steer us in the right direction. That could change, obviously, and we’re not ruling that [i.e., foul play] out. This is an open investigation — it’s a couple days old.”

“We’re putting together the timeline, we’re trying to figure out all the evidence, and the autopsy is key. And that is going to take some time,” he added.