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A month after Gene Hackman and wife Betsy Arakawa’s deaths, bodycam footage from the scene has been released by the Santa Fe County Sherriff’s Office.
In the videos, law enforcement officers are at the Hackman residence after a 911 call was placed. The footage is from several deputies who were walking outside the home.
In one video, obtained by TMZ, the deputies are seen interviewing one of the workers who found the bodies.
The groundskeeper gets emotional while talking about Gene and his Betsy, saying, “I get attached to all these people, you know? They treat me really well, and her, she was a sweetheart. And to see them like that…”
In more footage, a deputy is talking to the same groundskeeper and a handyman about the possibility of a gas leak.
The handyman explains that there is a mechanical room downstairs with “two, three big old boilers,” adding, “That big vent you see on the roof by the front door, that thing’s like that big around, so it’s meant to vent. So I just don’t… and that mechanical room is pretty damn tight. I don’t see carbon monoxide getting…”
“And it wouldn’t leak through any of the kitchen appliances?” the deputy asks.
The handyman answers, “It shouldn’t. I don’t see how this is both of them are down like this. Something’s not right.”
He notes, “The doors were locked. The doors were never locked up here.” He also says of the couple that they were “super, super private.”
The men say that they had last seen Gene and Betsy about two weeks ago.
There is also video of a deputy speaking to Gene’s daughter Elizabeth on the phone about handling the remains of the dog that was found dead in the home along with Gene and Betsy.
She says, “I’m thinking, um, cremate the dog and bury it with Betsy.” She also asks, “If the dog was wearing a collar, could you save that for me?”
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It was later determined that Betsy died from hantavirus and Gene died from heart disease with advanced Alzheimer’s as a contributing factor.
Hackman’s family recently filed a temporary restraining order to block the release of images or videos showing the bodies.
In the filing, the family asked to seal the photographs, saying that Gene and Betsy “lived an exemplary private life for over 30 years in Santa Fe, New Mexico, and did not showcase their lifestyle.”