Gene Hackman died of a heart disease, his wife died of Hantavirus about 1 week before, say the authorities

The two deaths were tried from natural causes, said chief forensic scientist, Dr. Heather Jarrell, alongside fire and health officials at a press conference.

“Mr. Hackman has shown evidence of Alzheimer’s advanced disease,” said Jarrell. “He was in a very poor state of health. He had a significant heart disease, and I think in the end, this is what resulted in his death.”

Authorities did not suspect an unfair game after Hackman’s bodies, 95, and Betsy Arakawa, 65, were discovered on February 26. Immediate tests for carbon monoxide poisoning were negative.

Investigators found that the last communication and known activity of Arakawa was on February 11 when she visited a pharmacy, an pet store and a grocery store before returning to their closed district this afternoon, said Santa Fe County Sheriff on Friday.

Hackman’s cardiac stimulator has shown signs of activity for the last time a week later and that he had an abnormal heart rate on February 18, on his death, said Jarrell.

Although there was no reliable way to determine the date and time at which the two died, all the signs indicate that their death came a week apart, said Jarrell.

“It is quite possible that he did not know that she had died,” said Jarrell.

Dr. Michael Baden, a former New York medical examiner, said that he was thinking that Hackman had been seriously altered due to Alzheimer’s disease and unable to face the death of his wife during the last week of his life.

Most older Americans with dementia live at home and many receive family or friends.

Their bodies were found just over a week later. Hackman was found in the entrance to the house. His death was linked to heart disease with Alzheimer’s disease.

Arakawa was found in a bathroom. The authorities have linked his death to Hantavirus pulmonary syndrome, a rare but potentially fatal distribution by excrement of infected rodents. The thyroid drug pills prescribed in Arakawa were found nearby and were not listed as contributing to his death, said Jarrell.

Hantavirus is generally reported in spring and summer, often due to the exhibitions that occur when people are close to mouse excrement in houses, hangars or poorly ventilated areas. This is the first confirmed case of Hantavirus to New Mexico this year.

Although the Hantavirus is found worldwide, most cases in the United States have been found in Western states. The virus can cause severe and sometimes fatal pulmonary infection.

Jarrell said he was not known how Arakawa speed died.

One of the couple’s three dogs was also found dead in a box in a bathroom closet near Arakawa, while two other dogs survived. The authorities initially poorly identified the breed.

Dogs do not fall ill from Hantavirus, said Erin Phipps, a veterinarian from the New Mexico Health Department. The sheriff considers that it is an open survey until they receive the results of the dog autopsy and finish checking the data from the personal mobile phones recovered from the house.

When Hackman and Arakawa were found, the bodies were broken down with a certain mummification, a consequence of the body type and the climate in the particularly dry air of Santa Fe at an altitude of almost 7,200 feet (2,200 meters).

“We all knew it should have verified it,” said Stuart Ashman, co -owner of Cuba Artes Gallery who cherished his meetings with Hackman in a local Pilates exercise studio, where they used to exchange stories. “I had no idea. … It’s really sad. And that she died a week before him. My God.”

Dr. Victor Weedn, a medical examiner in Virginia, said that when two bodies are found at the same time, the usual hypothesis would be that they died at the same time. But Hackman’s Alzheimer’s disease added a complicating factor: he apparently could not ask for help after the death of his wife.

“They died several days apart: a dying of a viral infection, the Hantavirus, which can kill fairly quickly. And the other death resulting from heart disease. And it can also be a relatively sudden death, “said Weedn. “Their explanation (the authorities), I thought, was quite clear and plausible. I think they really discovered what really happened in this case. »»

Hackman, a Hollywood icon, won two Oscars during a career in films, including “The French Connection”, “Hoosiers” and “Superman” from the 1960s until his retirement in the early 2000s.

Arakawa, born in Hawaii, studied as a concert pianist, frequented the University of Southern California and met Hackman in the mid -80s while working in a California gymnasium.

Hackman has devoted a large part of his time to paint and write novels far from the Hollywood social circuit. He sat for several years on the board of directors of the Georgia O’Keeffe Museum in Santa Fe, and his wife were investors in local businesses.

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Baumann reported to Bellingham, Washington. The journalists of the Associated Press Jacques Billeaud in Phoenix, John Seewer in Toledo, Ohio and Carla Johnson in Seattle contributed.

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