LOS ANGELES - Oscar-winning cinema giant Gene Hackman and his wife have been found dead in their home in an incident police are calling "suspicious."
The bodies of Hackman (95) and his classical pianist wife Betsy Arakawa (63), along with that of a pet dog, were discovered at their property in New Mexico on Wednesday.
Authorities initially reported there were no signs of foul play, but a search warrant said a detective believed the deaths were "suspicious enough in nature to require a thorough search and investigation."
Police officers called to the home by maintenance workers found the door unlocked and open, and pills scattered next to Arakawa's body, which was in the bathroom.
It appeared Arakawa had been dead "for some time," with the body in a state of decomposition, the warrant noted.
Hackman's body was found in another room, fully clothed, with sunglasses next to his body, apparently having fallen suddenly.
A German Shepherd was found dead in the bathroom, and two other healthy dogs were at the house.
Hackman's daughter Elizabeth Jean told entertainment outlet TMZ that carbon monoxide poisoning may be to blame for the deaths of the couple, who married in 1991.
Santa Fe County Sheriff Adan Mendoza told a press conference that an initial inspection by the local fire department had not found high levels of the gas, but no conclusions had been drawn yet.
"This is an investigation, so we're keeping everything on the table," he said, adding that there was no sign of a struggle.
Initial autopsy findings showed "no external trauma to either individual," the sheriff's office said in a written update.
Carbon monoxide and toxicology tests have been requested but results are still pending and no cause of death has been determined, it said.
Hackman, a two-time Academy Award winner, was credited for intense performances of everyman characters inspired by his troubled upbringing, notching up dozens of movie credits extending into his 70s.
He is perhaps best known as vulgar New York cop Jimmy "Popeye" Doyle in the 1971 crime thriller "The French Connection" -- for which he won an Oscar for best actor.
He won another golden statuette two decades later for best supporting actor for his portrayal of the brutal small-town sheriff "Little Bill" Daggett in the 1992 western "Unforgiven."