The creepy way in which Gene Hackman’s time of death was found has been revealed after he and his wife Betsy Arakawa were found ᴅᴇᴀᴅ.

The 95-year-old acting legend and his 65-year-old classical pianist wife – whose cause of death has been speculated on by a former FBI agent – were found mummified in their $3.8 million Santa Fe home last week.

And though their cause of their deaths remains a mystery, Hackman’s time of death has been revealed due to his pacemaker.

According to an affidavit, Santa Fe Sheriff’s Office Det. Roy Arndt reported that Hackman’s pacemaker data indicated that he had been ᴅᴇᴀᴅ since February 17 which was nine days before he and his wife’s bodies were found.

It also stated that there was no indication that either had suffered blunt-instrument trauma, or that anything had been removed or disturbed from the house.

Detectives had also found ‘no obvious signs of a gas leak’ according to the affidavit.

The creepy way in which Gene Hackman’s time of death was found has been revealed after he and his wife Betsy Arakawa were found ᴅᴇᴀᴅ. They are seen in 2024

Police are seen outside the couple’s Santa Fe home. The cause of their deaths remains unknown

Hackman’s (seen in 1993)  time of death has been revealed due to his pacemaker according to an affidavit, Santa Fe Sheriff’s Office Det. Roy Arndt reported that Hackman’s pacemaker data indicated that he had been ᴅᴇᴀᴅ since February 17 which was nine days before he and his wife’s bodies were found

‘An initial interrogation was conducted of Mr. Hackman’s pacemaker. This revealed that his last event was recorded on Feb. 17, 2025,’ Santa Fe County Sheriff Adan Mendoza said in a press conference on Friday.

Police do not suspect foul play, despite the front door being found ‘ajar.’ There were no signs of forced entry into the home.

Read More Intriguing new Gene Hackman death theory shared by ex-FBI agent after star and wife found mummified

‘I think I’m pretty confident that there is no foul play just based on the lack of evidence,’ Mendoza later told Today. ‘But, of course, we’re not ruling that out.’

Suspicions the couple and their pooch died from a gas leak have been ruled out by the Santa Fe Fire Department, according to Chief Brian Moya.

Meanwhile, it has been revealed that Hackman and Arakawa could have died from food poisoning, according to a former FBI agent.

‘Toxicology – there could have been some other type of poisoning, possibly food? They’ll go through their trash, fridge … this is stuff the police can do in the meantime while gathering evidence,’ former FBI agent Bill Daly told Fox News. 

‘There are a number of possibilities.’

Santa Fe County Sheriff’s Office said there were no signs of foul play or external trauma on the couple’s bodies. The deaths were originally deemed suspicious enough to warrant a full investigation but cops no longer believe anyone else was involved. 

Hackman met Arakawa, a classically trained pianist who grew up in Hawaii, when she was working part-time at a California gym in the mid-1980s. They are seen in 2003

One of three of couple’s dogs was found ᴅᴇᴀᴅ inside a kennel in a bathroom. The other two were found healthy, roaming around.

Detectives found an orange prescription bottle by Arakawa’s body, two cellphones and a 2025 planner while searching the couple’s home, per Fox News Digital.

The case is shrouded in the kind of intrigue reserved for Hackman’s detective thriller novels and has garnered international attention – with many wondering how their deaths went unnoticed for so long.

Neighbors in their gated private community off a winding canyon road five miles outside of Santa Fe told The New York Times that despite living with the celebrity couple for years, most of them never even caught a glimpse of them.

Hackman was in a mud room off the kitchen. His sunglᴀsses and cane were on the floor and it has been suggested the actor had suffered a fall. 

Morgan Freeman speaks about Gene Hackman with an image of Gene Hackman on the screen during the Oscars on Sunday

Hackman, a two-time Oscar winner with an estimated net worth of $80million, just turned 95 in late January. He became a recluse in the last 20 years of his life, after retiring from acting in 2004. He packed up his things, left Los Angeles for a quiet life in New Mexico – and he never looked back. 

Friends occasionally shared glimpses of his post-acting life, including social media sH๏τs of fishing expeditions – while paying tribute to his silver screen triumphs. He would also occasionally be spotted pedaling around Santa Fe on a bicycle.

The gruff-but-beloved Hackman was among the finest actors of his generation, appearing as villains, heroes and antiheroes in dozens of dramas, comedies and action films from the 1960s until his retirement in the early 2000s.

He was a five-time Oscar nominee who won for The French Connection in 1972 and Unforgiven two decades later. His death comes just four days before this year’s ceremony.

Hackman met Arakawa, a classically trained pianist who grew up in Hawaii, when she was working part-time at a California gym in the mid-1980s, the New York Times reported in 1989. They soon moved in together, and by the end of the decade had decamped to Santa Fe.