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Crime Stories with Nancy Grace

MYSTERY DEATH: Gene Hackman, Wife, Dog Dead 9 Days Before Workers See Bodies Thru Window

Crime Stories with Nancy Grace

iHeartPodcasts and CrimeOnline

News, True Crime

4.28.1K Ratings

🗓️ 3 March 2025

⏱️ 42 minutes

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

Sheriff’s deputies responded to a home after workers saw bodies through a window when no one answered the door. Gene Hackman, 95, his wife, Betsy Arakawa, 65, and a dog were found dead.

Officers found the front door of Hackman’s two-story, green stucco home slightly ajar, but there were no signs of forced entry. During a search, deputies found all other buildings and the garage of the $3.8 million home locked and secured. The home did not appear to have been rummaged through, and no items were reported missing. An officer noted that nothing appeared "out of place."

According to a search warrant affidavit, officers entering the home saw a bathroom to the left of the front door. The bathroom door was open, and Betsy Arakawa was lying on her right side, deceased. Police said she was wearing dark gray sweatpants and a light-colored sweatshirt. A black space heater was near her head, but the report did not state whether it was on. Officers also saw an open orange prescription bottle with pills scattered on the countertop. A deputy reported obvious signs of death, including body decomposition, facial bloating, and mummification in her hands and feet.

Deputies then saw feet and legs near the kitchen area. They found Gene Hackman dead in the mudroom. He was wearing gray sweatpants, a blue long-sleeve T-shirt, and brown slippers. He had a walking cane and a pair of sunglasses. Hackman showed similar signs of death as his wife.

An autopsy was performed, but initial findings noted no external trauma to either individual. The manner and cause of death have not been determined. The official autopsy and toxicology results are pending.

Joining Nancy Grace:

  • Joshua Ritter - Criminal Defense Attorney, Former Prosecutor ND Host of Courtroom Confidential on YouTube; X, Instagram & TikTok: @joshuaritteresq, YouTube: CRConfidential
  • Dr. Bethany Marshall -  Psychoanalyst, Author: "Deal Breaker;" Featured in Hit Show: "Paris in Love" on Peacock; Instagram & TikTok: drbethanymarshall, X @DrBethanyLive
  • Sheryl McCollum - Atlanta Cold Case Investigative Research Institute Founder; Host : Zone 7, X @149Zone7 
  • Dr. William Morrone - Medical Examiner, Toxicologist, Pathologist, Opioid Treatment Expert, and Author: “American Narcan: Naloxone & Heroin-Fentanyl Associated Mortality” 
  • Jessica Finn - Senior Investigative Reporter at The U.S. Sun, the-sun.com, jessicafinnnyc (Twitter/ IG) @jessicafinn.bsky.social 

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Transcript

Click on a timestamp to play from that location

0:00.0

Crime Stories with Nancy Grace.

0:06.0

The Gene Probe.

0:08.7

Gene Hackman, his wife and dog dead nine days before neighbors see the bodies through the window.

0:18.3

I'm Nancy Grace. This is Crime stories. Thank you for being with us.

0:22.2

At this hour 9-1-1- what is at the emergency? I think you just found to a one

0:30.3

deceased person inside a house. But there's a scam. At this hour, according to law enforcement, the deaths of Gene Hackman, his wife and dog,

0:43.6

suspicious. What happened to the Oscar winner? Let's go to that 911 call. Listen.

0:49.4

Hello, my name is that. I think we just found two of one deceased person inside a house.

0:59.0

There's no address.

1:01.0

I'm going to wait for you at the gate.

1:03.0

I'm going to wait for you at the gate.

1:05.0

Are you with a patient now?

1:07.0

I'm over at their property.

1:09.0

There's no address here.

1:12.1

So I have to meet the dead militants or the police whoever down at the gatehouse.

1:16.6

I'll bring them up here.

1:17.6

Curious, the hesitancy to say two dead bodies, but that could be easily explained with an innocent

1:24.6

explanation that the viewer could only see part of the second dead body.

1:31.1

Let's listen to more.

1:32.0

A female in the mail, probably.

1:33.3

I don't know.

1:33.7

I don't know.

...

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