Gene Hackman, His Wife, and His Dog are DEAD TO ME

Carbon monoxide poisoning?

Something truly awful about taking the wife (almost two generations his junior) and dog with him. Just because he’s had enough of life, why should they have to go?

What the hell?!

Sheriff: "no foul play suspected"

R2, I had the same initial feeling that you do, but then I thought it might be carbon monoxide poisoning like R1 said. It will be interesting to find out. In any case, what a legend he was.

[quote]Legendary actor, two-time Oscar winner and author Gene Hackman and his wife, classical pianist Betsy Arakawa, were found dead Wednesday afternoon in their home in the Santa Fe Summit community northeast of the city.

[quote]Santa Fe County Sheriff Adan Mendoza confirmed just after midnight Thursday the couple had died, along with their dog.

[quote]Mendoza said in an interview Wednesday evening there was no immediate indication of foul play. He did not provide a cause of death or say when the couple might have died.

Welp, we know who will be the last person in the Oscar memoriam this Sunday.

RIP to a Hollywood legend.

Taking a 30 years younger wife would be diabolical.

Will there be time for him to make the Oscar memoriam?

r2 and r8 have shown themselves to be morons, any others?

R2 & R8, we don't have enough information yet to assume that it was Hackman who did his wife in. Perhaps they had a suicide pact to both go together?

Remember when Weird Al's parents died of accidental carbon monoxide poisoning. It's fairly common.

Tell me why, r10.

Dog farts.

They're lethal.

Fentanyl overdose.

How unexpectedly dark.

BBC must have rushed to get the story in OP's link out. They have misreported Hackman's age as 97.

Imagine the odds of making it to 95 years old only to die of accidental carbon monoxide poisoning. I can't imagine what else it was that would have also taken the wife and dog at the same time.

Hackman had a bitter rivalry with Michelle Tratchenberg,

"HA! This'll teacht that litte bitch a lesson in oneupmanship!!!"

R19, what's interesting is that a poster had just predicted on the Michelle Trachtenberg thread that there might be another shocking celebrity death before this weekend's Oscars -- and here we are!!

Alicia Witt's parents died from carbon monoxide.

R21 Her parents froze to death

I think it was murder-suicide by the dog.

He knows what he did.

r13 What part of "no foul play" confused you? Let me guess, didn't bother to read the article, or even the other posts in the thread.

The Poseidon Adventure Curse. Is Pamela Sue Martin next??

When I read “Gene Hackman found dead”, I thought it was a little overdramatic to describe a 95-year-old’s passing. But no

If it's carbon monoxide poisoning, when will they be able to determine the cause of death?

By not revealing the cause they are causing a lot of speculation on social media.

[quote]By not revealing the cause they are causing a lot of speculation on social media.

A lot of speculation on social media is the real tragedy here.

r28 So? There's always been speculation around celeb deaths and there always will be. You can't expect experts to rush their jobs so there won't be any speculation. Which would be pretty much impossible anyway as they'd need to reveal the cause at the exact same time the news of the death itself breaks.

George Takei:

We have lost one of the true giants of the screen. Gene Hackman could play anyone, and you could feel a whole life behind it. He could be everyone and no one, a towering presence or an everyday Joe. That’s how powerful an actor he was. He will be missed, but his work will live on forever.

Geez, r28. They are not revealing the cause because they don't definitively know one yet! r29 and r30 said it right.

I am marveling that a 60 year old Hackman married his late-20s wife, and they remained married for 35 years...and they had a dog! That's quite a run.

Also, on what planet is a 63 year old woman "elderly"? An older woman, sure, but 63 isn't even a senior citizen yet.

R32 is showing her age. Anyone over 60 can be called elderly by most people.

I just watched The Quick and the Dead last night. What an actor.

Man, it’s only February but what a brutal year!

Has Susan Dey commented yet?

[quote]By not revealing the cause they are causing a lot of speculation on social media.

Yes, and the usual suspects are claiming he committed suicide because his name will be in the upcoming Epstein files.

The Oscar Memoriam will await cause of death

Before he was famous, in the early 60s. Hackman shared a NYC apartment with 2 roommates: Dustin Hoffman and Robert Duvall. All 3 of them starving actors.

Can you fucking believe that????

If there were, in fact, no foul play, it was carbon monoxide poisoning

those were the days my friend, I thought they’d never end

Gotta watch Night Moves this weekend.

Has Blake Lively chimed in?

Suicide Pact

That's a disturbing age difference. Obviously, Hackman groomed her!!

I feel like this “foul play” is urban slang for sometin’

I think I know who did it

R32 must be in denial.

Yeah, 62 is a senior citizen by any definition. Average life span in the use is 76 to 78 so if you're over 60 you're in the last quarter of your life.

Anything over 80 is just extra frosting on your cake.

They're dead, Jim.

If their home is attached to the garage, Hackman (or his wife) could have accidentally left his car running when he returned home.

Thank God my stove and heating are all electric.

[quote]Man, it’s only February but what a brutal year!

You ain't seen nothing yet!

No carbon monoxide detector?

Sad news, for sure, what a legend

[Quote]what's interesting is that a poster had just predicted on the Michelle Trachtenberg thread that there might be another shocking celebrity death before this weekend's Oscars -- and here we are!!

Hmm, does that poster have an alibi?

He was 95 so he lived a long life but the death of all 3 is bizarre

The world has grown dim, and I, a forsaken relic of a time now buried, am left to wander its desolation in mourning. With the passing of Gene Hackman, another light has been extinguished from the firmament of my youth, and the shadows creep ever closer. The silver screen, once aglow with the faces of titans, flickers with unfamiliar specters—pale imitations of an era whose grandeur has crumbled into dust.

What cruel jest is this, that I should persist while the echoes of my childhood are swallowed by the abyss? Each day, I awaken to a world more unrecognizable than the last, a landscape stripped of its familiar sentinels. There is no refuge, no comfort, only the ceaseless march of time dragging me toward an existence devoid of luster.

I shall don my black veil and retreat into my chambers, where the heavy drapes shall forever shroud me from the unfeeling sun. Let the dust settle upon my form, let the wailing winds serenade my lament, for there is naught left to rouse me from my grief. What is life but a cruel procession of loss? What is memory but the lingering perfume of a flower long since withered? I shall not rise again.

Special K in the spa?

R57 I get where you’re coming from but still…MARY!

I always loved him as an actor - he was the kind of actor that could elevate even crappy material - but I was kind of dismayed to read what an asshole he was on the set of the Royal Tennenbaums, since he was perfect for that role.

It's been a tough week for pets. A psycho brother on another thread killed a cat & now the dog has to die with Hackman & the wife.

I’m still here!

[quote]"Wait! Where're you going? I was going to make espresso."

You and I are the only two left, Eric.

I hope it was an accident and not a suicide pack, that poor dog caught up in their self involved drama.

I'm hoping it was something like accidental carbon monoxide poisoning, since the dog was found dead, too, and not a murder-suicide situation.

Either way, a sad way to go for a man who had such a long and rewarding life.

At least my dog didn't die.

On one hand, a peaceful way to go. His death alone would be mourned but now it will be linked to scandal. Accidental? Suicide pact? A sad ending.

Was it a rescue wife?

R39 I always had heard that Al Pacino was part of that pileup, no?

I hope the dog was at the end of his life too.

It does sound like carbon monoxide poisoning. If it was just overdoses/appearance of a possible suicide pact, they would not be able to rule out foul play so instantly, especially with s dead dog in the mix as well.

Oooh, what a lost opportunity... Why didn't they invite Trump, Vance, Musk and Thiel, for a quiet evening at the Hackman residence that night?

If I decided to take my life in old age, when everything hurts and everyone I knew well is dead, I’d take my 14 year old dog with me too. Not sure about my younger partner. But I can see that she didn’t want to carry on either.

[quote]If it was just overdoses/appearance of a possible suicide pact, they would not be able to rule out foul play so instantly

Doesn't carbon monoxide poisoning turn your skin an unusual color?

How can they rule out foul play so quickly? They could all have been poisoned

[quote]Doesn't carbon monoxide poisoning turn your skin an unusual color?

Yes. Deep cherry red.

Maybe this is how.

[quote]One classic sign of carbon monoxide poisoning is more often seen in the dead rather than the living – people have been described as looking red-cheeked and healthy. However, since this "cherry-red" appearance is more common in the dead, it is not considered a useful diagnostic sign in clinical medicine. In autopsy examinations, the appearance of carbon monoxide poisoning is notable because unembalmed dead persons are normally bluish and pale, whereas dead carbon-monoxide poisoned people may appear unusually lifelike in coloration.

I wonder how the BBC got this story so early?

Santa Fe?

Has Alec Baldwin been accounted for?

R72- I didn’t know Vivian Vance was still alive.

OP he was 95 not 97.

[quote]he was 95 not 97.

So young!

R1, my first thought exactly.

But I really think the thread might have been titled Gene Hackman, His Wife and His Dog are MYSTERIOUSLY DEAD TO ME.

R78 my guess is they had more people awake at that time to work on it.

Big trump supporter

I suppose they're re-editing the bound to fuck it up anyway In Memoriam for Sunday night.

The man was one of the greatest actors to grace the screen. That's all that matters to me.

