The contractor who discovered the bodies of Gene Hackman and Betsy Arakawa is opening up about “one of the worst” days of his life…
Jesse Kesler was a contractor and handyman for the couple for 16 years and had been one of the two workers who found the couple and their beloved pup Zinna dead in their Santa Fe home on February 26. It’s a moment that continues to haunt him, as he has spent the past few weeks agonizing over whether he could have saved them if he had gotten there sooner.
In an interview with Dailymail.com on Thursday, Kesler talked about that terrible day for the first time.He’d previously declined to comment on the situation, but he’s now decided to speak out due to the amount of “misinformation out there.”
He recalled that he had last seen Gene driving around the area just three months prior. At the time, the 95-year-old actor appeared to be in good health. Heck, he was still driving?! In fact, Gene — who had been suffering from advanced Alzheimer’s disease unbeknownst to the contractor — even recognized him. He said:
“It was just 12 weeks ago. That was the last time I saw him, and he was driving, and he waved at me. He knew who I was.”
Although Kesler never saw the couple out and about again afterward, he still remained in constant contact with them over the phone and email since he “did everything” for them. Betsy even reached out to him just days before the day of her death on February 11! When all communication suddenly stopped, he became concerned.
Related: Gene Hackman Left Entire Fortune To Late Wife Betsy! His 3 Kids Got NOTHING!
During the first week not hearing from them, Kesler was worried she had been “mad” at him or that he “had done something wrong,” adding:
“We have other projects going on and I [thought] I might have slipped and said, ‘Oh yeah, we’re doing this for this other person.’ So I thought maybe I’d got caught. I thought maybe I was in trouble.’”
The handyman then talked to his employee Dwayne who also hadn’t heard from Gene or Betsy — and also assymed they were angry at him. That’s when he knew “something’s wrong” and decided to start taking action. Kesler continued:
“It wasn’t like we were just up there and just stumbled across it. It was a two-week event that led up to us finally going in. We knew something was wrong. We were trying to get the process done correctly, not just walk on someone’s property.”
However, the process took longer than expected as they had to work with law enforcement and try to contact the pair’s family members. When no one answered, however, Kesler decided to say “the heck with it” and go in. On February 26, he drove up to the security gate of the home and ran into the security guard — identified by police as Roland Lowe Begay. He also decided to enter Hackman’s home after having not heard from him or Betsy in a bit. So Kesler and Begay approached the house together… and what they found was horrifying.
Kesler looked through the windows and saw Betsy’s body on the bathroom floor. Instantly, he knew they were too late. As we’ve heard, her body had already begun to mummify, so obviously there was no chance at saving her. Begay then frantically called 911, begging for help. Kesler added:
“We did not enter. The door was open to the bathroom from outside. We looked in, she was close and it was very obvious she was gone. I was told to stay out of the house, and [not to] go in there. I was hysterical. I pretty much lost it.”
We can’t blame him for losing it. If it wasn’t already traumatizing enough to find someone dead, remember Betsy died a week before Gene on February 11. By the time their bodies were found, decomposition had already kicked in. Police said the 64-year-old pianist was in a state of decomposition, with her face bloated, and mummification had begun on her hands and feet. Meanwhile, Fire Chief Brian Moya told USA Today over the weekend that when they eventually found Gene in the mudroom, his hands were blackened, also showing signs of decomposition. We mean, it took cops 12 hours to positively identify their bodies! That’s how far gone they were!
Imagine coming across a scene like that! You would be “hysterical” and traumatized like Kesler, too! He continued:
“I wish I’d gone in quicker … I might have been able to save Gene or the dog. To be honest, it was awful. It was one of the worst days of my life, and I’ve had some bad days. To see someone like that … I was hoping for a better outcome, that maybe they were out of town and they just didn’t tell anyone, or they got locked in the wine cellar by accident.”
Our hearts break for him. Thankfully, Kesler told Daily Mail he has sought out therapy. And it’s because of the horrific scene that Kesler and Begay came across that Gene and Betsy’s estate is trying to prevent the release of the autopsy and investigation records now!
According to Page Six, Julia Peters, a representative for the estate, filed a request on Tuesday asking the state district court in Santa Fe to seal records to protect their family’s right to privacy in grief under the 14th Amendment to the Constitution because of the potentially shocking nature of the photos and police body-camera footage and potential to be spread by media. They don’t want another Kobe Bryant situation!
Peters also noted Gene and Betsy “lived an exemplary private life for over thirty years in Santa Fe, New Mexico and did not showcase their lifestyle” after he retired from acting, so that privacy should be honored in their death, as well.
A decision hasn’t been made about the issue. However, Amanda Lavin, a legal director at the nonprofit New Mexico Foundation for Open Government, pointed out that the state’s open records law does block public access to sensitive photographs, including images of the bodies. Under the Inspection of Public Records Act, some medical information is not considered public record, too.
That said, Lavin said death investigations by police and autopsy reports by medical investigators are normally considered public records to ensure transparency and accountability. So she feels the estate’s request could “infringe” upon that:
“I do think it does infringe on transparency if the court were to prohibit release of all the investigation records, including the autopsies. The whole idea of those records being available is to ensure accountability in the way those investigations are done. There is also a public health concern given that hantavirus was involved.”
It’s also just unusual to prevent the release of government records on constitutional grounds, according to Lavin. Hmm. We’ll see what the court decides, but we assume after hearing what we’ve heard, no one actually wants to or needs to see the pictures or videos of Gene or Betsy’s bodies.
Thoughts, Perezcious readers? Let us know in the comments.
[Image via WENN]
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