Gene Hackman staff say 'something's not right' in footage after they were discovered
New details from the Gene Hackman investigation have emerged after authorities released body cam footage from the police as they arrived onto the scene and spoke to contractors
Authorities investigating the death of Gene Hackman and his wife have released the body cam footage captured when officials arrived at their home in Santa Fe.
The legendary actor, 95, was found dead at his Santa Fe home in New Mexico last month, along with Betsy, 65, and their dog Zinna. Their bodies were decomposed and partially mummified, in separate rooms of their property. The couple were found on February 26 by a contractor. Now, footage captured the initial moment police shared a conversation with contractors when they were first called to the scene.
In the videos, one officer asks a handyman about the possibility of a gas leak, with the worker explaining that "something is not right". The handyman says: "That big vent you see on the roof by the front door, that thing's like that big around, so it's meant to vent.
"So I just don't... and that mechanical room is pretty damn tight. I don't see carbon monoxide getting..." An officer asked whether the gas could have come from the kitchen appliances.
The handyman responds saying: "It shouldn't. I don't see how this is both of them are down like this. Something's not right."
A gas leak was found at the home, but later reports say this was too small to have caused any deaths. Other footage released from the day showed officers dealing with the aftermath of their discoveries.
The groundskeeper, who discovered the bodies, appeared emotional on the video. He assured officers he hadn't seen anything suspicious.
Another video showed a phone call between a detective from the Sante Fe County Sheriff's Office and Hackman's daughter Elizabeth. Detective Leonard asks Elizabeth whether she would like the German Shepherd which died, Zinna, cremated.
Elizabeth says: "I'm thinking cremate the dog and bury it with Betsy... if the dog was wearing a collar, could you save that for me."
Previously, another update put into question the timings of Gene and Betsy Arakawa's deaths. Betsy, 65, was reported to have succumbed to a rare virus associated with rodents, but her doctor has now claimed she contacted his private clinic a day after police say she passed away.
According to the Santa Fe medical examiner, Betsy died from hantavirus, a scarce rat-borne illness, on February 11 – a whole week before Hackman's death due to heart failure and Alzheimer's disease complications.
However, Dr Josiah Child, who operates Cloudberry Health in Santa Fe and is a former emergency care specialist, told The Mail on Sunday: "Mrs Hackman didn't die on February 11 because she called my clinic on February 12."
He detailed further: "She'd called me a couple of weeks before her death to ask about getting an echocardiogram [heart scan] for her husband. She was not a patient of mine, but one of my patients recommended Cloudberry to her. She made an appointment for herself for February 12. It was for something unrelated to anything respiratory."
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