Authorities in northern New Mexico released police body camera video and other public records Tuesday in the investigation into the deaths of Gene Hackman and his wife, Betsy Arakawa. The two were found dead Feb. 26 in their Santa Fe home.

Hackman, 95, died of heart disease with complications from Alzheimer’s disease about a week after Arakawa, 65, died of hantavirus.

The records detail some of Arakawa’s last emails, phone calls and internet searches that appear to show she was looking for information on flu-like symptoms and breathing techniques. The documents and video recordings were released after a court ruled that most of them are public record but ordered that the couple’s bodies would have to be blocked from view.

What do the body camera video and records tell us?

Arakawa’s computer showed that between Feb. 8 and the morning of Feb. 12, she was researching medical conditions related to COVID-19 and flu-like symptoms, according to the records released by the Santa Fe County Sheriff’s Office.

In an email to her masseuse, she said Hackman woke up Feb. 11 with flu or cold-like symptoms and she’d have to reschedule her appointment for the next day.

Her search history on the morning of Feb. 12 showed she was looking into a medical concierge service in Santa Fe. A call with the service lasted less than two minutes, and she missed a return call later that afternoon, according to investigators.

Redacted police body camera images showed officers going through the home and finding no signs of forced entry or anything out of the ordinary with the home’s contents. Investigators took note of prescription medication on a bathroom counter as one of the couple’s dogs barked in the background.

Photos from the scene showed crowded bathroom counters and overflowing drawers half open. Piles of papers spilled onto the floor in front of an overflowing trash can and furniture piled high with clothes.

Initially, all photos, video and documents from the investigation were sealed by a temporary court order. Hackman’s estate and Arakawa’s mother asked a judge to extend that order, citing privacy concerns. The Associated Press, CBS News and CBS Studios intervened in the matter, saying in court filings that they would not disseminate images of the couple’s bodies.

The court cleared the way for the release of investigative records as long as there were no videos or photos of the couple’s bodies.

What we know about the deaths

Both were ruled to be from natural causes, chief medical examiner Dr. Heather Jarrell said. Hackman’s death was tied to heart disease with Alzheimer’s disease contributing. Authorities linked Arakawa’s death to hantavirus pulmonary syndrome, a rare but potentially fatal disease spread by the droppings of infected rodents.

Hackman’s pacemaker showed an abnormal heart rhythm on Feb. 18 — the day he likely died, Jarrell said.

While there’s no reliable way to know for sure when each died, all signs point to their deaths coming a week apart, Jarrell said.

Hackman’s body was found in the home’s entryway, and Arakawa’s body was found in a bathroom. Thyroid medication pills prescribed to Arakawa were found nearby and weren’t listed as contributing to her death, Jarrell said.

Investigators earlier retrieved personal items from the home, including a monthly planner and two cellphones. One of the couple’s three dogs was found dead in a crate near Arakawa. Authorities initially misidentified the breed.

What is hantavirus?

The virus typically is reported in spring and summer, often when people are exposed to mouse droppings in homes, sheds or poorly ventilated areas. It can cause a severe, sometimes deadly lung infection called hantavirus pulmonary syndrome, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

An environmental assessment of the Hackman property found rodent feces in several outbuildings and live traps on the property, according to a New Mexico Department of Health report. The inside of the home was clean, with no evidence of rodent activity.

Nestled among the piñon and juniper hills overlooking Santa Fe, the Hackman home is not unlike others in the area as mice are common within the surrounding landscape.

This is an undated image provided by the Santa Fe County Sheriff’s Office during the course of their investigation and search of the home of Gene Hackman and his wife Betsy Arakawa, where the two were found dead Thursday, Feb. 27, 2025, in Santa Fe, New Mexico. (Santa Fe County Sheriff via AP)

This was the first confirmed case of hantavirus in New Mexico this year. Hantavirus does not spread between people.

Initial symptoms can include fatigue, fever and muscle aches. As the disease progresses, people can experience coughing, shortness of breath or tightness in the chest as the lungs fill with fluid, according to the CDC. About a third of people who develop respiratory symptoms can die, the agency said.

How Hackman made his name

Hackman appeared in a broad range of movie roles dating back to 1961, when he debuted in “Mad Dog Coll.” His roles included playing the arch nemesis Lex Luthor in the “Superman” movies and a coach finding redemption in the sentimental favorite “Hoosiers.”

He was a five-time Oscar nominee who won best actor in a leading role for “The French Connection” in 1972 and best actor in a supporting role for “Unforgiven” two decades later. He retired in the early 2000s.

Who was Arakawa?

