Gene Hackman's home 'in disturbing state' before death as worrying dog detail emerges

Actor Gene Hackman and his wife Betsy Arakawa were found dead in their Santa Fe mansion last month alongside one of their pet dogs. The pair had been married for 34 years

Actor Gene Hackman's Santa Fe mansion was "a mess" prior to his tragic death, it has been claimed.

The bodies of Gene, 95, and his wife Betsy Arakawa, who he had been married to for 34 years, were found at their home in New Mexico last month after neighbourhood security conducted a welfare check. Betsy, 65, was found lying on the bathroom floor near a space heater and Gene was found dead in a room by his kitchen. One of their dogs, Zinna, was also found deceased – though two of their other dogs, Bear and Nikita, were found running around the 12-acre property.

Confirming the sad news, the Sante Fe County Sheriff's office made a statement regarding the couple's death. "On February 26, 2025 at approximately 1:45 p.m., Santa Fe County Sheriff’s deputies were dispatched to an address on Old Sunset Trail in Hyde Park where Gene Hackman, 95 and his wife Betsy Arakawa, 64, and a dog were found deceased," it said.

Authorities later stated that Betsy died first from hantavirus pulmonary syndrome (HPS), a rare infectious disease, while the Oscar-winning actor is thought to have died a week later, around February 18, of heart disease. Medical professionals have suggested that it's possible that the Unforgiven star, who had advanced Alzheimer's, didn't know his wife had passed away.

The couple, who met in the 1980s at a fitness centre Betsy was working at, lived a quiet life and “didn't want to be bothered”, according to neighbours. Their home was located in a secluded gated community and their fellow residents reportedly barely caught sight of them.

"They have a gate, and we have a gate, and we just have never even seen each other," one neighbour told the New York Times. Another resident added: "He wanted to be quiet, he didn't want to be bothered, and I don't blame him."

Back in 1990, Gene opened up the doors of his home to Architectural Digest and gave fans a sense of the property's interiors. "We bought a few things in Santa Fe. Other things came from auctions in New York, an antiques shop in Germany that Betsy and I found, and from Los Angeles. It's a nice combination of soft southwestern pieces and hard-edged antiques," he said at the time.

However, according to reports, the $3.5 million ranch home had been "a mess" prior to the pair's tragic deaths. "The inside of the house was shocking," a source told MailOnline. "They didn't have a housekeeper or a maid, so it had beautiful things - furniture and paintings - but there was dog poop on the floor." The source added: "The inside of the house was bad. Nothing had been dusted. There was nothing in the fridge."

Gene and Betsy had no children together, though the actor was father to son Christopher Allen, 65, and daughters Leslie Anne, 58, and Elizabeth Jean, 62, from a previous relationship. Following their deaths, Leslie paid tribute to Betsy for "keeping him alive" and said they had a "wonderful marriage".

Speaking to the publication, she said: "They had a wonderful marriage. And I give credit to his wife, Betsy, for keeping him alive. [Betsy] took very, very good care of him and was always looking out for his health. So I am appreciative to her for that, and I'm very saddened by her passing."

It has since been revealed that Gene left his $80million fortune to his wife Betsy, who was a successor trustee to his trust. It is unclear if his three children were left anything in his will. Their possible omission has raised concerns of a possible legal battle over his fortune. Betsy's will designates her assets to a trust to be distributed to charitable organisations and the settlement of medical debts.

It comes after a friend of the pair described the couple as being content, with Betsy taking charge of managing Gene's medical appointments and maintaining his health. "She was very protective of him," they said. "She just really looked after him."