It’s too many deaths in one night. I was really trying to sleep and I discover this death . I thought of murder suicide . His first wife died at 88 . He was married to her for 30 years as well.

I keep remembering the end of The House of Sand and Fog, and the horrific last scene.

I hadn’t thought of carbon m . I hope that that was the reason .

[quote]Big trump supporter

Is this the new "Oh look, another Trump thread?"

You're tiresome.

Legend doesn’t always mean a lot except when it does and this man was a legend. RIP.

Was he an organ donor?

He scared the shit out of me as POTUS in Absolute Power and was riveting in Under Suspicion. He made a lot of movies and was always excellent.

This is depressing.

Whether it a carbon monoxide leak or self harm.

A a childhood friend’s grandparents had a suicide pact. They sent out letters to their adult children but woke up the next morning but decided to live. The police were called and found them making coffee and hungover. Their children were furious and it effectively destroyed the bonds of the extended family.

His wife was Slaysian? Did he sniff cookies?

[quote] what's interesting is that a poster had just predicted on the Michelle Trachtenberg thread that there might be another shocking celebrity death before this weekend's Oscars -- and here we are!!

That was me. Yesterday, after I read about Michelle Trachtenberg's death, I just got the weird feeling that there was going to be some other major celeb death before the Oscars.

[quote] I hope it was an accident and not a suicide pack,

It was just the one dog.

They didn't rule out foul play. They said 'no immediate signs of foul play' , which doesn't mean that at all.

Rare sight, nearly every Twitter trend is a Gene Hackman film or role

R73 You are a selfish a-hole

He was a handsome guy and a great actor. We had a lame ass film course in high school. The Conversation was one of the films we watched. It was a great movie.

Royal Tennenbaum is one of my all time favorite characters.

[quote]His wife was Slaysian?

Oh, I hear Silesia is lovely this time of year.

I don't suppose Susan Dey.... never mind. She wouldn't even if she'd worked with him.

Brendad Ickson, on the other hand. "So said about Jean Pacman. I past him once in Gelman's after I was original Jill on Y&R. He was buying a roast."

I had forgotten his Lex Luthor, he made that film so much fun.

I immediately thought he shot the wife and dog, then himself. The guy was almost 100 and must have had serious health issues.

$20 says their gas or oil furnace malfunctioned.

RIP to Gene, his wife and their pupper. ☹️

R78 TMZ is so yesterday

R69, No. in fact, Pacino described in his autobiography how he and Hackman didn’t get along while doing Scarecrow (1973). It wasn’t that they hated each other, it was that Pacino felt no connection with Hackman, they were entirely separate during filming.

R2 is a true turd.

[quote] He was a handsome guy and a great actor

I agree with the second d part. Hackman has never been called handsome, not even by his wives.

Murder-suicide would count as foul play, I'm pretty sure. CO2 poisoning sounds like the most likely culprit.

I always thought Hackman was good looking in an understated manly way.

It was my time.

LOL, R112.

[quote] While the bodies were found Wednesday afternoon, police were not able to identify them as the actor and Arakawa until Thursday morning, according to KOB 4.

So when a neighbor called police to request a welfare check the police had no idea who they were checking up on. Weird.

"I just love how the gays only want hot guys to be gay. None of my gays are ever like, ‘Girl, you know Miss Gene Hackman is gay.’ That never comes up. It’s Colin Farrell, Jude Law, all the hot guys." -Kathy Griffin

It’s going to be neck and neck between the Hackman & Trachtenberg threads all day

[post redacted because linking to dailymail.co.uk clearly indicates that the poster is either a troll or an idiot (probably both, honestly.) Our advice is that you just ignore this poster but whatever you do, don't click on any link to this putrid rag.]

Okay, but how much do these CO2 monitors cost, though? Like, do I really need one if I only have a gas stove (piped in from the municipal plant, not a tank)? Our flat uses water for heating, so I'm not gonna get killed from that.

I don't wanna die, but I also can't quite afford an expensive CO2 detector right now. And how long do they last, anyway? Are they actually a scam with hidden costs?

Yikes, they must have been in a terrible state…

"One of the key elements of the investigation is whether the couple succumbed to environmental factors, such as carbon monoxide poisoning or an undetected gas leak. The presence of their deceased dog has raised concerns that something in the home environment may have contributed to their deaths."

[quote]Gene Hackman and wife death mystery: [bold]It took 12 hours to identify them[/bold]

Jesus fucking Christ. Maybe they died while taking a bath and started rotting away? And the dog just died of starvation?

I would have done him during his French Connection days.

I always wanted to pop Popeye’s cherry

Totally hot. I would definitely have fucked him.

[quote]Okay, but how much do these CO2 monitors cost, though?

Between $10 and $50, typically. Several fire departments in my area offer free detectors several times a year.

R119, seriously? Get a $100 all in one smoke and carbon monoxide detector

R112 he had a deeply charismatic, masculine presence on screen.

And he always made it looks so easy, you never caught him “acting”.

If they weren't able to be identified right away I'm asuming they were in an advanced state of decomposition.

r119, a few months ago the CO2 alarm that my HOA requires I keep next to my gas furnace went off and I called 911. It turned out the alarm went off because the built-in battery was low but the guys from the fire dept. made it clear to me they'd rather respond to a false alarm than a real CO2 emergency. They recommended that in addition to replacing the furnace alarm I get a plug-in C02 detector for my bedroom. So no they're not a scam.

[quote]If they weren't able to be identified right away I'm asuming they were in an advanced state of decomposition.

But everyone in the area knows it's a Hackman household. Like, who could the corpses possibly be if not the old couple?

The dog is irrelevant. We are talking about 2 humans who died. Dog culture is sick.

This is the last time I saw Gene Hackman, on Triple D.

R131 I disagree. I'm more upset about the dog than a 95 year old human.

If it took so long to identify them, they may have been dead for days. Blech.

I loved him and Willem Defoe in Mississippi Burning.

Agree with r128, such a great actor and was a completely at ease in front of the camera.

Saw an awful theory on Twitter: What if the wife died suddenly and the dog and 95-year-old Hackman, being completely dependent upon her, starved to death?

Hard agree with r131, dogs are a dime a dozen!!!

Holy shit.

r136 Yikes, that would indeed be grim.

I love his cameo in "Young Frankenstein." A classic!

Gene Hackman, Shelly Winters, Red Buttons, Ernest Borgnine, Stella Stevens, Pamela Sue Martin & Stella Stevens in the original, 1972 Poseidon Adventure. What a great movie led by Gene and an exceptional career. RIP

A dog wouldn't starve to death with two dead bodies in the house.

I would’ve fucked the shit out of him in The Poseidon Adventure. Even while he was wearing that turtleneck.

RIP

My corpse is barely cold, gays

The Daily Fail does have some attractive pics of him, I must admit. And a couple of him looking incredibly frail from last year. I would never have recognized him on the street.

It's crazy to me that people at first didn't believe the news just because it came from a local newspaper, The Santa Fe New Mexican, and not from TMZ or some similar rag. Reminds me of the time Ray Stevenson died in Italy and I linked to la Repubblica because it broke the news and some cunt DLer dismissed it, saying he'd wait for a reputable newspaper in the US to report on it first. 🙄

r142 Cats are known to do that, not dogs. Probably depends on the breed, though.

People bemoaning the dog's fate need to understand just how stressful it would have been for it to get new owners at this point. This is honestly the best way to go for a dog.

[post redacted because linking to dailymail.co.uk clearly indicates that the poster is either a troll or an idiot (probably both, honestly.) Our advice is that you just ignore this poster but whatever you do, don't click on any link to this putrid rag.]

Excellent actor.

I remember a touching moment he had when he appeared on Bravo's The Actors Studio. James Lipton started his interview, as he did with everyone, with "where were you born'? Lipton continued asking Mr. Hackman about his childhood, and specifically, his parents. GH started talking about his parents and as a little boy, sitting on the front steps of his home as his father left the house and never returned. He choked up for a moment and you could see the little boy in him reliving that moment.

R131 = the I hate dogs troll

Why do people who kill themselves have to take the lives of their pets too? Give the pet to someone else, THEN do yourself in.

No sympathy for Gene here.

When they filmed HOOSIERS in Indiana, a lot of us were extras for the basketball scenes.

Some of my friends were the players and an actor friend of mine was Hackman's stand in/double. Everybody loved working with him. And it's my late father's favorite movie.

r143, he was hot in French Connection too

Okay, okay, I'm getting the damn CO2 detector, you've all convinced me.

So how long do I have to escape certain death once I hear the alarm go off?

He has tarnished his legacy with this final act.

R154, are you dialing in from 1954?

R154 Don't dawdle, Amaryllis.

How would a 95 year old man with three grown children die and be left to rot for weeks or months, alongside his wife who would possibly also have family to check on her? Nevermind as a famous actor he would have had attorneys, financial consultants, and the like who would be in contact on a regular basis. I'm sure they also had some hired help that was around to some degree.

This was likely accidental and recent.

r156 I don't want to call the fire department and make a whole fuss. Can't I just open the windows and turn the gas pipe off? Won't that do the trick? And then call a handyman to have a look at the pipe the next day?

We’re the family that should have been checking up on him

[quote]How would a 95 year old man with three grown children die and be left to rot for weeks [bold]or months[/bold], alongside his wife who would possibly also have family to check on her?

