The big story of last week was the death of Gene Hackman and his wife Betsy Arakawa…and their dog.  Everybody seems to forget about the dog, as if it died in any less curious a way.  Gene and his wife lived in a gated community in Santa Fe.  What we know as of this writing is that maintenance workers called 911 saying that while gardening, they looked in the window and could see two unconscious people who appeared to be “decomposing” (that’s one helluva vantage point).  Police let themselves in through an unsecured front door.  Fun fact – the Santa Fe Sheriff’s office also investigated the set of Rust, and we know what a crackjack job they did on that!  Police found Hackman in the “mud room” (note to readers not familiar with this term – typically a room between the back door and the kitchen where one would remove muddy footwear and clothing).  They found Betsy on the floor of the bathroom surrounded by pills, with a (living) dog lying by her side.  Another dog was found dead in a crate inside the bathroom closet.  And a third dog was running around outside.  And the police didn’t find anything suspicious?

Then Gene’s daughter Leslie chimed in.  “Despite his age, he was in very good physical condition.  He liked to do Pilates and yoga, and he was continuing to do that several times a week.  So he was in good health.”  She later added that his death was “not terribly shocking because he was 95.”  OK, Leslie, but at the same time as his wife?  And the dog?  Turns out, Leslie hadn’t talked to Dad for “several months”.  Good kid.  Police say there’s no sign of carbon monoxide poisoning.  When they ran a test on Hackman’s pacemaker, they discovered the last activity was on February 17^th.  So that’s a couple weeks earlier.  Both husband and wife’s bodies have been downgraded from “signs of decomposition” to “mummification” – like they were found in Luxor near King Tut!  And the most pressing question of all – would the Academy re-edit the “In Memoriam” package to include Hackman?