Gene Hackman and his wife, Betsy Arakawa, were found dead at their home in Santa Fe, New Mexico, last month, leaving the entertainment world in shock. Initially suspected of carbon monoxide poisoning or foul play, it was later confirmed that both died of natural causes.
Post-mortem results show the Oscar winner’s wife Betsy Arakawa, 65, died on February 11 at theirย New Mexicoย home from a flu-like infection caught from rat faeces.
Hackman and Arakawa were married for over 30 years before their tragic deaths
Hackman, 95, died there a week later from heart disease, with his advancedย Alzheimer’sย ‘a significant factor’. Their bodies were found on February 26.
Tom Allin, a long-time friend of the couple, said Hackman did not have a phone and was ‘uninterested in technology’.
A source said: ‘This is so sad. Mrs Hackman died and Gene was so far advanced with his Alzheimer’s that he was wandering around and didn’t eat.
‘If he didn’t have a phone he couldn’t have called for help, even if he’d wanted to.’
He was found on the floor of one room while his wife was 20 ft away in the bathroom. No food was in his stomach.
Medical examiner Dr Heather Jarrell said: ‘It’s quite possible that Mrs Hackman died and her husband was not aware that she was deceased.’ Their dog Zinna was also dead when the Hackmans’ bodies were discovered.
Zinna, 12, had been locked in a crate after having a medical procedure. There was no food in its stomach. Two other dogs who were roaming free at the home survived.
The source said: ‘Hackman was so advanced with his Alzheimer’s he didn’t realise Zinna was locked in the crate.’
New Mexico officials announced Friday that Betsy Arakawa died of a rat-borne virus close shortly after February 11, while Gene is believed to have passed away on February 18 of severe heart disease.
But Doug Lanham, Hackman’s close friend and former business partner, expressed disbelief that the 95-year-old couldn’t call emergency services in the seven days after his wife fell to the ground on their bathroom floor.
‘We all knew that he was in the late stages of Alzheimer’s. But he was still doing his writing and painting,’ Lanham told DailyMail.com in an exclusive interview.
‘That makes no sense. It’s very strange,’ he said, his voice shaking with emotion at the shocking news.
‘For me personally, it’s even more bizarre. I just can’t comprehend it.’
Lanham met Hackman around 2004 and the two became close friends, with Gene investing in his Santa Fe restaurant Jinja for over a decade.
In a horrific twist, autopsies revealed Arakawa, 65, died from Hantavirus Pulmonary Syndrome on February 11.
Hackman, 95, died about 7 days later, around February 18, before the couple’s mummified remains were found in separate rooms of their $3.8 million Santa Fe home on February 26.
The house owned by actor Gene Hackman and his wife Betsy Arakawa in Santa Fe, New Mexico
Dr. Heather Jarrell, Chief Medical Investigator for the state of New Mexico, said their deaths had both been ruled as natural, and that no signs of internal or external trauma were found.
Their dog Zinna, who was found dead near Arakawa, was picked up from a veterinary hospital on February 9 after undergoing a procedure, which may explain why it was found in a kennel, according to authorities.
When questioned by reporters, Jarrell also said that it was likely that Hackman didn’t even realize his wife had died due to his advanced Alzheimer’s.
Arakawa is said to have died first on February 11 due to her infection, which initially presents with flu like symptoms.
A CDC source told DailyMail.com that while the couple’s main home did not show any signs of rodent activity, some of the property’s outbuildings – including a garage and two casitas – had rodent droppings and other evidence of rodent activity.
Hantavirus is typically is reported in spring and summer, often due to exposures that occur when people are near mouse droppings in homes, sheds or poorly ventilated areas.
While hantavirus is found throughout the world, most cases in the U.S. have been found in western states.
The virus can cause a severe and sometimes deadly lung infection. Symptoms can include coughing, shortness of breath and tightness in the chest.
The mortality of the hantavirus strain in the south west of the United States is about 38% to 50%, and is not transmissible from person to person, Dr Jarrell added.
Jarrell said there was no reliable method to get an exact time for death, but concluded that Hackman probably died around February 18.
In a full timeline of events, officials said that Arakawa had picked up their dog Zinna from a vet hospital after the dog underwent treatment on February 9.
On February 11, they said she had an email conversation with her massage therapist before later in the afternoon going to a farmers market.
She was caught on CVS surveillance footage shortly after the market, before then going to a local pet food store.
Her car was then seen on surveillance entering the gated community at 5:15pm on February 11.
Officials said that numerous emails went unopened on February 11, and that there was no further communication from her account after that day.
Detectives are still waiting on retrieving her full cell phone data, but said her last known activity was February 11.
Officials also said that Zinna had been found dead inside a crate in their residence, and was likely put in it after her treatment.
Hackman was discovered lying on the ground of a mud room just off the kitchen with his sunglasses and cane nearby, indicating he may have fallen according to officials.
Hackman and his wife spent their final years out of the spotlight in Santa Fe, Mexico
