Newly released body camera footage from the investigation into the deaths of Gene Hackman and his wife, Betsy Arakawa, shows the moment deputies arrived at the couple’s Santa Fe, New Mexico home.
The redacted footage, provided to the Associated Press by the Santa Fe County Sheriff’s Office, shows deputies speaking to two workers who expressed concerns about a potential carbon monoxide leak.
“Something’s not right, something is not right,” a worker says.
Related: Gene Hackman Was Probably Dead 9 Days Before Help Arrived, Sheriff Says
One worker becomes very emotional while describing what they saw inside the residence.
“I walked around on this side and I seen something laying there,” the worker said. “All of a sudden to see that, both of them, bro, it’s … sorry,” he explains as his voice breaks down.
As previously reported, the bodies of the Oscar-winning actor and his wife were found on Feb. 26 after a visitor noticed something was wrong and alerted neighborhood security.
Deputies responded to a 911 call, entered the home, and discovered the two bodies.
Hackman, 95, was found in an entryway. Arakawa, 65, was in a bathroom with a space heater near her head. Their dog, Zinna, was found dead in a kennel inside a bathroom closet, about 10 to 15 feet from Arakawa.
Authorities determined that Hackman died from heart disease complicated by advanced Alzheimer’s disease, days after Arakawa passed away from hantavirus, a rare rodent-linked virus that can cause respiratory failure.
Arakawa is believed to have died on Feb. 11, while Hackman’s pacemaker recorded his last heart activity on Feb. 18. The actor is believed to have spent a week alone in the home while his wife’s body decomposed.
The autopsy revealed Hackman’s stomach was empty, indicating he had not eaten for some time. The manner of death for both was ruled natural.
A New Mexico court temporarily blocked the release of photos and video from inside Hackman’s home after his estate argued that it would violate the family’s privacy rights under the 14th Amendment, according to the AP.
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