A judge has decreed the release of information pertaining to the deaths following developments in the ongoing probe of Gene Hackman and his wife, Betsy Arakawa. Despite the actor's estate fighting to keep details under wraps, a judge has allowed crucial findings to be publicised, stipulating that any disturbing imagery is redacted.

Judge Matthew Wilson of New Mexico has allowed the partial disclosure of police bodycam footage alongside further detective evidence, including pictures of the couple's deceased pet. This decision, succeeding previous legal efforts, permits certain previously inaccessible case materials, photos, videos, and documents to be shared with the public, provided any sensitive content is appropriately concealed.

During a court hearing, Judge Wilson instructed: "There shall be no depiction of either body in any video production or in any photos." Legal advocates for the Hackman family had fervently appealed to the judiciary for continued discretion concerning the incident's particulars, citing constitutional rights to privacy.

The couple were discovered partially decomposed and mummified in their Santa Fe residence on February 26, with Hackman, aged 95, and Arakawa, 65, found following a welfare check initiated by worried property staff, leading to police intervention. Experts suggested that Hackman died from heart disease worsened by Alzheimer's about a week after Arakawa's death, which was caused by hantavirus pulmonary syndrome, a rare disease transmitted by rodents; he may have been unaware of her passing.

One of the couple's three dogs, a kelpie mix named Zinna, was also found deceased in a crate in a bathroom closet near Arakawa, while two other dogs were discovered alive. A state veterinary lab determined the dog's cause of death as dehydration and starvation.

Estate representative Julia Peters attempted to prevent the release of records, emphasising the potentially shocking nature of photographs and video in the investigation and the risk of their distribution by media.

The Hackman family estate made moves to block the release of post-mortem documents by the Office of the Medical Investigator and the Santa Fe County Sheriff's Office regarding autopsy reports. In a bid for privacy, Kurt Sommer, representing the estate during Monday's hearing, insisted that the couple had always strived to shun the spotlight and argued that their right to control their names and likenesses should be preserved even after death.