Authorities say they believe actor Gene Hackman and his wife probably died nine days before their bodies were found in their home near Santa Fe, New Mexico, on Wednesday, reports the New York Times. Santa Fe County Sheriff Adan Mendoza revealed in a news conference Friday that a pathologist determined the final "event" recorded on Hackman's pacemaker occurred on Feb. 17. CNN reports Mendoza said, "I think that is a very good assumption that that was his last day of life."
Maintenance workers discovered the bodies of Hackman, 95, and wife Betsy Arakawa, 65, in separate rooms of their secluded home. Initial theories were that carbon monoxide poisoning may have led to their deaths, but Mendoza said both bodies tested negative for the gas. Although investigators believe there are no signs of foul play or external trauma, the cause of the deaths remains a mystery. Hackman and Mendoza didn't have any surveillance cameras inside or outside their home.
Hackman's body was found in the mudroom of the home while Arakawa was in a bathroom near an open prescription medicine bottle and scattered pills. While the drugs found in the home—thyroid medication, Tylenol, and Diltiazem—are used to treat common ailments, Dr. Garret FitzGerald from the University of Pennsylvania said they each have the potential to be lethal in large doses. Police have not identified the pills found near Arakawa, and Mendoza said it could take more than three months to get toxicology results. (More Gene Hackman stories.)
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