Oscar-winning actor Gene Hackman and his wife died one week apart from natural causes, medical examiner says

foraa754@gmail.comMarch 7, 2025

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Oscar-winning actor Gene Hackman and his wife died one week apart from natural causes, medical examiner says

Oscar-winning actor Gene Hackman died a week after his wife and possibly didn’t know she lay dead in their New Mexico home for a week because of his advanced Alzheimer’s, investigators said.

On Friday, police and medical examiners provided an update on the stunning death of Hackman and Betsy Arakawa, 65. The couple were found dead in their Santa Fe, New Mexico, home on February 26. Questions swirled over their deaths as police initially deemed them “suspicious” when they found no evidence of carbon monoxide poisoning.

Heather Jerrell, chief medical examiner, revealed that the couple died from natural causes – but a week apart. It is likely that Arakawa died first, Jerrell said

Arakawa was found with an open prescription bottle and pills scattered on the bathroom counter. Her death to hantavirus pulmonary syndrome, Jerrell said. Hantaviruses target the lungs and can cause serious illness and death. Its often spread by rodents and transfers from the animal to a person. There are about 800 cases in the U.S. in a year.

Investigators provided an update into the death of Gene Hackman and his wife and revealed both died from natural causes (AP)

The medical examiner added Hackman was found in the home’s entryway with his death tied to heart disease with Alzheimer’s disease contributing. It was previously revealed that recordings from the actor’s pacemaker showed that he could have died as early as February 17, more than a week before the couple’s bodies were discovered.

Based on this information, Jerrell said, it was “reasonable to conclude” that Hackman probably died around February 18. She added that was also reasonable to conclude that Arakawa had passed away, first with February 11 being the last time that she was known to be alive.

Asked if it was possible that the actor had been unaware of his wife’s death, Jerrell said: “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’s quite possible that he was not aware that she was deceased.”

Santa Fe County Sheriff Adan Mendoza said it was also hard to tell if, judging by where and how Hackman was found, if he had been going to seek help for his wife. “That’s hard to that’s hard to answer,” Mendoza said.

“Again, it’s hard to get into the frame of mind of what was happening at the time. And I don’t know if we’ll ever have the answer to that question, whether he was going to go for help.”

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foraa754@gmail.comMarch 7, 2025

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