Police release 911 call of moment Gene Hackman and his wife were found dead
An emotional 911 call by a maintenance worker who discovered the bodies of Gene Hackman and his wife Betsy Arakawa has been released.
The unnamed worker appears to cry and repeat “damn” as he says he can see Arakawa’s body “not moving” from outside a window of the couple’s New Mexico home.
He urged the 911 call handler to “send someone up here real quick” as he said the house the couple were in was locked.
Hackman, 95, Arakawa, 65, and one of their pet dogs were found dead on Wednesday after police carried out a welfare check. Two healthy dogs were also on the property.
The actor’s body was discovered in a mudroom while Arakawa was found in a bathroom next to a heater. They had been dead for some time, detectives from Santa Fe County Sheriff’s Office wrote in a search warrant.
There were scattered pills and an open prescription bottle on a countertop near Arakawa.
The couple’s deaths are “suspicious enough in nature to require a thorough search and investigation”, the warrant said.
There was no indication they had been shot and they had no other wounds, police said. The warrant added that the door to the property was found ajar and there were no signs of forced entry.
Preliminary findings from a medical investigation have found the couple suffered “no external trauma”.
Official results of post-mortem examinations and toxicology reports are pending, and the manner and cause of death have not yet been determined, according to the sheriff’s office.
Santa Fe County deputies remain outside the house belonging to actor Gene Hackman and his wife Betsy Arakawa. Pic: AP Photo/Roberto E. Rosales
Hackman’s daughter had earlier suggested the couple may have been killed by carbon monoxide – but the cause of death remains unclear.
The local utility company tested gas lines in and around the home after the bodies were found and did not find any sign of problems, the police warrant said.
Tributes poured in for Hackman, who won an Oscar for his lead role in The French Connection, a 1971 action movie by William Friedkin, and another for best supporting actor in Clint Eastwood’s 1992 western, Unforgiven.
Hackman won an Oscar for his role in The French Connection. Pic: 20th Century Fox/D’Antoni Productions/Schine-Moore Prods/Kobal/Shutterstock
He was also known for playing Lex Luthor in the Superman films of the late 1970s and 1980s.
Roles in the Francis Ford Coppola mystery thriller The Conversation and in the historical drama Mississippi Burning, where he starred as an FBI agent alongside Willem Dafoe, helped cement his career as one of Hollywood’s greats.
Gene Hackman and Christopher Reeve in Superman. Pic: THA/Shutterstock
Gene Hackman and Willem Dafoe in Mississippi Burning. Pic: Moviestore/Shutterstock
Among those paying tribute was the Prince of Wales, who said he was “so sad to hear the news”.
“Hackman was a true genius of film who brought each and every character to life with power, authenticity and star quality,” he said in a post on X.
The Shawshank Redemption actor Morgan Freeman said “bringing the French film Garde a Vue (Under Suspicion) to life with the incredibly gifted Gene Hackman” was “one of the personal highlights of my career”.
Morgan Freeman and Hackman in Under Suspicion. Pic: Bob Greene/Lions Gate/Kobal/Shutterstock
The thriller, released in 2000, saw Hackman play wealthy tax lawyer Henry Hearst who is questioned by Freeman’s character, Captain Victor Beneze, about the murder of a young girl.
American filmmaker Francis Ford Coppola hailed Hackman as a “great actor” who was “inspiring and magnificent in his work and complexity”.
Hackman in The Conversation. Pic: Everett/Shutterstock
Coppola wrote and directed the Oscar-nominated 1974 mystery thriller The Conversation, which starred Hackman as a surveillance expert who has a crisis of conscience when he suspects the couple he is spying on will be murdered.
Bill Murray, who starred with Hackman in the 2001 film The Tenenbaums, called him a “tough nut” and a “really good” actor.
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Bill Murray on Gene Hackman
Hackman in 1997 film Absolute Power. Pic: Snap/Shutterstock
Singer Sting said the world had “lost a legend” while actor and director Clint Eastwood said Hackman would be “deeply missed”.
Dirty Harry actor Eastwood starred opposite Hackman in 1997 political action thriller Absolute Power, where he played master jewel thief Luther Whitney.
Hackman married Arakawa, a classical pianist, in 1991. He had three children, Christopher, Elizabeth Jean and Leslie Anne, with his late ex-wife, Faye Maltese, who died in 2017.
Entertainment
Gregg Wallace: Over half of allegations against MasterChef presenter substantiated, including one of unwanted physical contact
An investigation into Gregg Wallace’s “inappropriate behaviour” on MasterChef has found that more than half of the allegations against him have been substantiated, including one of “unwanted physical contact”.
MasterChef’s production company Banijay UK shared a summary of its report into historical allegations of misconduct against the 60-year-old presenter, carried out by independent law firm Lewis Silkin over seven months.
The report also said the number of sustained allegations made Wallace’s return to MasterChef “untenable”.
The investigation heard evidence from 78 witnesses, including 41 complainants.
There were 83 allegations against Wallace, and 45 of them were substantiated. All were related to MasterChef.
While the majority of the substantiated allegations related to inappropriate sexual language and humour, a smaller number of allegations of other inappropriate language and being in a state of undress were also substantiated.
One allegation of unwanted physical contact was substantiated.
Nearly all the allegations against Wallace were related to behaviour which is said to have occurred between 2005 and 2018, with just one substantiated allegation taking place post-2018.
Wallace and Anne-Marie Sterpini in 2014
Ahead of the publication of the summary, Wallace had said he had been “cleared of the most serious and sensational accusations” made against him.
Additionally, the report summary found that there were also 10 standalone allegations about other people between 2012 and 2018/2019, two of which were substantiated. Those people were not named in the summary.
The investigation found that complaints had previously been raised with the production company between 2005 and 2024.
Gregg Wallace on MasterChef. Pic: BBC/ Shine TV 2024
While the report flagged inadequate reporting procedures prior to 2016, when Endemol merged with Shine ahead of Banijay acquiring Endemol Shine in 2020, it said there were significant improvements to HR processes and training after 2016.
While the investigation said some formal action was taken by the BBC in 2017, it also noted the corporation held no information regarding concerns raised over Wallace centrally, resulting in issues being addressed as a first offence.
Sky News has tried to contact Gregg Wallace for contact today.
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