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\u201cThis remains an open investigation,\u201d the sheriff\u2019s office said.<\/p>\n
Detective Roy Arndt wrote in the search warrant affidavit that Ms. Arakawa was found lying on her side on the bathroom floor with a space heater near her head, the affidavit said. The deputy who found her said he suspected that the heater could have fallen with Ms. Arakawa, the filing said.<\/p>\n
Ms. Arakawa\u2019s body showed signs of decomposition, the affidavit said, as well as \u201cmummification in both hands and feet.\u201d The dead dog was found near her in a closet, and two other dogs were found alive on the property. Mr. Hackman\u2019s body was then found, and showed signs of death \u201csimilar and consistent\u201d with his wife\u2019s body.<\/p>\n
The deputies were called to the scene after a maintenance worker who had gone to the home to perform some work on Wednesday afternoon grew concerned when no one answered the door, the sheriff\u2019s office said in a statement. The worker asked local security officers to conduct a welfare check, and when they arrived and saw unresponsive bodies through the window they called 911.<\/p>\n
A pair of deputies arrived and found Ms. Arakawa in the bathroom and then discovered Mr. Hackman lying in the mud room, with his body in a similar condition to his wife\u2019s, the affidavit said. He was found in gray sweatpants, a blue long-sleeve T-shirt, brown slippers and with a cane, the affidavit said. A pair of sunglasses was found to his left. One of the deputies on the scene said that it appeared he had \u201csuddenly fallen,\u201d the affidavit said.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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Sheriff Adan Mendoza of Santa Fe County said in a phone interview that investigators were still trying to determine what caused their deaths, noting that there were no obvious signs of trauma to the bodies and that no note had been found. The sheriff said the home was continuing to be searched on Thursday.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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\u201cAt this stage in the process there isn\u2019t anything obvious like that,\u201d he said. \u201cThe autopsy is going to tell us more.\u201d<\/p>\n
Mr. Hackman was nominated for five Academy Awards and won two during his 40-year career. He appeared in films that were seen by millions, including \u201cBonnie and Clyde,\u201d \u201cThe French Connection,\u201d \u201cThe Poseidon Adventure,\u201d \u201cMississippi Burning,\u201d \u201cUnforgiven,\u201d \u201cSuperman,\u201d \u201cHoosiers\u201d and \u201cThe Royal Tenenbaums.\u201d<\/p>\n
In the affidavit seeking the search warrant, Detective Arndt wrote Wednesday that he believed that \u201cthe circumstances surrounding the death of the two deceased individuals to be suspicious enough in nature to require a thorough search and investigation.\u201d<\/p>\n
A magistrate judge granted the search warrant so that the authorities could collect items from the home, including documents, any narcotics found, and flammable substances, among other things.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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The couple was found in their home in a secluded neighborhood high above downtown Santa Fe, with winding roads and views of the mountains.<\/p>\n
Mr. Hackman moved to Santa Fe County in the 1980s after filming some movies there. After he quietly retired from Hollywood more than two decades ago, he wrote several historical adventure novels with a friend, Daniel Lenihan. He was seen from time to time in downtown Santa Fe.<\/p>\n
An enthusiastic painter who would use the surrounding mountains as inspiration, Mr. Hackman was once a board member at the Georgia O\u2019Keeffe Museum, one of Santa Fe\u2019s main cultural attractions. He spoke at the museum\u2019s opening in 1997 and later narrated a short documentary about the artist.<\/p>\n
Many of his paintings, including landscapes and portraits, are hanging in Jinja, an Asian fusion restaurant in Santa Fe that the couple had invested in, said Doug Lanham, the restaurant\u2019s owner.<\/p>\n
Mr. Lanham, a friend of Mr. Hackman\u2019s, recalled him as a known prankster. He said Mr. Hackman had once convinced a child at a local country club event to give him a squirt gun \u2014 and then filled it with red wine.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n