Forensic experts, based on publicly available information, are putting forth theories about how actor Gene Hackman, his wife, and his dog may have died. 

Forensic pathologist Dr. Michael Baden provided his take during a recent appearance on the Fox News channel.

This comes several days after Hackman, his wife, and his dog were found dead in their New Mexico mansion. At the time of this writing, there is still no official explanation of what happened.

Many have speculated that the deaths could have been caused by carbon monoxide poisoning, but this has been ruled out by investigators. Police do not believe that there was any foul play involved.

"Unusual circumstances"

Baden, based on the evidence publicly available, has laid out his theory for how the three deaths occurred, and it is "unusual" to say the least.

He said:

So the autopsy showed he didn't have any injury. There was no carbon monoxide. And he had — the most common cause of death in this country — severe heart disease, coronary artery disease, and high blood pressure perhaps, from what's been released. So that would cause him, having cardiac arrest in the mudroom, to collapse right there.

So far, this makes a lot of sense. But, it does not answer the question of how the wife and dog also ended up dead. Baden, though, has an explanation. In fact, he provided two likely possibilities.

He said:

She may have struck her head on the way down and had some internal injury to the brain that doesn't show up on the outside or bleeding in the inside of the brain. Or that she may also, at 65, had severe heart disease and excitement can cause a trigger to the cardiac rhythm causing death under those circumstances. I think the first, that striking her head would be more common.

Finally, Baden suggested that the dog died from dehydration, noting, "the dog was constrained in his cage or kennel and would have died from just dehydration and lack of water during the nine-day period that he couldn't get out of the kennel."

Background

Baden's explanation does fit with the evidence that has thus far been publicly released.

While Hackman was found in the mudroom, the Daily Mail reports, "Betsy's body was discovered decomposed on that bathroom floor, with a prescription bottle of pills open and its contents strewn across the counter."

So, it is possible that Hackman had a heart attack, and that his wife may have fatally injured herself in all of the excitement.

If true, this would be a strange set of circumstances, to say the least.

Police, it ought to be noted, continue to investigate the matter.