Arakawa was born in Hawaii in December 1959 and grew up in Honolulu. She studied piano and, as an 11-year-old sixth grader, performed in youth concerts in front of thousands of students at the Honolulu International Center Concert Hall, the Honolulu Star-Bulletin reported in 1971.

She attended the University of Southern California and was a cheerleader for the Aztecs, a professional soccer team in the North American Soccer League. She also worked as a production assistant on the television game show “Card Sharks,” the Honolulu Star-Advertiser reported in 1981.

She met Hackman while working part-time at a California gym in the mid-1980s. They soon moved in together and relocated to Santa Fe by the end of the decade.

Arakawa was vice president of Pandora’s, a home decor and furnishing store in Santa Fe, according to New Mexico business records.

Where were Hackman and his wife living?

Their Pueblo revival home, a style typical in the area, sits on a hill in a gated community with views of the Rocky Mountains far from Hollywood. The area is known as a preferred location among artists and a retreat for celebrities.

This is an undated image provided by the Santa Fe County Sheriff’s Office during the course of their investigation and search of the home of Gene Hackman and his wife Betsy Arakawa, where the two were found dead Thursday, Feb. 27, 2025, in Santa Fe, New Mexico. (Santa Fe County Sheriff via AP)

The home was featured in a 1990 article by Architectural Digest. The four-bedroom, 8,700-square-foot structure on 6 acres had an estimated market value of a little over $4 million, according to Santa Fe County property tax records.

Hackman could be spotted around the historic state capital, but he disappeared largely from the public eye in his later years. His hobbies included painting, deep-sea diving and, later in life, writing novels.

By MEAD GRUVER

CHEYENNE, Wyo. (AP) — Wyoming abortion bans put on hold and struck down by a lower court judge, including the first explicit U.S. ban on abortion pills, will be argued Wednesday before the state’s Supreme Court.

Related Articles

These abortion abolitionists want women who get abortion to face criminal charges

Supreme Court appears divided over whether states can cut off Planned Parenthood funding

Supreme Court weighs whether states can cut off Medicaid funding to Planned Parenthood

Anti-abortion groups aim to end Planned Parenthood funding and suggest Musk’s DOGE to get it done

Texas medical assistant arrested in connection to clinics accused of providing illegal abortions

Arguments are set for 1:30 p.m. before the state high court in Cheyenne.

Abortion has remained legal in this conservative state since Teton County District Judge Melissa Owens in Jackson blocked a series of bans passed in the state since 2022.

One law would ban abortion except to protect to a pregnant woman’s life or in cases involving rape and incest. The other would make Wyoming the only state to explicitly ban abortion pills, though other states have instituted de facto bans on abortion medication by broadly prohibiting abortion.

Wyoming’s laws prompted lawsuits filed by four women, including two obstetricians, and two nonprofits including Wellspring Health Access, the state’s only abortion clinic. They argued in court filings that the laws stand to harm the women’s health, well-being and livelihoods and violate a state constitutional amendment.

Attorneys for the state dispute those claims and argue that abortion can’t violate the constitution because it is not health care.

After blocking the laws from taking effect, Owens sided with the women and nonprofits, ruling in November that the laws violate the 2012 constitutional amendment guaranteeing the right of competent adults to make their own health care decisions.

Attorneys for Wyoming appealed to the state Supreme Court.

Meanwhile, the same nonprofits and women are suing to challenge two laws passed by the Legislature last winter. Wellspring Health Access has ceased providing either surgical or medical abortions since Feb. 28 because of the laws.

One of the laws requires abortion clinics — specifically Wellspring Health Access in Casper as the state’s only abortion clinic — to be licensed as outpatient surgical centers.

Getting licensed would require costly renovations, clinic officials say. The law also requires the Wellspring Health Access physicians to have admitting privileges at a nearby hospital even though that facility is under no obligation to grant such a request.

The other new law requires women to have an ultrasound at least 48 hours before a pill abortion. While attorneys for the state argue the Legislature has wide regulatory discretion to prevent rare mishaps during abortions, the women and nonprofits argue that ultrasounds are a costly and burdensome requirement for women seeking pill abortions in Wyoming.

A judge in Casper is considering a request by the clinic and the others to suspend the new laws while their lawsuit proceeds.

Wellspring Health Access opened in 2023, almost a year later than planned after an arson attack caused heavy damage. A woman convicted for setting fire to the building was sentenced to five years in prison.

By STEFANIE DAZIO, FANNY BRODERSEN and MARKUS SCHREIBER

SCHLEIFE, Germany (AP) — Anke Hanusch dips her tool into dark blue wax and dots it precisely on a yellow-dyed Easter egg in her hand. Back and forth, wax to egg, egg to wax, as the honeycomb pattern grows.