Oh my god, what if he died under the Biden presidency still? This is honestly too grim to even contemplate. And how will they set his date of death now?

It was the vax!

Two more dogs were there and found alive. Maybe it WAS a suicide pack gone wrong!

[quote] Maybe it WAS a suicide pack

Oh, dear!

I think it was a play on “pack of dogs”

Can't SAG-AFTRA just throw in a smoke alarm for their members, on top of all those benefits they provide already? We just lost an acting legend for no good reason!

He looks old and frail in the picture

It would be funny if they added a CO detector in the Oscar goody bag.

[Quote] Maybe it WAS a suicide pack

You mean like a package deal 3 for the price of 1

[quote]r57 The silver screen, once aglow with the faces of titans, flickers with unfamiliar specters—pale imitations of an era whose grandeur has crumbled into dust.

When Jane and Faye go, we’ll know it’s really over.

Dustin Hoffman will be heartbroken. They were long time friends.

R159 - The alarm CANNOT BE TURNED OFF

I don't know why they release details like 12 hours to identify without any context. It just brings out the worst, accomplishes nothing. Nothing stupider.

R171, Gene Hackman was 95 fucking years old. Hoffman most likely expected Hackman would die soon, doubt he was “heartbroken.” Plus these actors have their own families and close friends, why do some of you pair old actors like they’re married or something?

Viola, Antonio Banderas and Josh Brolin chime in

the bloody cat paw 🐾 prints on the walls were found to be a frame-up by the dogs

THANK GOD MISS VIOLA HAS WEIGHED IN!

She always sounds not terribly bright.

R151, how do you know it was Gene who did the act if it was murder-suicide? He looked so frail, I don’t know how he could do anything? Maybe it was the wife? Or the dog?

[quote] He looks old and frail in the picture

How unexpected! He was a mere 95 years old!

Miss R151 rushes to assume what there is no evidence of. In fact, police said no foul play. But that doesn't stop her from stupidly and moralistically weighing in.

No one ever suspects the dog.

His wife does not look that old.

One of the last of a dying group an actual China Marine.

Because she wasn't, R182?

Such brain trusts here.

Looks like a murder-suicide. of course TMZ has all the scoop.

R129, My CO detecter beeps differently whether there's truly CO around or it just needs a new battery.

Was there a disco ball?

TMZ has all those details but they couldn't tell us what kind of pills were in the bottle?

[Quote] [R21] Her parents froze to death

It’s sad that they didn’t just turn the heat on!

R185, where do you get a murder-suicide connection from that? They didn't say that.

[post redacted because linking to dailymail.co.uk clearly indicates that the poster is either a troll or an idiot (probably both, honestly.) Our advice is that you just ignore this poster but whatever you do, don't click on any link to this putrid rag.]

[Quote] Anyone over 60 can be called elderly by most people.

Most people think “begs the question” means “raises the question.”

It doesn’t make it any less stupid.

For the love of God...

R190, read the article. It wasn’t carbon monoxide. What else could it be? Or maybe it was suicide-suicide, but there aren’t many other reasons for two people (and a dog) to die in the manner they did. But that’s why I said “looks”.

R191 Guess he didn't talk to his kids very often.

Was it the salmon mousse?

The TMZ article detailing the advanced decomposition of the younger wife's body gives credence to the theory mentioned above that she died abruptly and Hackman was dependent on her for care. Grim. Still doesn't explain the two perfectly healthy dogs, though.

It’s possible his infirmity was making life impossibly painful for him, so she assisted him in suicide and didn’t want to live any longer without him.

Or it’s also possible she committed suicide because she couldn’t stand living with a 95 year old in a secluded house in New Mexico, and when he found her corpse he fell down and died himself.

R197, his body showed similar signs of decomposition.

I was just thinking that maybe Gene died of a heart attack or something, and then his wife committed suicide. Doesn’t explain the dog, but maybe she took out the dog, too.

I did read it, Nancy Drew at R194. There are a few scenarios. Who cares? No one's concern here.

Maybe the one dog was trapped in the bathroom with the wife and it starved. The other dogs had access to food or water.

Another possibility, a dark one. Maybe she was mistreating him. People in charge of helpless people sometimes do.

She took it a little too far and he died. In her panic at having caused his death, she committed suicide.

R203=Miss Marple.

Cheeses this is grim. He had money, fame, a wife, and he rots away for two weeks undiscovered? There's no hope for me.

Was Hackman estranged from his children? Seems odd none of his three kids would go two weeks or more without speaking to an ailing 95-year-old parent.

R203 is really making me laugh. Almost as hard as R204 is. Almost.

Marry me, R204, you magnificent bitch.

My first thought was that she didn't want to live without him but carbon monoxide poisoning sounds most realistic if there was no foul play suspected.

HA! Sure, R207!

R201, then why are you in this thread? Of course it’s really no one’s business. That never stopped any nosy bitch from speculating.

Sorry, I'm MAGNIFICENT BITCH R204.

UPDATE — BREAKING

Fowl play now suspected

R182, he ditched his wife of 30 years for her.

I think this is the thread you want, r57 :

Where’s Columbo when you need him?

I think we'll know more when a toxicology report comes out perhaps the worst-case scenario would be that she drugged him, then herself and the dog might have eaten some of the pills that might have fallen to the floor

Maybe one of the three dogs ate the pills that were spilled and it died.

Have any other Hollywood couples killed themselves by suicide together?

When has a dog ever eaten pills by its own volition?

I bought "The Conversation" on DVD about a week ago. It's probably my fault.

Since the hen house is clucking with speculation here...maybe the wife had been ill or diagnosed with something terminal and he at 95 couldn't continue without her, so they ended it. Why they would end up on the floor and not somewhere more comfortable and settled I don't know. And the dead dog supposedly found in the closet? Clearly, the dog couldn't deal with its latent homosexuality and killed itself.

[quote] Arakawa was discovered lying on the bathroom floor of the couple's home on her right side, with an open prescription bottle of pills scattered across a nearby countertop. No indication has been given as to what the pills were and whether they had been prescribed to Hackman or his wife.

Sounds like she killed him and then killed herself.

R201, who cares? If you don’t, get the fuck out of here.

[quote][R171], Gene Hackman was 95 fucking years old. Hoffman most likely expected Hackman would die soon, doubt he was “heartbroken.” Plus these actors have their own families and close friends, why do some of you pair old actors like they’re married or something?

I get that Datalounge is all about the "pointless bitchery" but when did it become infested by these completely-humorless, easily-triggered megacunts?

Two of his dogs were found alive in the house,according to the New York Post.

Phil and Brynn Hartman died by murder-suicide.

Don't be telling people what to do, cunty R223.

Oh now it’s suspicious.

They were seen out in public together for the first time in 21 years last year.

Dog ate the pills? They’re so stupid!

[quote]No one ever suspects the dog.

I wish I'd thought of that.

R226, I purposely didn’t say murder-suicide. I said suicide-suicide.

[quote] R32 is showing her age. Anyone over 60 can be called elderly by most people.

Around here it’s 30.

Only for twinks. Elder starts at 40 for the rest of us.

[quote] When has a dog ever eaten pills by its own volition?

All the time. Which is why owners are told to be careful. Dogs will eat anything not to mention that the dogs hadn’t been fed for weeks.

If you were going to kill your partner - old, frail, in an (arguable) act of love, and then yourself, isn't it likely you'd commit the murder and then lie down next to the person you love while your life came to an end? Why go to another room?

What a weird story. One of the dogs was outside and one inside. Door ajar. How were they eating if the bodies were decomposed? Were they they eating the dead bodies? One dog dead?

This reminds me of Crimes of the Heart where there mother killed the cat along with herself because she didn't want to go into the great beyond alone.

R224 = suspects Dustin Hoffman is on Xanax today to cope with the death of his dearest long lost buddy and roommate 60 years ago, poor Gene Hackman.

It was Miss Plum in the larder with a candlestick!

R237, dogs aren't picky eaters. They probably munched on Gene.

He narrated two documentaries in 2016 and 2017.

The 14 year old dog may have been dependent on medication it wasn’t getting.

(And dogs don’t generally eat their owners if the owner isn’t covered in blood)

R236, you can be delirious. You can get up and not know what you’re doing or get up to vomit.

The dog did it.

Getting older is hard enough without also living in isolation. Taking care of a failing husband in his 90s can’t have been easy for the aging wife. I wonder if they had any help, either paid servants, nurses or social worker types that visited the home from time to time. If they didn’t they should have.

People should downsize as they become infirm. They should have sold their house and lived in a condo somewhere less isolated. I imagine sudden death came to at least one of them in the form of a stroke or heart attack, and perhaps freakishly came to both at almost the same time. The dog was probably an accidentsl casualty if he was trapped in the bathroom with the wife.

Maybe she was tired of taking care of him. Suicide was a way not to go to prison for it. The other dog might have needed medication like the other poster here said and died.

Gene could have suffered from Alzheimer’s or dementia and wifey isolated him because he couldn’t be trusted out in public.

Wrong R241. My dog is super picky. She never eat me.

Why, r250? Do you taste awful?

R229, publishing these photos was just cruel like everything Murdoch.

According to the NY Times, a space heater was found in the vicinity of Arakawa's body.

"Getting older is hard enough without also living in isolation. Taking care of a failing husband in his 90s can’t have been easy for the aging wife. I wonder if they had any help, either paid servants, nurses or social worker types that visited the home from time to time."

