Gene Hackman's Gas Company Reveals There WAS A Leak -- However...

It sounds like we can definitively rule out one of the earliest theories about the shocking deaths of Gene Hackman and his wife Betsy Arakawa.

Many speculated carbon monoxide poisoning must have caused the 95-year-old actor and 64-year-old classical pianist’s deaths. They were found dead, along with one of their dogs, at their home in Santa Fe, New Mexico, last Thursday. With three dead bodies, that screams environmental cause, therefore… gas leak. However, it quickly seemed unlikely. Police said there were “no obvious signs of a gas leak.” Well, it turns out there’s more evidence against it.

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Sheriff Adan Mendoza shared that Gene and Betsy tested negative for carbon monoxide. That said, he was not ready to fully rule carbon monoxide poisoning out yet. Mendoza noted the pathologist would be the one to actually eliminate gas as the cause of death. But now, the New Mexico Gas Company is confirming it!

Surprisingly, the company admitted there was a minor leak — but it was a very small one, not big enough to have killed them!

On Tuesday, the Santa Fe County Sheriff’s Office revealed the company said there were “no significant findings” in the investigation of their home. They only found a “minuscule” leak at one of the stove burners, with .33 percent gas in the air. A third of a percent — not enough to be fatal! And that’s after over a week after their deaths!

The gas company also discovered four other “red tag” code violations regarding a water heater and three gas log lighters in fireplaces, but those issues don’t involve a gas leak or carbon monoxide.

Ultimately, the Santa Fe County Sheriff’s Office said natural gas is “not believed to be a factor” in Gene and Betsy’s deaths. The report from the gas company will be sent to the Office of the Medical Investigator, who will of course make the final determination. The autopsy report is pending at this time, so we still don’t know what exactly happened to the pair. But the theory from that forensic pathologist is looking more and more likely now…

[Image via WENN]