SANTA FE, N.M. (KRQE) – Authorities have released portions of the body-camera footage taken by deputies who responded to the Santa Fe home of actor Gene Hackman and wife, Betsy Arakawa, in February.
Only video from outside of the home has been released, after a judge granted a temporary block of footage from inside the house or of the couple’s bodies, at the request of the family. The footage also suggests that deputies prioritized the couple’s privacy very early in the investigation.
“Because of who they are… I just want to keep this limited as much as possible, because once this gets out, you know how this is going to turn,” one deputy said.
It’s something that was also reiterated to the couple’s next of kin.
Police speak to Gene Hackman’s daughter in footage
“A lot of the information that we do at the sheriff’s office is, unfortunately, public information, and it doesn’t take them very long to figure out where this was at, the address,” one deputy can be heard explaining to Hackman’s daughter on the phone. “Once we start getting the media attention and all that stuff, people start wondering what’s going on. I don’t want anybody here that’s not supposed to be here.”
With no evidence of foul play, deputies bring up the possibility of carbon monoxide poisoning. The medical investigation would later reveal that Arakawa died first of hantavirus. Authorities said Hackman died more than a week later of heart disease with complications from Alzheimer’s.
It was also determined that one of their dogs, which was found in a crate near Arakawa’s body, died of starvation and dehydration. The couple’s other dogs could be seen roaming the property in the bodycam footage.
Gene Hackman, Betsy Arakawa’s dog trainer spoke to police
A dog trainer who knew the couple also spoke with responding deputies on the day the bodies were discovered, the bodycam video shows.
“Anything he needed, she took care of him,” the dog trainer said of Arakawa. “But she was healthy, man, acupuncturist, healthy foods, everything.”
This undated photo provided by Sherry Gaber shows Betsy Arakawa with her dogs Zinna, left, and Bear, in Santa Fe, N.M. (Sherry Gaber via AP) 
FILE – Actor Gene Hackman with wife Betsy Arakawa in June 1993. (AP Photo, File) 
Actor Gene Hackman arrives with his wife, Betsy Arakawa, for the 60th Annual Golden Globe Awards in Beverly Hills, Calif., Jan. 19, 2003. (AP Photo/Mark J. Terrill, File) 
FILE – Gene Hackman, right, and long-time friend Daniel Lenihan, discuss their new book, “Wake of the Perdido Star,” on Nov. 19, 1999, in Cloudclift Bakery, the cafe where they first dreamed up their adventure story, in Santa Fe, N.M. (AP Photo/Sarah Martone, File) 
LOS ANGELES – 1986: Actor Gene Hackman and wife Betsy Arakawa pose for a portrait in 1986 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Donaldson Collection/Michael Ochs Archives/Getty Images) 
Actor Gene Hackman arrives with his wife, Betsy Arakawa, for the 60th Annual Golden Globe Awards in Beverly Hills, Calif., Jan. 19, 2003. (AP Photo/Mark J. Terrill, File) 
ARCHIVO – El actor Gene Hackman llega con su esposa, Betsy Arakawa, a la entrega de los 60 Globos de Oro en Beverly Hills, California, el domingo 19 de enero de 2003. (AP Foto/Mark J. Terrill, Archivo) 
FILE – Actor Gene Hackman reacts during an interview on March 24, 1972. (AP Photo/George Brich, File) 
Law enforcement officials talk outside the home of actor Gene Hackman on Thursday, Feb. 27, 2025 in Santa Fe, New Mexico. Hackman, his wife Betsy Arakawa and their dog were found dead in the home a day earlier. (AP Photo/Roberto Rosales)
In a separate video, a groundskeeper also told deputies he was in the process of doing a welfare check after not hearing from Arakawa.
“I knew something was wrong because she don’t totally cut off… communications for that long,” he said.
Despite Hackman’s estate asking the courts to temporarily block any footage showing his or Arakawa’s bodies, an upcoming hearing has been scheduled to decide if that footage should be permanently blocked from release.