The world now knows exactly what happened to legendary actor Gene Hackman and his wife.
Hackman, an actor renowned for his roles in “The French Connection” and “Unforgiven,” was found dead alongside his wife, classical pianist Betsy Arakawa, in their Santa Fe residence late last month.
Their bodies were found mummified in their compound, with pills scattered throughout the bathroom.
The couple’s dog was also found dead at the scene. Santa Fe County Sheriff Adan Mendoza confirmed the discovery, stating there were no immediate signs of foul play.
The star actor’s daughter, Elizabeth Hackman, speculated to TMZ that carbon monoxide poisoning may have been to blame for their deaths.
But the true causes of their deaths are somewhat surprising, especially in Arakawa’s case.
KTLA revealed that at a media conference on Friday, a representative from the Santa Fe medical examiner’s office revealed Hackman’s cause of death was hypertensive and atherosclerotic cardiac disease. Alzheimer’s disease was also a significant contributory factor.
His wife Arakawa’s cause of death was hantavirus pulmonary syndrome (HPS), a deadly disease spread by rodent droppings. It generally occurs in spring and summer in areas where people are near mouse droppings in homes, sheds, or poorly ventilated areas.
HPS was discovered in 1993 in the four corners region (New Mexico, Arizona, Utah, and Colorado) of the United States after it infected 52 patients. 32 ended up dying.
During the press conference, officials also revealed that Arakawa’s body was in the house for a week while Hackman was still alive. She died on February 11, while Hackman passed away on February 17.
Officials speculated that Hackman may not have known his wife was dead due to having Alzheimer’s.
The dog’s cause of death has not been released at this point.
Watch:
🚨 JUST IN: Actor Gene Hackman dıed of heart disease, but his wife dıed ONE WEEK EARLIER around February 11th of hantavirus, per authorities
According to them, Hackman walked around the house with her body still in it, alerting nobody.
WTF? This story gets weirder and weirder. pic.twitter.com/ryR3Fbrz8F
— Nick Sortor (@nicksortor) March 7, 2025
I am still puzzled by the facts nobody checked on them. Gene and his wife must had helpers for house cleaning, shopping, cooking and garden maintenance.
They must had neighbours and friends.
What about an alarm connected to an emergency service?
What about the dog? No barking, no howling?
Sorry I for one do not believe this conclusion, hanta virus, common, we were not born yesterday!! the day before maybe but not yesterday
Hanta isn’t that common, but it also doesn’t break out in the dead of winter! The deer mice that mostly carry it would either have moved into the house in the fall, or have found a burrow in which to ride out the winter, and if they got in the house the disease would’ve manifest in a couple of wks, not a couple of months!
Him having an heat attack, presumably, due to clogged coronary arteries, which the diagnosis suggests strongly, but doesn’t outright declare, makes sense, Alzheimer’s notwithstanding. It’s contribution might relate to not taking recommended meds properly, but little more really. But Hanta virus in the dead of winter in western, mostly mountainous NM; nope, those mice would have had to be in the house for months before, and the disease should’ve shown up in the fall, not the dead of winter! Its incubation period just isn’t that long! And Gene “not knowing” his wife was dead for a wk, due to Alzheimer’s is iffy as well, unless he was even further decompensated than our former “POTUS”! That they had no one coming in to assist with housekeeping and cooking, at least occasionally is more than a little surprising too, in that it was a grounds keeper who allegedly found the bodies…