Full transcript of 911 call made after Gene Hackman and his wife were found dead
The 911 call that was made the moment Gene Hackman and Betsy Arakawa's deaths were discovered has been released.
The audio call, obtained by AP News, was made by someone who is believed to be part of the maintenance crew. He informed authorities that he had just found the deceased bodies of Hackman and Arakawa in their house in New Mexico.
According to reports, police who responded to the call had entered the house after seeing the door unlocked and open. They then found pills scattered next to Arakawa's body, which was in the bathroom.
It appeared that she had been dead "for some time," with the body in a state of decomposition, the warrant noted.
Hackman's body was found in another room, fully clothed, with sunglasses next to his body, apparently having fallen suddenly.
One of their dogs, a German Shephered, was also found dead in the bathroom, while two other healthy dogs were still at the house.
Below is the transcript of the 911 call made by the maintenance worker.
Call handler: Santa Fe 911, what is your emergency?
Caller: Hello, my name is ******, I'm the caretaker for Santa Fe Summit, up here at past 10,000 waves. I think we just found two or one deceased person inside a house. What's the address here?
Person in the background: There's no address.
Caller: There's no address. I'm going to wait for you at the gate.
Call handler: Okay. How old is the patient?
Caller: I have no idea.
Call handler: You don't know? Oh, okay, that's fine. Is the patient a male or a female?
Caller: A female and a male. Probably, I don't know, I don't know, sir. Just send somebody up here real quick.
Call handler: Okay. Are they awake?
Caller: I have no idea.
Call handler: Are they breathing?
Caller: I have no idea. I'm not inside the house, it's closed, it's locked. I can't go in. But I see them laying—she's laying down on the floor from the window.
Call handler: Okay. Are they moving at all?
Caller: No, dude, they're not moving. Just send somebody up here really quick.
End of audio
Hackman's daughter, Elizabeth Jean, told entertainment outlet TMZ that carbon monoxide poisoning may be the cause for the deaths of the couple.
However, Santa Fe County Sheriff Adan Mendoza said there were no high levels of the gas based on initial inspections done by the local fire department. Still, a definitive conclusion has yet to be made.
"This is an investigation, so we're keeping everything on the table," he said.
There were also no signs of struggle as initial autopsy findings showed "no external trauma to either individual."
Carbon monoxide and toxicology tests are also still pending, so no cause of death has been determined.
Hackman, a two-time Academy Award winner, was credited for intense performances of everyman characters inspired by his troubled upbringing, notching up dozens of movie credits extending into his 70s.
He is perhaps best known as vulgar New York cop Jimmy "Popeye" Doyle in the 1971 crime thriller The French Connection—for which he won an Oscar for best actor.
He won another golden statuette two decades later for best supporting actor for his portrayal of the brutal small-town sheriff Little Bill Daggett in the 1992 western Unforgiven.
Hackman and his wife married in 1991. He had three kids with his ex-wife Faye Maltese: Christopher Allen Hackman, Elizabeth Jean Hackman, and Leslie Anne Hackman.
