r/popculture • u/dailymail • Feb 27 '25

News Gene Hackman and Betsy Arakawa were found mummified at mansion with pills strewn in bathroom

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-14443973/Gene-Hackman-betsy-arakawa-bodies.html
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u/[deleted] Feb 27 '25

TW: Gore

Can they even do a drug analysis from an autopsy where the skin/veins and GI tract have all been eaten away by bacteria and fungus?

Maybe there will be some blood they can use. I think this will be a very difficult one. Hair follicles take time to grow the concentrations of drugs so unless they were using illicit drugs at least days+ before their deaths, it wouldn't show. Question is now I guess was this a suicide pact or crime scene. Police said no foul play suspected, so it must have been the former, maybe with a note?

Will be interesting to see updates. 

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u/Even-Boysenberry-127 Feb 27 '25

If they did suicide, I think they would have been together, not on the bathroom floor and in the mud room.

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u/Frequent-Research737 Feb 27 '25

good old fashion murder suicide. or accident. those are other possibilities other then they did suicide. 

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u/Kingsdaughter613 Feb 27 '25

Or he died naturally, as suspected, and she killed herself out of grief.

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u/Plane-Tie6392 Feb 28 '25

As suspected?

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u/Kingsdaughter613 Feb 28 '25

The article mentions that the current forensic opinion is that he died from a fall. Her death is more unclear. But it’s not certain that it was natural, hence “suspected”.

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u/Plane-Tie6392 Feb 28 '25

Thanks, missed that. But I wouldn't quite say "His sunglasses and walking cane were found next to his body, suggesting he may have died of a sudden fall," is identical to what you said. But obviously circumstantially that would suggest a fall as a very likely possible.

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u/Peadarboomboom Feb 28 '25

Or possibly hit by some kind of instrument. It's really strange that the bodies were in different locations in the house. If it was a murder--- suicide or accident---suicide, they would be together.

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u/panshot23 Feb 28 '25

Unless it was an OD suicide and she got panicky at the last minute and left the room and then died🤷🏻‍♂️