Actor Gene Hackman was found dead at his home on February 18. He was 95. His wife, Betsy Arakawa, 65, was also dead. Both had been deceased for quite some time as signs of mummification were present. It was initially reported that the couple might have been killed via carbon monoxide poisoning, but that was quickly debunked. No signs of a gas leak were present, the front door was open, and pills were strewn about the residence. It was re-labeled suspicious by authorities.
With the autopsies now complete, the couple deaths were not suspicious. There was no foul play but how they died remains tragic. Mr. Hackman died of heart disease, which isn’t uncommon for a man pushing 100. Betsy’s passing is more startling: she succumbed to hantavirus, a respiratory pathogen spread by rodents. She went out to run errands on February 11 and was never seen again; she likely died that night. Mr. Hackman died a week later (via NYT):
The actor Gene Hackman died from heart disease at his home in New Mexico, most likely a week after his wife, Betsy Arakawa, died from the effects of hantavirus, a disease linked to rodents that can cause respiratory failure in rare cases, the authorities said on Friday.
The revelation that the famous and reclusive couple had died of natural causes put to rest much of the speculation that followed the discovery of their bodies on Feb. 26. But it also raised new questions about the state of mind of Mr. Hackman, who investigators said had advanced Alzheimer’s disease, and why the couple was not discovered sooner.
Ms. Arakawa, 65, had run a series of errands on Feb. 11, but the authorities could find no evidence of any activity after that, suggesting that she could have died that day. Mr. Hackman, 95, is believed to have died about a week later, on Feb. 18, according to New Mexico’s chief medical examiner, Dr. Heather Jarrell.
Mr. Hackman was found on the floor of the mudroom in the couple’s home, near his cane, while Ms. Arakawa was found on a bathroom floor, beside a counter with common medication scattered about that investigators later determined did not play a role in her death. They were not discovered until Feb. 26, when a maintenance worker arrived to the couple’s home east of Santa Fe and grew worried when no one answered the door. The worker contacted a security guard, who called 911.
There are some questions here. Did Mr. Hackman not know his wife was dead for a week? He was in the same home with a dead woman for days before he passed away. Just a sad ending and we’ll likely never get answers to those questions.
Either way, we lost one of the great actors of all-time. 95 years for Mr. Hackman—what a life. As for his wife, 65 is too young to be cut down like that.
