The cause of death of American actor, two-time Oscar winner Gene Hackman, his wife, pianist Betsy Arakawa, and their dog could be carbon monoxide poisoning. This is reported by the TMZ portal with reference to the actor's family.
"The daughter of Elizabeth Jean Hackman said that the family is not sure, but believe that the cause of death could be poisonous gases ... the family believes that we can talk about carbon monoxide poisoning," the words of the artist's daughter are quoted in the publication.
She added that law enforcement agencies have not found any signs of violent death at the moment.
According to Santa Fe County Sheriff Adana Mendoza, the police found that at the time of the discovery of the bodies of the couple were dead for about a day. The sheriff stressed that the police are "not ruling anything out" and are continuing the investigation.
Mendoza also noted that two dogs of the family were found alive, however, one of the dogs was found dead.
As EADaily reported, the bodies of 95-year-old Hackman, his 63-year-old pianist wife and their dog were found in their house in Santa Fe (New Mexico) on the night of February 27. The police did not name the cause of death, but they believe that it was not violent.
Hackman is considered one of the greatest actors of the second half of the XX century. The actor's filmography includes more than 80 films.
He received his first Oscar in 1972 for his role in the film The French Messenger. The second Oscar was awarded in 1993 for the supporting role in Clint Eastwood's film Unforgiven. The last work of the actor in the cinema was the role in the film "Welcome to Moose Bay" ("Welcome to the Musicport") directed by Donald Petrie in 2004.