Gene Hackman and wife Betsy Arakawa’s deaths shocked the world — and for the man who found their bodies, the tragic discovery was far more personal – it left him heartbroken.
“I was one of the first ones at the scene, me and the security guard,” Jesse Kesler recalled exclusively to Us Weekly on Tuesday, March 18. “It was traumatic.”
Kesler, who worked for the couple at their New Mexico home for 16 years, remembers them as “the sweetest people in the world,” noting that the Academy Award winning actor and his wife “treated me and my crew and my kids really good.”
News broke last month that Hackman and Arakawa’s bodies were found inside their Santa Fe estate on February 26. Hackman turned 95 on January 30 and his wife was 64 at the time of their deaths.
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“It was a heartbreaking experience,” Kesler told Us, adding that the last time he spoke with Arakawa was on February 9.
While he wouldn’t divulge any details about their final conversation, Kesler said he was “not aware” that anything was medically wrong with her or he would have offered to help.
“I was heartbroken. They were the sweetest people in the world to me and others,” he gushed, adding that Hackman and Arakawa’s “last photos say it all.”
“I was heartbroken. They were the sweetest people in the world to me and others,” he gushed, adding that Hackman and Arakawa’s “last photos say it all.”
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Kesler described the pair, who were married more than 30 years, as a “cute couple.”
He noted that “the video they took for his birthday tells you everything.”
“She loved him,” he said. “We loved them. I’m heartbroken.”
Evelyn Lambert, who was the pair’s gardener for 34 years, shared the same sentiments.
“They were a great couple. They were very private, pleasant people,” Lambert exclusively told Us. “Once he was done with movies they did their thing. Santa Fe was their town. They lived their private lives.”
“I’m still in awe with all this,” she added. “They were beautiful people.”
Kesler, who was also the late couple’s handyman, acknowledged that “a lot of people want answers more than what they are getting” regarding the mysterious deaths. However, he said he’s grateful for the swift police work: “Thank God [for the police] because we didn’t know and for getting the information out there.”
Shortly after the bodies were discovered the Santa Fe Sheriff’s Department launched a death investigation, but were quick to note that foul play was not suspected.
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At the time of the deaths, Hackman’s daughter Leslie Anne Allen told Us Weekly carbon monoxide poisoning was being investigated as a factor, but authorities later reported that there was no carbon monoxide present on scene. (Hackman is survived by Elizabeth and her two siblings, Leslie and Christopher, whom the actor shared with his late first wife Faye Maltese.)
On March 7, just nine days after Kesler found the bodies and alerted police, the chief medical examiner for New Mexico, Dr. Heather Jarrell, revealed that Hackman’s cause of death was due to hypertensive atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease with Alzheimer’s disease as a significant contributing factor. The Royal Tenenbaums actor reportedly died on February 18, according to doctors and his pacemaker data.
The medical examiner ruled that Arakawa’s death was natural and caused by “hantavirus pulmonary syndrome.” According to authorities, she likely died days prior to her husband on February 11.
Lambert told Us that she was “shocked” to learn how the couple passed. The gardener explained that she knew Hackman had heart-related issues, but wasn’t aware that he suffered from dementia.
She was even more surprised by Arakawa’s sudden death. “She was always such a healthy person. Eating right for the both of them,” Lambert recalled, sharing that she last spoke with Arakawa on January 30 about the late couple’s garden.
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Lambert said that at the time “nothing seemed alarming,” adding that she “never got the inkling [Arakawa] was sick.”
The family’s three dogs were also discovered at the tragic scene. Two of the pets survived, but one was found dead next to Arakawa’s body. The Santa Fe County animal control agency reported in March that the dog Zinna likely died due to dehydration and starvation.
The surviving dogs, Bear and Nikita, have reportedly been successfully rehomed.
