Gene Hackman and his wife Betsy Arakawa possibly died nine days before being found on Wednesday.
While the cause behind the deaths is still unknown since there was no dirty game poisoning or carbon monoxide in the preliminary autopsy, the most detailed examination revealed that Hackman’s pacemakers stopped working on February 17, which means that he could have died nine days before, according to the Sheriff of Santa Fe County, Adan Mendoza.
The authorities do not believe that the house had surveillance cameras, Mendoza said at a press conference.
The retired forensic doctor in Arizona, Dr. Philip Keen, also shared ideas about the incident, explaining that the moment when a pacemaker stops working could mark the point when a person dies, but not always.
“If your heart required a pacemaker, there would certainly be an interruption at that time, and it could be the distinctive seal of when death occurred.” AP cited Keen. “But it is not necessarily because some people get a pacemaker to increase things, not necessarily replace things.”
The results of the toxicology tests are expected to be completed in the coming weeks, which could reveal whether the pills that were scattered on the site were a factor in their death.
Researchers who registered the house recovered medications that deal with high blood pressure and chest pain, thyroid medication, tylenol and medical diagnostic tests, according to the judicial records presented on Friday.
The couple was found after a maintenance worker, who presented himself to do a routine job at home, could not enter and called a security worker, who later saw two people on the ground, said Mendoza.
One of his dogs was also found dead in a closet, while two other dogs in the residence remained healthy.