I can guarantee you they did, or if they didn't, it was by choice however bizarre that sounds.

My mom is 90. She has OT, PT and a nurse pop in once a week, all on her insurance except the nurse, which is partially paid for.

It was THE DEEP STATE at it again!!!

Now taking a Son of MAGA from us!!! Help us, god-emperor TRUMP!!!

Honestly, this is getting more sad by the minute.

R37, I'm surprised they aren't claiming that the vaccine killed him

"Vaxxed? 95-year-olds don't just drop dead!"

R253, the Fail reported that too, as well as conjecture it was knocked down when she fell.

R192 don’t mix up logical fallacies with common parlance. Over time, the phrase has earned more than one meaning—both are accepted. You sound like a pedant.

[quote] publishing these photos was just cruel like everything Murdoch.

Cruel how? He’s a celebrity.

[quote] My mom is 90. She has OT, PT

Honey, stop typing lazy. It’s rude. WTF is OT? PT? We can’t read your mind.

Gene has adult kids. Surprised they didn't check on him more often. I talk to my mother at least every two days. If I don't hear from her I get concerned.

Their front door was open. What if an intruder killed them and tried to make it look like a murder-suicide?

From NBC News

[Quote] publishing these photos was just cruel like everything Murdoch.

R252 How is it cruel? The two of them were out in public. It's not like it's an invasion of their privacy besides the fact that other publications and news outlets also used those pictures.

B movie starlet Yvette Vickers died and wasn't discovered for a couple of months....a space heater was on next to her and she was mummified as well...

R35 You say this every year.

If you marry an older man, one way or another, you cut your life early.

[quote]Cruel how? He’s a celebrity.

Oh, come the fuck on. He [italic] was[/italic] a celebrity. In those photos he was an ancient, frail old man and those images were run for ghoulish pleasure of rubberneckers and no other reason. There is nothing newsworthy or respectful about them. Look if you like but don't try to sell it like it's respectable.

What an exciting way to kick off. Condolences to the dog.

AND THE LITTLE DOG, TOO??

R250 is not me but at least you see the method to my malodorousness.

"Dogs tend to eat the face and throats of humans, then break the ribs and chew on bones. Cats, on the other hand, often strip skin from the nose, upper lip, and fingers (the same places, Rando notes, that they nip at when playing with a living owner). Scavenging is more common with dogs than cats, Byard adds, “but I don’t trust either of them.”

Researchers think hunger is usually the main motivation, though some pets may not wait until their tummy starts to grumble. “Everyone wants to think it’d be a while,” Rando says. But animals might become worried about their unresponsive special person—especially if the death is violent or sudden—and lick their owner’s face seeking comfort. That licking can quickly turn into feeding."

PT - physical therapy

OT - occupational therapy

A space heater in the bathroom? Wasn't his house heated?

MARY!

There's so much so far that doesn't make sense. It does not seem like a typical murder/suicide since they neither was resting comfortably when they died; it also doesn't make sense that they would intentionally kill one of the dogs but not the others, but leave the others to go hungry.

It could be she died with the dog in a freak accident with the space heater, and he might have had dementia so that he didn't know what happened to her and wandered about until he fell and died.

[quote] Because she wasn't, [R182]?

oh, dear?

I thought he was gay?

Even in his younger days he was never attractive.

R275 old people are very cold and usually run space heaters in the bathroom so they don’t freeze to death when they get out of the shower.

Or at least that’s what my parents do.

What a depressing shadow this is going to cast over this weekend's Oscars.

How soon you forget the Palisades fires R282

He will always be the definitive Lex Luthor for me.

Sadly, in 20 years, the way he died is what he will be known for.

What pills were they? I'm going with she died first and then he died due to lack of care. Could the heater have electrocuted her?

Where's Jessica Fletcher when we need her?

R261, I knew what both OT and PT meant. That poster owed you nothing. You're rude--and dumb.

Why, r279?

[quote]Where's Jessica Fletcher when we need her?

Dead.

R239, Hackman & Hoffman appeared together in 2003 on John Grisham's "Runaway Jury" and on the special features for the DVD they are interviewed about their friendship and time living together as young men.

Now whether they kept in contact since then, who knows, but they were certainly together more recently than 60 years ago.

I bet in the end R277 comes closest to what happened.

Morgan Freeman:

One of the personal highlights of my career was bringing the French Film Gardé a Vue (Under Suspicion) to life with the incredibly gifted Gene Hackman. And of course... Unforgiven. Rest in peace, my friend.

So it wasn't a gas leak after all? Well, I don't have to shill out for that CO2 detector now. Although I do know what I'm getting my elderly parents for Christmas this year, thanks Gene!

[quote]There's so much so far that doesn't make sense. It does not seem like a typical murder/suicide since they neither was resting comfortably when they died; it also doesn't make sense that they would intentionally kill one of the dogs but not the others, but leave the others to go hungry.

[quote]It could be she died with the dog in a freak accident with the space heater, and he might have had dementia so that he didn't know what happened to her and wandered about until he fell and died.

Or she found him dead, either felt responsible or didn't want to live without him, and intentionally overdosed. At that point, with scattered pills on a nearby countertop (per the AP), the smallest and/or dumbest dog might've helped itself to some of the meds and died as a result. If she wasn't responsible for the overturned space heater, one or more of the dogs could've knocked it over depending on its size and their level of agitation.

Whatever happened, it's sad they weren't found sooner.

Zapped by the space heater, fell over, hit her head and died? And the dog ate some spilled pills from the floor and also died? But that doesn't account for Gene.

Jesus some of you guys have active imaginations

Who would be the best detective for this case?

1) Columbo

2) Jessica Fletcher

3) Miss Marple

4) Poirot

5) Sherlock Holmes

Please indicate your choices below.

Hear me out -

1) She ods

2) dog ate pills and dies

3) Gene was in decline and couldn't cope and died

OR she found him dead, and thought she's be held responsible being his only caretaker - and killed herself. I don't buy the "couldn't live without him" bullshit.

Team Nancy, r298.

According to ABC News, the dog that died was a German shepherd, in case anyone is interested.

[quote]Zapped by the space heater, fell over, hit her head and died? And the dog ate some spilled pills from the floor and also died? But that doesn't account for Gene.

Nonagenarians won't last long without a caregiver if they're physically and mentally enfeebled.

The wife may have been stressed to the LIMIT taking care of an demented incapacitated old man. He might have become abusive like many do with dementia. Totally overwhelmed, she poisons everyone. (There were no gunshot wounds as far as we know).

Gene had advanced dementia, & his wife had been his caretaker. He’s been going downhill for many years, now.

I'd say Dick and Dora Charles, but they're both dead too.

R183, true!

Forgot all about that. He had a bum knee from being out in combat, IIRC.

(Charleston)

Per the NYT, there were scattered pills found at the scene. IDK this was carbon monoxide posioning. Also, wife was found in the bathroom. Link is paywalled.

Per the NYT, there were scattered pills found at the scene. IDK this was carbon monoxide posioning. Also, wife was found in the bathroom. Link is paywalled.

Per the NYT, there were scattered pills found at the scene. IDK this was carbon monoxide posioning. Also, wife was found in the bathroom. Link is paywalled.

What's the latest from the NYT?

If she found him dead I doubt her first response would be to leave him there.

I bet one of them took the other out (plus the dog).

I don't know R312, it's paywalled.

R314, why take out one dog but not the others?

[quote]So it wasn't a gas leak after all? Well, I don't have to shill out for that CO2 detector now. Although I do know what I'm getting my elderly parents for Christmas this year, thanks Gene!

You're getting them a gas heater?

I’m going with the theory that she had a medical condition, was taking medication and something happened heart attack/stroke/fell and hit her head. He wandered around senselessly until he also fell and died. I don’t know why they didn’t have someone checking daily, even a housekeeper. It was a big house. Mailman? Newspaper delivery? Amazon packages piling up at the front door?

What I want is a device, something sensitive enough to hear/detect breathing and when it suddenly doesn’t hear it anymore, it triggers an alarm.

TMZ is on it.

She may have had a fatal fall coming out of the bathroom, where she was found.

He doesn’t look like he could care for himself anymore, & her injury could easily prove fatal for all of them.

The other dogs just happened to be outside.

I hope this isn’t a situation where everyone went really slowly and painfully.

He does not have dementia!

I just read there were no signs of CM poisoning.

He was well and acting in his old age

We sell a device like that, R318.

Him dying is reasonable....her death is suspicious

Now there's a theory that it may have some kind of gas leak other than carbon monoxide, like radon gas. They say they may have both fell ill, she tried to get to the bathroom to get some medication, spilled the bottle, and fell and died. He was in another room, could have also been feeling ill, and fell.

The 911 call is weird -- the call said he was outside with no way in, wasn't it earlier reported that their door was open?

[quote] Sadly, in 20 years, the way he died is what he will be known for.

Unlikely.

We expected that Hackman was going to pass on at some point soon (he had been on the DL Death List for the past couple of years) but for it to happen like this is obviously very tragic.

So the dead dog was found in the closet? That’s kind of weird too…

The TMZ article says the wife and dog were found in a closet near a heater, not the bathroom. It also says the family put out the carbon monoxide story ASAP without any evidence.

