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Crime Stories with Nancy Grace

NEW DETAILS: Gene Hackman, Wife, Dog Dead 9 Days Before Workers See Bodies Thru Window

Crime Stories with Nancy Grace

iHeartPodcasts and CrimeOnline

True Crime, News

3.97.6K Ratings

🗓️ 23 March 2025

⏱️ 46 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 saw 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 seemed "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. 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. In a press conference, authorities said Arakawa died February 11 from hantavirus. However, new documents show she made multiple phone calls and was seen on February 12.

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

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0:00.0

Crime Stories with Nancy Grace.

0:07.6

The beloved Oscar-winning actor Gene Hackman and his devoted wife, Betsy Arecawa, found dead in Hackman's home.

0:20.4

In the last days, a huge twist in the Gene Hackman mystery as police release his wife Betsy's

0:28.8

cell phone data.

0:31.2

I'm Nancy Grace.

0:32.0

This is crime stories.

0:33.2

Thank you for being with us.

0:35.6

New cell phone data calls into question when exactly Jean Hackman's wife, Betsy, died.

0:42.3

The Santa Fe medical examiner claimed a postmortem showed she died of hantavirus.

0:47.3

That's a rare rat-borne respiratory illness probably caused by exposure to wood mice.

0:55.5

Around Feb 11, a full week before her Oscar-winning husband, Gene Hackman, died of heart failure combined with Alzheimer's.

1:04.0

But now, in a bizarre twist, police confirm Betsy made multiple phone calls on Feb 12, at least a full day after she was

1:17.6

believed to have died. What does that mean to the investigation? Let's back it up and take it

1:23.7

from the beginning.

1:26.8

Son of 309-11, what is it? The emergency

1:28.3

I think you just found to a one deceased person inside a house for

1:35.3

there's a scam.

1:37.3

At this hour, according to law enforcement, the deaths of Jean Hackman, his wife and dog, suspicious.

1:46.5

What happened

1:47.9

to the Oscar winner? Let's go to that

1:49.9

911 call. Listen.

1:51.4

Hello, my name is

...

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