The seemingly mysterious deaths of Gene Hackman and his wife, Betsy Arakawa, in their Santa Fe, N.M., home were both natural and occurred days apart before they were discovered, authorities announced Friday.
Hackman, 95, had heart disease and Alzheimer’s disease and probably died days after his 65-year-old wife, who died of hantavirus, the New Mexico medical investigator’s office announced. The contributing factors in Arakawa’s death were attributed to rodents.
The bodies of Hackman, 95, and Arakawa were discovered at their Santa Fe home on Feb. 26, but Hackman’s pacemaker was active only until Feb. 17, according to Santa Fe County Sheriff Adan Mendoza.
Gene Hackman accepts his Oscar for lead actor at the 44th Academy Awards in Los Angeles in 1972.
(Associated Press)
Santa Fe County sheriff’s deputies responded to the home and discovered Arakawa’s body in a bathroom with prescription pills scattered on a countertop nearby. Hackman’s body was found in another room, according to a search warrant affidavit filed in the Santa Fe County Magistrate Court. Both bodies showed signs that they had fallen down abruptly and were partially decomposed.
Both died from natural causes, Heather Jarrell, chief medical examiner at the medical investigator’s office, said.
Jarrell performed the autopsy on Hackman and said his brain showed “advanced Alzheimer’s disease as well as blood vessel changes in the brain secondary to chronic high blood pressure.”
“He was in a very poor state of health. He had significant heart disease, and I think ultimately that is what resulted in his death,” Jarrell said.
When asked whether Hackman’s Alzheimer’s disease prevented him from being able to tell if his wife was dead, Jarrell could not say.
“I think that question is difficult to answer, but I can tell you that he was in an advanced state of Alzheimer’s, and it is quite possible that he was not aware that she was deceased,” Jarrell said.
An examination of Hackman’s pacemaker showed some signs of activity on Feb. 17 and “an abnormal rhythm” the next day, which were the last signs of life, authorities said.
While officials said they could not provide an exact time and date for the deaths, they think Arakawa died Feb. 11.
Investigators pieced together Arakawa’s last days through surveillance footage and emails, according to Santa Fe County Sheriff Adan Mendoza.
She picked up her dog from a veterinary hospital on Feb. 9. Then she was seen on surveillance footage on Feb. 11 at a local Sprouts supermarket around 3:30 p.m. and a CVS Pharmacy shortly before 4:30 p.m., according to investigators.
She stopped at a pet food store and shortly before 5 p.m. returned to her neighborhood and activated the remote control to open the gate to her subdivision. Earlier in the day, Arakawa wrote to her massage therapist over email. There was no email activity on the following day, according to officials.
Though Jerrell did not pinpoint exactly where Arakawa contracted hantavirus, they did note that it is transmitted by rodent droppings or saliva, and characterized by flu like symptoms, fever, muscle aches, cough, vomiting and diarrhea.
Erin Phipps, New Mexico state public health veterinarian, said there were signs of rodent entry in some structures on the property.
Roughly 38% to 50% of people in Southwest who are infected and experience respiratory symptoms die from the disease, officials said.
The rest of the Hackman family was notified about the investigation results, Jarrell said, adding that it’s unusual for her office to comment on death investigations. But the “circumstances surrounding these two deaths require accurate dissemination of important information.”
One of the couple’s dogs — the one that Arakawa had picked up from the vet — was found dead in a closet near her body, and two other dogs found on the property were able to enter and exit the home through a door at the rear of the residence, according to Mendoza.
The couple’s bodies were discovered by maintenance workers at the Santa Fe Summit housing community, where Hackman and Arakawa led private lives, authorities said. They told investigators they had not spoken to the couple in more than two weeks.
On Sunday, Hackman was memorialized at the Academy Awards ceremony by actor Morgan Freeman. The two co-starred in the films “Unforgiven” and “Under Suspicion.”
“Like everyone who ever shared a scene with him, I learned he was a generous performer whose gifts elevated everyone’s work,” Freeman said. “He received two Oscars but more importantly he won the hearts of film lovers all over the world.”
“Gene always said, ‘I don’t think about legacy. I just hope people remember me as someone who tried to do good work.’ I think I speak for us all when I say, ‘Gene, you will be remembered for that, and so much more.’ Rest in peace, my friend,” Freeman said.