I read that she was in a separate room with the space heater close to her... maybe she was baked to death by space heater

In the closet?

Shouldn’t people hold up on the condolences now that it’s a suspicious death.

Couldn’t be carbon dioxide poisoning with the door open.

Why was she in a closet with the dog? Walk in? You close the door while in a closet. None of this looks kosher.

If he didn’t have dementia, then something really screwed up happened here.

Maybe the wife and the dog were hiding in a room or closet, but from who? Maybe they had an intruder, and Gene walked in on the intruder while the dog and wife were hiding?

R239 No, I don't suspect anything of the sort. But I do know you're a tiresome bitch who's chosen some questionable battles on this site.

There were 3 dogs, one dead, two described as healthy, per TMZ.

If you look at the pictures of their house, it was gigantic, so a "closet" in that place could be the size of a small apartment.

It might not have been unusual for her to be hanging out in a closet with the dog.

Does it look like gene wore dentures?

I’m gonna do this really crazy fucking thing called “waiting to find out.”

Some of these comments reveal a lack of basic reading comprehension that is more than made up for in ludicrous flights of fancy. Help me, Hercules.

He was extremely old and had what sounds like to me a rich and meaningful life. He was one of my (and many others’) favourite actors. RIP, I hope he didn’t suffer too much for too long.

[quote]He does not have dementia!

Well, not any more...

R341 You're no fun.

Here on DL, we love to fantasize when tragedies like this occur.

[quote] I’m gonna do this really crazy fucking thing called “waiting to find out.”

lmao!

Thank you r341, I needed that.

Considering that Gene was 95 and very frail, perhaps he should have been in a long-term care home. Or perhaps they should have had daily in-home care checking in on them. It's weird that they seem to have been so isolated and that no one knew they were dead for quite a while.

I don’t think she was in the closet. I think she was in the bathroom and the dog was in the closet. But the wording is congpfusing. Since the house was so big, the closet could have been very expansive, probably a walk-in closet.

Face facts, this woman was entitled to a FORTUNE when Gene died. He was old as dirt but wouldn’t die already. I’m thinking a “accident” gone wrong that killed both of them.

I’m looking at the specs for Apple Watch. Fall detection, sure it calls 911 (and it would’ve helped here) but the Heart Monitor just records.

We'll never know and we'll have to live with it.

A neighbor called for a welfare check.

Glenn Close posted a lovely tribute on Instagram.

Gene walks into the house & Betsy sees him fall to the floor, grabbing his chest, or the German shepherd begins to bark loudly, alerting her to trouble.

She grabs the dog, puts him in the closet temporarily so that the dog isn’t jumping all over poor Gene, who’s already on the floor.

She runs to the bathroom in order to grab the heart medication, opens the bottle and whirls around quickly to run over to her fallen husband. As she does this, a large space heater that’s on the counter simultaneously falls on top of her, she falls to the floor and succumbs to her injuries, with the bottle of pills flying in the air, scattering the meds everywhere.

Gene cannot get up & dies of a coronary in the mud room, while the poor German shepherd starves to death in the closet.

Fucked up & even possible for two seniors living all alone, in the middle of nowhere.

At least I didn't die in the bed of an underage black whore!!

[quote]I’m looking at the specs for Apple Watch. Fall detection, sure it calls 911 (and it would’ve helped here) but the Heart Monitor just records.

And they're not a great option for fall detection and 911 calls, either, because they have to be charged frequently and they're difficult to use if you can't retain recent memories (like how to operate newer technology) or have dexterity issues. Two seniors in the middle of nowhere without live-in help is a recipe for disaster, especially when one of them is completely reliant on the other, as Gene probably was on Betsy.

I'm not so sure about the carbon monoxide thing. Wouldn't any upscale ex Hollywood's star home have a pretty complex security system that would be focused on burglary, fire, home invasion and interior temperature risk? This would include a smoke / carbon monoxide detector in the house that would alert the residents and the alarm center or fire department. I mean I have all those things and I have a SimpliSafe system and I have panic buttons. It's just weird I think if it was coming monoxide poisoning they didn't at least have an alarm.

Has DB Cooper been accounted for?

R355, One would THINK!

The door was open. No way the carbon monoxide would kill them.

Why do some many fault Hackman's adult children for not checking on him? He had a wife 30+ years younger. I know 40 is considered over the hill here, but 64 is not so old (today) that she needs to be checked on twice a week. If Hackman's children still spoke to him regularly, they probably thought Betsy had everything under control and would call THEM if there was an issue. The fact that they lived so far away is also an issue for me. Most elders move to be close to their children, not farther away.

R345 sometimes it’s not that easy. I’ve been trying to get my mother who is just as frail into a home or to force her to be receptive to home healthcare. Unless one gets a court order and a conservatorship (which is a pain), I can’t force her to accept home healthcare. Also, expensive.

When you're that old you just don't care. Taking the right meds is a daily chore and dying feels like a release.

R360, Gene Hackman could afford to have 24/7 home health care. His wife, that's wife, could arrange it whether Gene wanted it or not.

Susan Dey will not be issuing a statement until the investigation is over.

Stay tuned.

R362 possibly. It’s also possible the money had dried up. Film stars didn’t make as much back then as they do now. Also, he lived to he 95 years old. I bet he never thought he would live that long. 24/7 home healthcare like that could easily be north of $2 million a year.

With a house that huge in Santa Fe, he must have still been loaded. if he were struggling for money they could have downsized.

24/7 in home health would be about $25,000 a month, or $300,000 a year in NM. His residuals from all of his many movies would more than cover that. He would also be getting SSA, SAG pension, etc. Lack of funds wouldn't be an issue here.

Just because he could have afforded 24/7 care doesn't mean he wanted it.

I watched Mississippi Burning last week and 2 days ago dreamt about him dying. Weird.

If a space heater falls over, it stops functioning.

But if it fell on someone it could still injure them

The whole thing is so strange, they were dead for at least two weeks. Was Hackman estranged from his three children and grandchildren? None of them called in all that time? He was 95 and didn't have a visiting nurse? Did they have friends?

Just strange that nobody went to the house or called the cops for a wellness check.

Authorities also noted in the report that a black space heater was found near Arakawa’s head. A responding officer said “he suspected the heater could have fallen in the event the female abruptly fell to the ground,” the affidavit said.

[quote]Why do some many fault Hackman's adult children for not checking on him?

Because unlike many Dataloungers who had miserable and toxic relationships with their parents (esp. their fathers), it's quite unusual for normal people to not call or visit their parents (if they live close by) for two or more weeks.

I talk/text with my parents at least a couple times a week, as do most people I know who don't have issues.

If some of you morons actually read the news reports, the police have ruled out carbon monoxide. JFC.

[quote] If a space heater falls over, it stops functioning.

Not true. Only some of them have that function.

It was The Vax! 95 year olds don't just die every day!

R374, we know.

Potato salad...

[quote] Sadly, in 20 years, the way he died is what he will be known for.

How ludicrously untrue.

[quote] It’s also possible the money had dried up.

He was supposedly worth $80 million. Even if he was only worth a third of that, he had plenty, R364.

Did he go to spot heaven?

r119 Most CO detectors are $30-$70 depending on make and model. CO is heavier than air so a detector is best installed in the basement near the furnace.

Nail polish and nail polish remover can trigger false alarms.

R371 Two Weeks?! PU.

They found their cat alive though next door....hmmm.

We need to talk about Whiskers...

r373 = pointless bitchery, indeed

R379 - I wasn't disparaging Gene Hackman or his place in entertainment history. What I said was a comment on the society we've become.

Anyone remember what Natalie Wood did for a living?

[quote] We need to talk about Whiskers...

I ain't saying shit without my lawyer present.

[quote] Anyone remember what Natalie Wood did for a living?

Yes, of course they do. What a ridiculous question, R385.

R385

Maria!

R366 - 24/7 care is more like $300-$350 a day - about $9-$12,000 a month. But he had a 30 year younger wife - and he was shown walking out of that store fine with a coffee. Why would he need 24/7 care? It's a nuisance.

It could be something simple. He died and she didn't want to go on without him and didn't know what would happen to the dog so she dosed the dog and when it was dead she dosed herself.

If anyone came onto DL just to see the level of general stupidity, this thread would be illuminating.

R364, wealthy people live off the income from investments. The money doesn't "dry up," because one doesn't live off the capital. Additionally, he could sell that monstrosity of a house and have a lot more to invest.

What about the other two dogs, R390, still very much alive?

[quote]r385 = Anyone remember what Natalie Wood did for a living?

Natalie will forever be a legend in the world of aluminum siding.

R389, his wife may not be strong enough to carry a 6'3" man to the toilet or tub,

[quote]He died and she didn't want to go on without him

Really love that line, don't you?

What if she died first and as he was elderly and possibly had dementia he was shuffling to the door (most mud rooms have doors to the outside) and one of the dogs tripped him?

My elderly mom and step-father had a Belgian Malinois that they had to rehome as they kept tripping and falling over it. My step-dad actually hit his head on a rock in one such accident.

Bullshit R373 - you're just a mama's boy.

You're gonna be the type with a large oil painting of your mother in your living room.

Every time you think back at a time, you'll say - "of course...that's back when Mama was still alive" with a dramatic pause. "How long has it been since your mother passed?"

