New theories emerge in mysterious deaths of Gene Hackman, wife

The entertainment world was stunned and saddened last week to learn that legendary film star Gene Hackman and his wife, Besty Arakawa had been found dead in their New Mexico home along with one of their beloved pets.

Now, given the highly unusual circumstances in which their bodies were discovered, new investigative theories are emerging -- including one involving the pacemaker the actor was known to have had -- that could eventually lead to a better understanding of precisely how Gene Hackman died, as the New York Post reports.

“Suspicious” scenario prompts probe

As The Guardian explained last week, the bodies of Hackman and Arakawa were found in a “state of decomposition” inside their Santa Fe property, leading to much speculation as to what might have led to the tragedy.

Though theories initially centered on the possibility of carbon monoxide poisoning, a search warrant that came to light on Thursday spurred a host of new questions.

The fact that the bodies of the spouses were found in different parts of the house and the discovery of prescription pills near Arakawa's body made the scenario all the more mysterious, as did the fact that a medical examiner declared that there was “no external trauma” suffered by either of the decedents.

According to the aforementioned search warrant, the deaths of the longtime husband and wife were “suspicious enough in nature to require a thorough search and investigation.”

Adan Mendoza Santa Fe County sheriff declared, “All I can say is that we're in the middle of a preliminary death investigation.”

Baden weighs in

Amid the mystery that still surrounds the movie star's death, noted forensic pathologist Dr. Michael Baden has suggested that the entire situation could have easily been the result of a tragic accident, as the New York Post reports.

Speaking on Fox Report, Baden pointed to Hackman's pacemaker, which reportedly registered its last activity on Feb. 17, several days before the pair's bodies were found.

“That event would have been a cardiac arrest caused by an abnormal pulse rate,” Bade noted. “So the autopsy showed he didn't have any injury. There was no carbon monoxide. And he had – the most common cause of death in this country – severe heart disease, coronary artery disease and high blood pressure perhaps, from what's been released. So that would cause him, having cardiac arrest in the mudroom, to collapse right there.”

Baden further posited that perhaps, upon discovering her husband's collapse, Arakawa rushed to the bathroom to retrieve medications, suffering a fall that led to a fatal internal injury such as a brain bleed, leaving the dog, who was in a crate, to eventually die of natural causes.

Regardless of what led to the demise of this famous, yet intentionally very private couple, there is no doubt that the world has lost one of the finest actors ever to grace the big screen and someone whose legacy in film will live on for generations.