The intricate motif means the egg will ultimately be a gift from a godparent to their godchild, to bestow diligence and a good work ethic upon the youngster.

The tradition of decorating Easter eggs is part of the culture of the Slavic-speaking Sorbian ethnic minority in Germany. Modern-day Sorbs are descended from Slavic tribes in Central and Eastern Europe who settled in Germany some 1,500 years ago.

About 60,000 Sorbs currently live in Germany, split between the federal states of Saxony and Brandenburg.

Easter is the biggest holiday of the year

Stephanie Bierholdt, an employee at the Sorbian Cultural Center in Schleife, a town just 16 kilometers (10 miles) from the Polish border, said Easter is the biggest holiday of the year for Sorbs and people travel home to celebrate with their loved ones.

“The best thing is that this tradition is still alive in families,” she said.

Bierholdt, Hanusch and other members of Schleife’s Sorbian community gathered at the cultural center on April 6, two weeks ahead of the holiday, to celebrate their heritage through Easter eggs and traditional folk costumes, songs and dances. Sorbian egg decorating dates back to the Middle Ages.

From chicken eggs to emu eggs

Hanusch wore the red folk costume and bonnet of an unmarried woman; married women wore green. She was among more than 30 artisans selling their Easter eggs at the cultural center. Her prices ranged from the cheapest decorated chicken egg for 7 euros ($7.72) up to 90 euros ($99.28) for a painted emu egg.

The decorating can take between 90 minutes and six hours, depending on the techniques used, the motif and size of the egg. The artisans use a needle or the tip of a goose feather quill, cut in different ways, to draw the designs.

The egg artisans said the worldwide bird flu outbreak, and subsequent egg shortage and price hikes, have not yet affected their craft — though they added that it’s always best to get eggs directly from a farmer rather than a supermarket.

Hanusch, who is Sorbian on her father’s side, is learning to speak the Slavic language. She said she and other Sorbian children start decorating Easter eggs as young as two, from when they can first hold a pencil. Many only do it during the Easter season throughout childhood, but Hanusch continued with the skill and became a teacher to others, including her niece.

“I think it’s a valuable cultural asset that needs to be preserved,” she said. “It would be a shame if it were to become extinct.”

By CHRISTOPHER RUGABER

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Federal Reserve can stay patient and wait to see how tariffs and other economic policies of the Trump administration play out before making any changes to interest rates, Chair Jerome Powell said Wednesday.

Related Articles

Is Spotify down? Thousands of users report problems with music streaming app

Trump says he’s joining tariff talks with Japan as US seeks deals amid trade wars

Retail sales rise 1.4% in March as shoppers stock up on big ticket items ahead of tariffs

Nvidia drags Wall Street down as United Airlines says it’s impossible to predict this year’s economy

White House threatens Colombia over regulations affecting US auto exports

“For the time being, we are well positioned to wait for greater clarity” on the impact of policy changes in areas such as immigration, taxation, regulation, and tariffs, Powell said.

The sharp volatility in financial markets since President Donald Trump announced sweeping tariffs April 2, only to put most of them on hold a week later, has led to speculation about whether the Fed would soon cut its key interest rate or take other steps to calm investors. Yet the Fed is unlikely to intervene unless there is a breakdown in the market for Treasury securities or other malfunctions, economists say.

In written remarks to be delivered to the Economic Club of Chicago, Powell reiterated that the Trump administration’s tariffs are “significantly larger than anticipated.”

“The same is likely to be true of the economic effects, which will include higher inflation and slower growth,” he said.

Powell said the inflation will likely be temporary, but “could also be more persistent,” echoing a concern expressed by a majority of the Fed’s 19-member interest rate-setting committee in the minutes of their meeting last month.

Yet some splits among the Fed’s interest rate-setting committee have emerged. On Monday, Fed governor Christopher Waller said that he expects the impact of even a large increase in tariffs to be temporary, even if they are left in place for several years. At the same time, he also expects such large duties would weigh on the economy and even threaten a recession.

Should the economy slow sharply, even if inflation remained elevated, Waller said he would support cutting interest rates “sooner, and to a greater extent than I had previously thought.”

But other Fed officials, including Neel Kashkari, president of the Fed’s Minneapolis branch, have said they are more focused on fighting the effects of higher tariffs on inflation, suggesting they are less likely to support rate cuts anytime soon.

For now, most recent reports suggest the economy is in solid shape. Hiring has been solid and inflation cooled in March. Yet measures of consumer and business confidence have plunged, raising concerns among economists that spending and business investment could weaken.