"29 years - but it feels like yesterday". We know your type.

R393 I wasn't aware of other dogs, were they in the home at the time? If so, I'll have to ponder more.

The most likely, and boring, scenario is that the wife had a heart condition. Not unheard of at her age. While taking her pills she had a seizure or heart attack, fell to the ground and died.

Pills all over the place. Dog ate some, or many. Dog fell sick and withdrew in a “closet”. This could be something lost in translation, like a walk-in closet.

Poor Gene may have heard a noise, tripped, couldn’t get up, and died.

Nope, r398. Most people who have normal relationships with their parents talk or message with them regularly. Of course many DLers, particularly older DLers see this as a foreign concept. Endless posts here over the years of hideous childhoods and being estranged or barely speaking as adults.

I just can't believe they apparently had no regular contact with anybody. So sad and strange.

The NYT article said they'd been fairly social members of the community but started to withdraw as Gene's health declined over the past year or so. Still, sad and odd. Also strange that a couple with their resources and a massive house like that wouldn't have cleaners, maintenance people and other staff stop by quite frequently.

As far as Hackman's kids go, he often stressed in interviews that he was an absentee father who provided financially but not emotionally for his ex and their kids. It's not surprising if they weren't in close contact with him.

I can't hear R401 over the noise of the helicopter parents flying over his head.

[quote] The most likely, and boring, scenario is that the wife had a heart condition. Not unheard of at her age.

She was 63, R400.

I don’t know how the climate is there, but if they hadn’t a nurse checking in regularly, I can imagine handymen and landscapers started their projects just this week, with winter slowly coming to an end. So it might have been the winter lull, with very few people coming and going.

Too funny r405. We're all actually quite independent. We just have normal parent/child relationships. Btw, I'm actually Gen X and not a Gen Zer.

Gene mentioned he had a heart condition. That's why he retired.

He had bypass surgery, I think.

It's so horrible.

....

If it was some kind of a suicide deal, wouldn't one of them call someone to come and take care of the dogs?

Streisand shared photos of the two from 1981's "All Night Long" romantic comedy. She writes:

'Gene Hackman was an incredible actor. He lived a long life and left an amazing legacy. May he rest in peace.'

This may sound harsh but - he was 95. To go from a carbon monoxide leak would be one of the best ways to go at that age.

Rather that then seating around every day not doing much and waiting for death to come to your door. His wife however was young - I feel bad for her because she looked after her elderly husband for a looong time.

FFS it was not a carbon monoxide death, per the police. This has been reported all over the place.

I have to laugh at Sheriff Adan Mendoza. He addressed the possibility it was a carbon monoxide poisoning, saying the house was tested to make sure it was safe for officers to enter.

"We had been going in and out of the house. I don't know if that affects, you know, if there was a concentration of any gas including carbon monoxide. That's yet to be determined."

[quote]Dog fell sick and withdrew in a “closet”.

He was in his crate - like he'd been placed there. The plot THICKENS!

R401, you're not a Mama's boy. You're just GAY.

R414, why would anyone give a shit about what Barbra Streisand wrote about Hackman in a movie that NOBODY on Earth saw?

Ok r419 tell that to all of the straight people I know who are in regular contact with their parents. I'm sorry you're a miserable piece of shit.

Anyway, back to Gene....

[quote]why would anyone give a shit about what Barbra Streisand wrote about Hackman in a movie that NOBODY on Earth saw?

Have you forgotten how old some of these motherfuckers are? They hang on Barbra's every utterance, just like they did 50 years ago.

I've changed my mind, you are a Mama's Boy, R421.

Hackman had heart surgery back in the early 90s.

Great r423. Nobody gives a shit what you think. Sorry you're so fucked up.

So probably not murder/suicide, no one would kill one dog and leave the others

Now I'm kind of hoping it was a murder/suicide. At least the dog would have went quickly, instead of slowly dying of thirst and hunger in a crate.

The front door was open.

The latest report states wife's body was decomposing and mummified. Did Gene kill his wife, dog then killed himself days later? Gross

Poor dear puppy :(

What’s a bit heartbreaking is that they seemingly died together, but apart in separate rooms. Maybe she had been diagnosed with a terminal illness, & they handled it this way. But Gene was former U.S. Military. Those guys from his era usually have a sense of duty.

The dog being locked in a closet is particularly gruesome if it starved to death.

I’m actually hoping it was a suicide pact where they decided to humanely euthanize poor Fido, before going through with it.

I know two people are dead here, but imagining a trapped animal starving to death rather than letting the dog go or adopting it out is really gruesome.

I’m so sorry this was it for all of them, in this way.

We lost a great one. May they all RIP.

Went.

Read the Search Warrant Affidavit in the Gene Hackman Death Inquiry

This reminds me of a similar case in Canada right before the pandemic- the Shermans- wealthy family in Toronto both were both found murdered. At first it was ruled murder suicide and this changed days later. To this day they have not been able to state who did it.

Dollface thread.

The stupid on this thread is wearying...

R429, that’s a possibility. A horrible one but not out of question.

Why would anyone give a shit about what Barbra Streisand wrote about Hackman in a movie that NOBODY on Earth saw?

R420 I saw it twice.

Law and Crime video. 20 minutes long, but it's pretty good and features an interview with Santa Fe attorney John Day. Day commented that the detective who handled the Rust shooting is now charge in the Hackman investigation.

The 911 dispatcher seems incompetent.

[quote]At least the dog would have went quickly

Boy, R436 -- you ain't kiddin'!

The affidavit says that the house belonged to Edgar F. Gross Trust. Gross died 9 years ago and was a business manager for a few stars, including Hackman.

[quote]what Barbra Streisand wrote about Hackman in a movie that NOBODY on Earth saw?

Do you realize where you are?

His dog was in a suicide pack.

He was proud of being on Nixon's "enemies list"

👍

Betsy Arakawa, concert pianist married to actor Gene Hackman, dead at 65

Finally, a news article centered on Betsy

Does Lisa Eichhorn have an alibi?

r133 And you are certainly more concerned about a dog than a 65 year old Asian woman. I hope you're nobody's emergency contact.

^ The dog hater

Hisss! Hisssss hisss hissss! Hisssssss!

No one wants to go like this! This is awful.

[quote]No one wants to go like this! This is awful.

We all want to go like DL legend Chris Burrous, but life doesn't always work that way.

[post redacted because linking to dailymail.co.uk clearly indicates that the poster is either a troll or an idiot (probably both, honestly.) Our advice is that you just ignore this poster but whatever you do, don't click on any link to this putrid rag.]

It was a cult thing. The other two dogs who didn’t want to join Gene’s new religion ran out the front door, before Gene locked the third dog in a closeted cage and got his wife sedated, who was ready to fend him off with their space heater.

What were the pills?

I always found Gene Hackman way more sexy than pretty boy Warren Beatty.

Yet Warren Beatty still walks among us.

Gene Hackman's 1993 Oscar speech. I had forgotten that David Paymer had an Oscar nod that year.

Also lol at Mercedes Ruehl as the presenter.

Seriously - We NEED to talk about WHISKERS! That cat knows SOMETHING.

R457 He beat Nicholson and Pacino. Two other greats.

R447 You got that right, toots.

They say the dog that died was a German Shepherd and near her.

Aww well now Ellen Page can get an Oscar nod for some male role, Mercedes didn't know it R457, but shit's gonna change. I bet now Jaye Davidson would have been in the women's category.

Listened to the 911 call posted above. The maintenance worker said the door was closed, locked. He could see both of them through a window.

The 911 operator was the one suffering from carbon monoxide poisoning.

The 911 operator needs a bit more training.

Yet according to the affidavit in R433 the two attending cops entered the house because the front door was ajar.

I highly recommend utilizing an automated call system to check that you're alive. I subscribe to mine through my state, and I get a robocall every day at 2:00 PM. If I don't respond by using the keypad, then they will place a call to my designated family member.

By the way, Hackman was a registered Democrat and absolutely not MAGA.

With Gene Hackman's Death, How Will Oscars Handle the In Memoriam Segment:

I saw it, R420, and it's very funny. So fuck you--just because YOU didn't see it, you silly cunt. What she said was about him as an actor, which is better than on the sad way he died.

[quote] I highly recommend utilizing an automated call system to check that you're alive.

R466, I'll know if I'm still alive if I wake up, and if I'm dead, what difference will it make to me then, if it checks and I'm dead?

R422, what do YOU hang on to, you silly fairy? Show us how relevant you are, cunty.

The title of this thread cracks me up, although I am sad for all 3

Who says he needed home health care at all? There are photos of Gene at 95 with his wife out shopping; he's ambulatory still, and she looks fit. .

And at 75 I'm here to tell you that 64 is not too old to care for a house or another human (ask me how I know. No, don't.). So there was that.

I suspect foul play. All 3 of them aren’t just going to die like that. I’m guessing the dog starved to death. But even that seems weird. Because 2 weeks is not enough time for a dog to starve. I’m sure he was able to get hold of some food from the counter or pantry.

R468, Isn't the 2025 "In Memoriam" segment limited to those who passed away in calendar year 2024?

R474, Wasn't the dog in a closet? Because if he were just roaming the house for a meal, well.....

Gene Hackman’s youngest daughter has spoken out about her father’s health in the months leading up to his death.

