Morgan Freeman talks about Gene Hackman with an image of Gene Hackman on the screen during the 2025 Oscars.
Chris Pizzello / AP
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Chris Pizzello / AP
Santa Fe, NM-Actor Gene Hackman died of heart disease a full week after his Hantavirus death in their house on the new-mexic hill, and he might not know that she was dead because he showed serious signs of Alzheimer’s disease, revealed on Friday.
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 that in the end, this is what led his death.”
The authorities excluded an unfair game after the bodies of Hackman, 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 an agricultural market, said Santa Fe Sheriff on Friday, Adan Mendoza.
Hackman’s cardiac stimulator showed signs of activity for the last time a week later and that he had an abnormal heart rate on February 18. On the day of his death, said Jarrell.
“It is quite possible that he did not know that she had died,” said Jarrell.
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.
Jarrell said he was not known how Arakawa speed died.
Investigators previously recovered personal objects from the couple’s home, including a monthly planner and two mobile phones.
The sheriff of the County of Santa Fe, Adan Mendoza, answers questions on the investigation into the death of actor Gene Hackman and his wife Betsy Arakawa in Santa Fe, New Mexico on Friday.
Susan Montoya Bryan / AP
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Susan Montoya Bryan / AP
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. A necropsy will be carried out on the dog. The sheriff considers that it is an open survey until they have finished checking the mobile phone data and receiving the results of the dog’s autopsy.
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).
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.
The couple’s stucco, the Pueblo-Revival style house is on a hill in a closed community at the southern tip of the rocky mountains. Santa Fe is known as a refuge for celebrities, artists and authors.
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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