Richard Arnold: US Correspondent on the deaths of Gene Hackman and his wife Betsy Arakawa

Questions have been raised over how US actor Gene Hackman and his wife Betsy Arakawa died, with the situation deemed suspicious, despite no signs of foul play. 

The pair have been found dead with their dog in their New Mexico home.  

Carbon monoxide poisoning has been ruled out. 

The couple's front door was found unlocked, with no signs of forced entry. 

Correspondent Richard Arnold told Mike Hosking the pair's bodies were found in separate rooms. 

He says they'd been rarely seen since they quit Hollywood decades ago. 

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
Richard Arnold morning, what do you, Mike? So what we
got to the bottom of this? Is this an accident
or something else.

Speaker 2 (00:05):
It's going to take a little while, but yeah. Toxic
fumes cobon monoxide is being initially considered a possible cause
of the death of the legendary two time Oscar winning
actor Gene Hackman. His wife Betsy had one of their
three dogs. The gas company has been called in NAOS.
Officials say investigations are ongoing. Gen Hackman was ninety five,
his wife was some thirty years younger. They were in

(00:26):
different rooms when their bodies were found. They had really
been seen in the last couple of decades after they
quit Hollywood and moved to saut A Faith. Yet it
would be hard to think of actors apart from Hackman
who appeit in so many well loved movies. He was
someone with a forty year career where he was nominated
for five Academy Awards and a host of other honors,
and won two Oscars for The French Connection and Unforgiven

(00:48):
but favored. Hackman performances would have to be linked to
the time you're thinking about right. One of his first
roles was Clyde's crazy brother in Body and Clyde wogle
Esels a Time Ooh. In earlier days, he had volunteered
for the Marine, saying he wanted some real life adventure.
When he returned to California, he did some plays with

(01:08):
a group in Pasadena, Pasadena, where he was friends with
few people except for Dustin Hoffman, who also was there
at the time. In some ways he seems to draw
from movie stars of the past, where they weren't models
or young Celevswat drew from a wider background. In nineteen
seventy one, he appeared as detected Jimmy Doyle in The
French Connection, one of the most famous car scenes ever.

(01:29):
You would have to say he would.

Speaker 1 (01:30):
Go right down the street without any crowd control and
it was really scary.

Speaker 2 (01:35):
Yeah. And an early film I remember is the conversation
about invasion of privacy. That film quite dramatic.

Speaker 1 (01:42):
One surefire rule that I have learned in this business
is that I don't know anything about human nature.

Speaker 2 (01:46):
I don't know anything about curiosity. But the gene happening.
Movie list goes on and on. He said he loved
doing this work. He played well a lot of bad guys,
like his role opposite Christopher Reeve in Superman Great Superman.
Hackman had fun with all this on screen and off.
He said, have little kids come up to you on
the street and say.

Speaker 1 (02:05):
You're the evil guy, and it's kind of fun.

Speaker 2 (02:07):
Even when he was playing the coach in Who'sias, there
was energy behind his rallying of the team. If you
put your effort and concentration and the plan to your
potential to be the best that you can be, I
don't care what the scoreboards says at the end of
the game. In my book, we're going to be winners.
Well Mississippi burning Royal ten inbounds, per sudden Adventure, and
on we go. There is so much to remember in
the work of Gene Hackman.

Speaker 1 (02:28):
Indeed, so he's just arrived literally moments ago. Pressures on
him to deliver something on Ukraine.

Speaker 2 (02:33):
I guess, I guess would be the underline. Right. The
meeting between Trump and Starma is ongoing without the arm wrestling.
As you mentioned, a handshake that was a part of
the American President's session earlier in the week with the
mccronan seems to be a statter for those two. The
mcrons session was marked by the French leader publicly correcting
Trump over his country's financial contribution to the defense of

(02:54):
Ukraine and the Russian invasion. Not clear that Starma will
get any further. Starma has an outid increase in British
defense spending, as we've been noting in recent days. Trump
has welcomed that, with the British cutting back there overseas development,
a justice Washington is doing at the urging of Elon Musk.
Of course, Stamer says the US should not make mistakes
with Putin by agreeing to a cease fire without any

(03:15):
measures for a longer term piece. But you wonder whether
Trump is interested in any of that. He appears already
to have floated US responses to most of the things
that the Russians want, So will any of that or
the meeting coming up with Ukraine Selensky later in the
week work to underpin the fading post war US European alliance.

Speaker 1 (03:34):
Yes, tomorrow's you're going to be watching that with a
great deallement was thank you, Richard C You next week
the gold card deal, by the way, five million, one
of the most expensive in the world. But I think
it's going to go gangbusters. Interesting developments this morning. You
would not if you pay your five million, that's US.
And when you say five five minuses, you're not giving
it to Trump. You're investing in America, of course, but
you get the green card type operation anyway, you would

(03:54):
not be subject to taxes on your overseas income, which
is interesting and is there interest in this?

Speaker 2 (04:00):
You bet?

Speaker 1 (04:00):
The risen Singapore interest has gone up two thousand, four
hundred and seventy three percent due by twelve hundred and
forty percent, Japan fourteen hundred and fifteen, Candida eight hundred
and thirty percent, Germany four hundred and forty seven percent,
the UK, Indian and Australia a notable increases as well,
two hundred and three, one thirty eight and ninety percent respectively.
Everyone wants to go to America.

Speaker 2 (04:19):
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