Leslie Anne Hackman, 58, revealed on Thursday that she “hadn’t talked” to the Oscar-winner and her stepmother, Hackman’s wife Betsy Arakawa, in a “couple of months” before their passings, but said the “Unforgiven” star was “in very good physical condition” up until the end.

[Quote] I suspect foul play.

I suspect foul odor

His daughter hadn't talked to him in months? That's not good.

[quote] What were the pills?

Dolls

R474, what do you think happened?

911 call released.

Mummified? They must have committed suicide.

[quote]the detective who handled the Rust shooting is now charge in the Hackman investigation.

That's not very reassuring.

As the front door was ajar I am thinking one of them was on the way in or out when something happened.

Maybe she died first. And Hackman was unable to get up and move or something.

R477 A few months could be about Christmas? Makes sense.

This strikes me as odd. although the deputies reported the front door ajar -

a maintenance worker who had gone to the home to perform some work on Wednesday afternoon grew concerned when no one answered the door, the sheriff’s office said in a statement. The worker asked local security officers to conduct a welfare check, and when they arrived and saw unresponsive bodies through the window they called 911.

[quote]With Gene Hackman's Death, How Will Oscars Handle the In Memoriam Segment?

What difference will it make? There'll be some showboating singer wailing and shrieking in the foreground while the actual segment is barely noticeable in the background, so far back that you can't even read the names of the deceased.

Maybe there was more than one entrance?

[quote]Isn't the 2025 "In Memoriam" segment limited to those who passed away in calendar year 2024?

I think it can cover anyone who died up until the final version is edited together. I don't think it has to just be deaths from 2024 -- it can also include people from the first 2 months of 2025.

They can bump Linda Lavin for Gene.

They can use a clip from Another Woman for Gene and Gena Rowlands. I loved watching both of them. RIP.

[quote]Gene Hackman’s youngest daughter has spoken out about her father’s health in the months leading up to his death.

Not sure what the story is there, but if her father turned into a JD Vance lovin' MAGA loon like my elderly dad did, well...I can appreciate why they haven't talked in months...

Gene Hackman was a Maga? So he literally and figuratively is dead to me anyway.

She was on good terms with her father but hadn't talked to him in months? And he was 95. Odd.

They died a while ago ( long enough ago to partially mumify ) so could any carbon monoxide could have dissipated? Are the authorities wrong for ruling it out?

It would explain a lot: she was in the bathroom taking a pill when she was overcome and fell, scattering the pills. He was in the mudroom when the same thing happened to him. It explains the dog's death, but not why it was locked in a closet, if true.

The daughters' behavior is odd.

[Quote]Have any other Hollywood couples killed themselves by suicide together?

Well, Harry and Meghan are certainly in the process.

[Quote]Gene Hackman’s wife found mummified and bloated

I didn't know she was Egyptian!

Gene Hackman was a Democrat.

Your father, r494, is beyond irrelevant.

R466

My 85-year old dad uses an app that he has to check every day or I get an immediate text (it’s at 6 PM). He still sees patients and has a lady friend and my sister in town so I’m not incredibly worried that he’d be stuck for a long time but my stepmother broke her neck when she fainted and laid on the kitchen floor for two hours, waiting for him to come home. I don’t want that to happen again.

R468

The memorial you will want to watch will be on TCM - I always get teary when they come on, though I’m often a bit confused by the steampunk design. I’m sure it will be ready in a couple of days and will have several minutes of his best scenes.

The investigation has been upgraded from “suspicious” to “extremely suspicious”

Why didn't he have Life Alert?

R497, the article says there were no signs of carbon monoxide poisoning AND, more definitively, no evidence of any kind of gas leak on the property. It says each of them appears to have suddenly dropped to the ground, a bit like if they were chloroformed or had aneurysms that burst at the same moment. They were in separate parts of the house, ie not adjoining rooms.

The dog in the bathroom closet was a German Shepherd. An intruder with evil intent would certainly want one of those locked away, but another dog was found roaming loose in the bathroom. (Best not go into how it survived.)

R466, what is it called? I’ve never heard of it.

[quote]...publishing these photos was just cruel like everything Murdoch.

Still, Gene looked better in his 90s than Rupert does. Admittedly though so does almost everyone else on the planet.

Don't worry, everyone. Randy Quaid is on the case!

I say Wifypoo was having a break down, (already had pills for that) and decided to end her life and take the old koot with her. Poised him the did it herself in the other room, dropped to the floor, pills spilled, dog near her ate them like candy. That's why the other dog was ok. As for the door, I say the workers opened it walked around, saw what happened then ran right out and called the police.

People like day labors and gardeners who and low level help often act like that in those situations. There was a murder not too long ago in LA where the guy chopped up the body of his wifes parents, put them in plastic bags, had some day labors come "take out the trash". Once of them opened the bag, figured out what they were getting into and called the cops. Only they told the guy some excuse about how they had to leave and returned the body to him pretended they didnt know.

I think if I killed people and put them in trash bags, and some workers hired to removed them came back to me returning the bags and said they had to suddenly leave I’d be more than alarmed.

R510 is speaking about R509

Well if you are stupid enough to kill someone than call rando guys to take the body away you should be more alarmed at your poor planning.

[quote] day labors

[quote] old koot

[quote] Poised him the did it herself

R509 might be the winner, despite some steep competition, for stupidest post--not only for her numerous typos but her truly hilarious supposition of what, in her otherwise empty head, went down as a murder-suicide.

The troll who keeps trying to convince us that the Democrat Hackman was Maga comes in second.

If it was a double murder, they were easy pickings! Very sad.

He probably had a heart attack and dropped dead, she saw that and didn't want to go on without him so she took some pills and offed herself. That's my guess

They were both dog lovers she would have taken care of them before exiting.

R508 I'm surprised he didn't blame it on COVID vaccines.

He's no Detective LaToya, R508.

“Whether he was trying to assist her or sometime later, it’s unclear, but from those initial reports it seems like both have been dead for some time and maybe her more than him.”

How did the dogs survive? We’re gonna need Jessica Fletcher to get on this.

R520 The other dogs didn't eat the pills like the other one probably did.

why would body be bloated?

Hackman, 95, was in a mud room off the kitchen. His sunglasses and cane were on the floor and it has been suggested the actor had suffered a fall.

Meanwhile Arakawa was found dead on the bathroom floor. A prescription bottle of pills was open and its contents were strewn across a bathroom counter.

Its unclear what those meds were or who they'd been prescribed for. A space heater was on the floor next to Arakawa and investigators believe it may have fallen around the time of her death.

I honestly believe one had an accident, and the other one tried to get help, but couldn’t because they too, ended up having an accident.

Falling at the age of 95 versus falling at 55 really can be the difference between life and death. It’s a really big deal, and why doctors really push for seniors to remain regularly active. He was already using a cane, so without her or others around, falling would easily prove fatal.

I think people are over thinking the dog situation. Let’s take that out of this story, and you have a woman who had a space heater fall on her, the husband tries to get help, falls and dies too. She may or may not have overdosed on medication, intentionally or unintentionally. Either way, she was his life line and once she was incapacitated, all bets were off.

R522 Bodies bloat up after one dies.

I refuse to believe she can be killed by a space heater...c'mon, it's not like it's a fucking bolder and gonna crush you to death, she looked healthy in those pap shots.

R525 Except they were in separate rooms, far from each other.

yeah, but she didn't die at sea

R527 I don't think anyone thinks the space heater killed her. They're just saying it was near her, and the speculation is that she may have knocked it down when she fell.

R528, how does their location in separate rooms within the home make a difference in my theory?

R531 Because she likely wouldn't have known she fell.

^ He, that is.

He what?

He would not know she fell, or she would not know he fell?!

IF it was a double murder, all these weird details (pills, space heater, dog) could have been done and arranged later in an attempt to throw investigators off.

A bottle of pills opened and its contents strewn across a bathroom counter sounds a little on the nose to me.

R534 He would have likely not known she had fallen.

JFC, a space heater isn’t a fucking grand piano

Why not? She fell in the bathroom, so he was walking outside to get help when he slipped in the mudroom.

Glad he’s dead. We need to move on.

Everybody’s slipping, R538? Don’t believe it.

We’re talking 90+ Gene and 60+ Betsy falling, not Ryan and Blake.

slip sliding away 🎵

R542 Being in your 60s isn't exactly being in invalid territory.

The dogs are currently being detained and interrogated by Detective Al Poe

Gene found his dead wife and dog, was headed out to get help, slipped on his shoes, and was stung by a scorpion. They always tell you to check your shoes for scorpions in the southwest.

Gene found his dog dead, accused his wife (who hated that bitch) of animal cruelty and negligence, smothered here with the space heater while she was popping pills to calm down, then slipped in front of his bed and died. Case closed.

It was Colonel Hackman, in the closet, with the space heater

I think Betsy snapped and struck old Gene.

Maybe the dog died the previous night, and they stuck the body into the carrier and put that into the closet (because who wants to have a dog carcass out in plain view) pending taking it out of the house the next morning. Next morning comes, they open the front door planning to share lugging the carrier out (a German Shepherd is a heavy dog and it would take both of them). Madame is still in the bathroom with the heater on on the cold morning, getting ready for the day. Just then, Hackman, due to the excitement or just 'cuz, collapses with a medical problem. Madame, panicked, rushes to him, then rushes back to the bathroom where his pills are and slips, fatally knocking her head on something and happening to pull the space heater off the counter or knocking it over such that it's blowing on her. Hackman either is already dead due to his medical event, or in due course dies because there's no one to give him his meds over the next few days (not to mention starvation).

