Officials release bodycam footage from outside home of Gene Hackman and Betsy Arakawa

By Alli Rosenbloom and Veronica Miracle, CNN

(CNN) — Body-camera footage was released on Friday by police in Santa Fe, New Mexico from outside the home that actor Gene Hackman shared with his wife Betsy Arakawa, providing new details about how the couple were found dead in their home last month.

The footage, which was partially redacted by the Santa Fe County Sheriff’s Office for privacy reasons, included shots from outside the late award-winning actor’s home, along with interviews conducted with witnesses.

Multiple responding deputies expressed concerns of carbon monoxide poisoning, which was initially believed to be a potential cause in the couple’s death, but two witnesses interviewed outside of the home said they were more concerned that something else was the cause, and that something was “weird” and “not right.” A dog was also found dead at the scene.

In an interview with law enforcement, the pair’s contractor Jesse Kesler shared that he was concerned that he and others had not heard from the couple in weeks and went to their home to do a wellness check.

The videos detail how Kesler ran into the couple’s security guard when he went to check on the property on February 26, where they eventually found Arakawa‘s body.

Attempt to block footage release

Hackman’s estate filed a petition last week attempting to block the release of any photos or video footage from inside the home, according to a copy of the legal filing obtained by CNN at the time.

The estate argued that the Hackmans took “vigilant steps to safeguard their privacy” during their lifetime, and filed the petition in hopes of continuing to “preserve the privacy of the Hackmans following their tragic death and support the family’s constitutional right to remembrance and desire to grieve in peace.”

Hackman, 95, and Arakawa, 65, were found dead at their home in February. Arakawa, who was a former classical pianist, and Hackman had been married since 1991.

Earlier this month, the New Mexico medical investigator’s office revealed that Arakawa and Hackman both died of natural causes, though their deaths happened at least a week apart and are attributed to different causes.

The Oscar-winning actor died of causes related to cardiovascular illness and was likely alive for several days after Arakawa, who died of Hantavirus pulmonary syndrome, a rare disease that can infect humans through contact with infected rodents.

The medical investigator said that Hackman also had advanced Alheimer’s disease, which was “a significant contributory factor” to his death. Hackman died of atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease and was also hypertensive. He had severe heart disease and chronic high blood pressure, a postmortem CT scan showed.

It remains unclear whether Hackman was aware that Arakawa had died inside the home, the investigator said. Due to his advanced Alzheimer’s, “It’s quite possible that he was not aware that she was deceased.”

According to the investigator, Arakawa was last seen alive around February 11 and Hackman likely died when his pacemaker last recorded his heartbeat on February 18.

Neither of them had any internal or external signs of trauma and tested negative for Covid-19, as well as other common respiratory viruses. Investigators had already ruled out carbon monoxide poisoning earlier on in the investigation.

While the medical investigator said they believe that no major revelations are left to uncover, the investigation remains open to “tie up loose ends.”

Throughout his decades-long career, Hackman won two Oscars and was nominated for five total. He is best know for his performances in films including “The French Connection,” “Hoosiers,” “Unforgiven” and “The Firm,” as well as “The Royal Tenenbaums” and “Get Shorty” in more recent years.

The actor had three children with his late ex-wife, Faye Maltese, who died in 2017.

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CNN’s Kathryn Jaeger, Taylor Galgano, Quincy Bowie, Jillian Sykes, Elizabeth Wolfe and Cheri Mossburg contributed to this report.