United Kingdom, March 2 -- Police investigating the deaths of Gene Hackman and his wife Betsy Arakawa are considering whether the Oscar-winning actor suffered a heart attack shortly before or after his spouse's sudden death.

Authorities discovered Gene's pacemaker stopped functioning on 17 February -nine days before the couple were found inside their remote ranch in Santa Fe, New Mexico.

Blood tests revealed no presence of carbon monoxide in their bodies, leading investigators to reassess initial theories.

An investigator has now told reporters: "There is no immediate sign of foul play, although the lack of carbon monoxide has upended the initial theories about how they died.

"We are now looking at whether it could be a death followed...