Gene Hackman and Betsy Arakawa's home was a hive of activity. Then it fell silent

Actor Gene Hackman and his wife Betsy Arakawa's New Mexico home, once a vibrant hub, is nestled in the pine-covered hills north of Santa Fe. The couple thoroughly renovated this "spacious and comfortable" residence in 1990, transforming it into their personal sanctuary.

According to the architect involved in the renovation, Hackman would frequently call, inquiring about the progress every few days. Arakawa, on the other hand, was busy at the construction site, taking photos and calling Hackman to provide updates. Architect Stephen Samuelson told Architectural Digest at the time, "We had to keep calling him and sending sketches constantly."

Upon completion, the residence became a "haven," with an open layout that allowed music to fill the rooms for extended periods. Hackman and Arakawa also became regulars in the Santa Fe community, investing in several businesses and often seen around town in previous years. A mural painted by Hackman still adorns a downtown restaurant, serving as a testament to their presence.

Gene Hackman decided to become an actor when he was 10 years old. Born into a working-class family during the Great Depression, he moved around the Midwest with his father's work in his early years, all the while harboring a passion for movies. At the age of 13, his father left the family, a moment Hackman later recalled when his father's car passed by the front yard of a friend's house where he was playing, with Eugene waving goodbye from the window.

Hackman saw his father's wave as motivation for his independent life, and he lied about his age to join the U.S. Marine Corps. After being discharged in 1952, he worked as a radio operator in Hawaii and Japan before moving to New York at the age of 22. Although he began pursuing an acting career in New York, he only found odd jobs, including store clerk, door-to-door salesman, furniture mover, and doorman at a Times Square hotel.

Hackman later told David Letterman that he once ran into a former Marine Corps drill instructor, who happened to pass by where he was working, which prompted him to leave New York for the West Coast. Hackman later attributed this to his extreme aversion to being rejected, which led him to take his new wife, Faye Maltese, to California to redouble his efforts to become an actor.

At 26, he was five years older than the average student at Pasadena Playhouse, a major drama school in California, and faced a tough challenge, being voted "least likely to succeed" by his classmates along with Dustin Hoffman. However, Hackman saw this as a challenge and went on to star in television shows, Broadway productions, and films over the next 20 years. His breakthrough role was in "Bonnie and Clyde," after which he appeared in approximately 80 films, including the culturally significant "Mississippi Burning" and "The French Connection."

In 1972, Hackman won the Academy Award for Best Actor for his outstanding performance in "The French Connection," and his acceptance speech reflected the everyman image for which he later became known. His entire speech lasted just over a minute, showcasing his humble and grounded personality.

Betsy Marchinko Arakawa was 28 years younger than Hackman when they met. Born in Honolulu, Hawaii, her love of the piano defined her early life. Arakawa performed for thousands of students at the Honolulu International Center Concert Hall at the age of 11 and later collaborated with the Honolulu Symphony Orchestra as a pianist. According to The New York Times, Arakawa also worked as a cheerleader for a professional football team, a production assistant for a TV game show, and a part-time assistant at a fitness center in Los Angeles before meeting Hackman.

Little is known about how they first met in the mid-1980s, but Hackman was still married to his first wife, Maltese, at the time. Although entertainment reporters later described the marriage as "rocky," Hackman and Maltese did not officially divorce until later. Arakawa and Hackman married in 1991 and lived an extremely private life, usually only attending awards ceremonies together. Arakawa also stopped working as a pianist, dedicating herself to their shared life.

Hackman rarely commented on his relationship with his wife, but he did call her his rock. Arakawa was a loving stepmother to Hackman's three children from his previous marriage, providing them with support and affection.

On February 26, at 1:43 p.m. (local time), a maintenance worker called the police. The front door of the house at 1425 Old Sunset Trail was ajar. According to the search warrant affidavit, all other doors were locked, and there were no signs of forced entry. The two workers who discovered the open door stated that they rarely saw Hackman and Arakawa while performing routine maintenance on the house but usually kept in touch with the couple via text message and phone. They last contacted Arakawa two weeks prior, raising concerns about their well-being.

Inside the house, police found Arakawa's body lying on the bathroom floor to the left of the front door. A space heater was found near her head, and officers at the scene suspected that it "may have fallen when she suddenly collapsed." An open bottle of orange prescription pills was found on the bathroom counter, "with pills scattered around." A German Shepherd was found dead in the "closet" adjacent to the bathroom. Two other dogs, one inside the house and one outside, were found alive.

As police searched the house, they found another body in the mudroom near the kitchen. The affidavit states, "Deputy Thomas stated that he found a pair of sunglasses near the deceased, on the left side of the body." Both bodies showed obvious signs of decomposition, and the report noted that Arakawa's hands and feet were "mummified."

While Hackman's children initially stated that they suspected a possible carbon monoxide leak, police and New Mexico Gas Company later confirmed that there was no indication of any problems with the pipelines. There were no "immediate signs or indications of blunt force trauma." The affidavit states, "Detective Roy Arndt believes the circumstances of the deaths...are suspicious enough in nature to warrant a thorough search and investigation." They cited the two surviving dogs running around, the moved space heater, the pill bottle, and the two bodies being in different parts of the house as reasons for their investigation.

The search warrant indicates that officers will be searching for items such as cameras, narcotics, flammable substances, fingerprints, DNA, phones, and blunt or sharp objects. As Hollywood mourns, Dustin Hoffman recalled Hackman. "We used to play conga drums together on the roof of [Pasadena Playhouse], trying to be like our hero Marlon Brando," he said, reminiscing about their shared early aspirations.

While the couple valued their privacy, another friend, Barbara Lenihan, offered some insight into their relationship. After Hackman retired in 2004, he began writing historical and Western novels. Longtime friend Lenihan told The New York Times that Arakawa quietly played a role in the process. She said that Gene would handwrite his books with pen and paper, and Betsy would type them into the computer. "She was very invested in what he was doing," she said. "She made it possible for him to do that."