
SANTA FE, N.M. (AP) — A search warrant shows that Oscar-winner Gene Hackman, his wife and one of their dogs had been dead for some time when a maintenance worker discovered their bodies at the couple’s Santa Fe, New Mexico, home. The Santa Fe County Sheriff’s Office said Thursday that Hackman was found dead Wednesday in a mudroom and his wife, Betsy Arakawa, was found in a bathroom next to a space heater. There was an open prescription bottle and pills scattered on the countertop near Arakawa. Authorities say foul play isn’t suspected, but they are not ruling it out. 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.” They haven’t disclosed how the couple died and say the investigation is ongoing.