That's just guessing, trying to fit the facts together; but what may tell the story will be the timing they determine for each death.

[quote] Still, Gene looked better in his 90s than Rupert does.

Honey, Gene looked like the walking dead.

This was not a double murder. One of them died of natural causes, and the other committed suicide. That's my surmise. The worker who found them said he saw two bodies on the floor. So they weren't that far apart, or at least the house was open floorplan enough that the worker could see her on the bathroom floor and him by the mudroom?

[quote]This was not a double murder. One of them died of natural causes, and the other committed suicide.

Has Friar Lawrence been accounted for?

TCM should do a day of his movies.

Being old and living alone is not cool. Both of them should have been in an assisted living facility. We have no idea whether or not his wife had health issues of her own. And they have his daughter talking today, how they were "close" and his wife was "wonderful and took good care of him, " and then mentions that she hadn't even talked to them in about 2 months. When your father is 95, two months is a real long time. My father is 81 and I call him weekly and sometimes twice a week. He has remarried, but I still do that. And I see them four times a year. It's a two hour plane ride. No big deal.

Most people who are 63 don’t need to be in assisted living R554.

She seemed pretty healthy.

I sense we may have another JonBenet type situation on our hands. People will be arguing about what happened for years to come.

I’m 66 and live alone in an apt building, R554, as do most people I know. I think you’re 30 and view people over 60 as frail. Gotta get out more, pal.

[quote]dog near her ate them like candy

and then locked himself in his crate like a good boy...

r509 needs to interview for DOGE stat. We can't waste these talents on an internet forum!

TL: DR= It was the wicked step-mother

Was there a prenup? The business manager owned the house? I'd like to see the paperwork on the trust. I bet the kids hated their controlling, Asian, step-mother who was their same age, which is why they barely spoke.

My guess: She went crazy, drugged the whole family but a couple dogs got lucky and vomited. Gene wasn't so lucky, fell and couldn't get up. She flailed around and knocked over the heater. Or, a hungry, desperate dog got the zoomies and made a mess. The "door ajar" is the handyman not wanting to admit that he opened the door or she opened the door before she passed out.

[quote] Being in your 60s isn't exactly being in invalid territory.

And you’re acting like she was a 30 year old. She was a small retirement aged woman acting as a carer for a tall, mobility impaired man in his 90s.

Who the fuck said she’s an invalid? Women in their 60s are post-menopausal and have low bone density. In a wet area like a bathroom with dogs, spilled pills and a space heater underfoot it is very easy for anyone to slip. If she had a mild concussion, a clot or an aneurysm, that’s would do it for both of them if he dropped his walking stick.

This is the first time I have heard the term mudroom.

A mudroom is a stop-gap, usually between the back door and the interior rooms of a home. The functionality of the room is to be an area where you can take off your shoes, coats or wet-weather gear, instead of dragging it all through the house.

Report said daughter hadn't spoken with them in more than a month. One theory .. Wife killed Gene, then herself. Two dogs escaped through open door. She forgot about dog in crate.

R560 is woefully misinformed about people in their 60s.

She'll find out when she gets there...if she doesn't die from doing something really stupid first.

R556 I did it. I killed them both.

And r563 thinks women in their 60s (checks notes) aren’t post-menopausal and don’t have low bone density.

Ok boo.

R565 continues to prove she has as much knowledge about the health of women in their 60s as she does about grammar and punctuation.

Friends described Ms. Arakawa as Mr. Hackman’s fierce protector, especially as he grew older. In 2012, after Mr. Hackman was struck by a car while biking, Ms. Arakawa dressed up as a nurse to get in and out of a hospital without attracting the attention of photographers, Mr. Allin recalled.

He said the couple had a hand signal that Mr. Hackman would use if he needed to get out of an uncomfortable conversation with a fan. Ms. Arakawa was intent on keeping him eating healthy, and his friends recalled him sneaking the occasional muffin or cinnamon bun when she was not there.

“He said many times that he would have been dead without Betsy,” Mr. Allin said, who noted that in recent years he typically communicated with Mr. Hackman through his wife because he did not think Mr. Hackman had a cellphone or email address.

With all the wealth he had accumulated in his lifetime of successfully film making, est $80 million, did they not have live in help? His children appear neglectful of their father's needs.

And r566 is one of those lovely old dears (read, old) who tells us he is mistaken for 28.

I suggested they both should have been in assisted living because I assumed they would want to stay together. Of course it's possible to put him in a place and wife doesn't go there with him. I know perfectly well that 64 is not "old." My 78 year old mother who walks 3-4 miles a day, didn't stop working until she turned 70. She is smart, alert, active and travels alone, still. I don't consider 64 old but I do wonder if she had a medical condition. We don't know anything right now.

I'm 71 and walk 4 miles a day. I sure the fuck wish I could retire.

R554, Stop the stupidity!

1.) Living together is by definition NOT "living alone"! DUH!

2.) HTH old are you?! You think a woman barely eligible for Medicare "should have been in an assisted living facility"?!

3.) Why isn't your parent "in an assisted living facility"? Oh, wait; nobody here cares.

Someone start part II, please.

R570, aka r554, STHU already!

I’m sorry, but menopause, osteoporosis and recovery from accidents affect the elderly more severely than they do young people.

And yes, a woman in her 60s is not a spring chicken.

I’m super glad you’re all running marathons and working in the coal mines at age 71, more power to you.

R573 just use this

r571 Why the fuck are you still working at 71? What kind of a shithole country do you live in that you have to work with one leg practically in the grave?

Newsflash: What people in their 70s are capable of---walking the Appalachian Trail; running the NYC Marathon; scaling K2--- is irrelevant when the protagonist of this mystery was 95 YEARS OLD.

Capisce?

No, not a Spring Chicken, r575. But not yet ready to be a Dead Duck. Not even retired, many of the demographic.

Do none of you know any women in their 60s?? Did you by any chance see the 78-year-old Cher?

OMG. Some people.

You’re comparing the average woman to fucking CHER?

I’ve heard it all now.

We wish you were dead, R539, you gash.

Most likely the US, r577. Many are still working at 71 there because they have to.

R415 Only on DL are you young at 63

It’s seems like Mamasan kept him on short leash while cracking a big whip

No, R582. Only on DL are you old at 63.

If the dog that was inside the house died of hunger, what did the other two dogs that were found outside survived on?

R584 63 is old

Clint Eastwood is still working and he's 94.

R579, No.

I'm saying look at Cher at 78 before you call a 64-year-old woman---and Mrs. Hackman was not "average," but I digress---ready for "an assisted living facility."

GET IT?

[quote] No, not a Spring Chicken, [R575]. But not yet ready to be a Dead Duck

I can’t get over your stupidity.

No one said she is ready to be a “Dead Duck”. But a slip and fall accident for a woman in her 60s? One who has the physical and mental burden of caring for her elderly husband? Who doesn’t have the physical strength of a woman half her age? Tragic, but not out of the question.

Yet the boomers here have turned this thread into a parade of the most triggered snowflakes this side of Roxane Gay by taking this very sad possibility as a personal indictment of their own virility.

I cannot believe posters are arguing about this shit.

[quote] I'm saying look at Cher at 78 before you call a 64-year-old woman…

And look at Bridget Fonda and Lara Flynn Boyle. Ready to go down the mine with r571!

R566 is very upset today.

Maybe you should take your Boniva.

[quote]Why the fuck are you still working at 71? What kind of a shithole country do you live in that you have to work with one leg practically in the grave?

I'm still working at 71 because I only have $300k in savings and 401k. Apparently, in this shithole country I need a bare minimum of $1mil.

R567 = the "Mr" freak troll

No, it isn't, you dumb cunt R586.

It’s not young, though.

Gene & the dogs rigged the space heater to the ceiling and when she denied him warm melty frosted cinnamon buns one last time, Gene gave one of the dogs the secret 🤫 hand motion formerly used for getting rid of pesky fans

R569 has subsisted on a lifetime diet of whiskey, Lucky Strikes, and Hot Tamales, and now, at age 53, has the bone density of a praying mantis.

But you’re still not young, 598.

Why are you so scared of aging?

The Gene pool is shrinking. Wilder, Kelly, Siskel, Hackman....

Everyone is forgetting the recent outbreak of Gigantic Tarantulas that has been plaguing New Mexico

Fin.

Who said it was young, R596?

A lot of seniors over 70 go into assisted living for the company and companionship, not because they have bone fractures from osteoporosis. AND assisted living it's fucking expensive.

An ordinary guy Hackman's age would be put in a nursing home because his family can't take care of him. A wealthy MOVIE STAR would get home health care and stay at home. A dimwited spouse would try to take care of a 95 man herself. A dimwited spouse would not have a plan when her 95 year old husband insists he doesn't need care. It's possible Betsy, being so grateful she got to live with a movie star in a mansion, went along with Gene's wishes.

Sounds like the wife was the gatekeeper.

She kept him on a tight leash

She even controlled his diet.

He looked frail, maybe malnourished.

He fell and died.

Cops say the pills are important.

probably killed herself