Authorities have been investigating the deaths of Oscar-winning actor Gene Hackman, 95, and his wife, Betsy Arakawa, 63, after they were both found in their Santa Fe, New Mexico, home. And after spending time with the facts of the case, which was initially deemed “suspicious,” they’ve determined that Arakawa succumbed to a virus, while Hackman died of natural cases.
The pair was discovered on the afternoon of Feb. 26 during a welfare check, ABC reported. Hackman was found in a mudroom, while Arakawa was in a bathroom next to a space heater. An open prescription bottle and scattered pills were found on a counter next to her, according to the Santa Fe County Sheriff’s Office.
They appeared to have been dead for some time, a police detective told the BBC, because Arakawa’s body showed signs of “decomposition” and “mummification” in the hands and feet. A dog — an Australian Kelpie mix — was found dead about 10 to 15 feet away from Arakawa; two other dogs were discovered alive at the scene. Neither Hackman nor Arakawa appeared to have any wounds, a sheriff’s office spokesperson told the Associated Press. But their deaths were “suspicious enough in nature to require a thorough search and investigation,” a search warrant read.
What was Gene Hackman and Betsy Arakawa’s cause of death?
New Mexico’s chief medical examiner, Dr. Heather Jarrell, held a news conference Friday to announce the findings of the investigation.
According to the official report, Arakawa died first. She was last seen alive on Feb. 11, when a surveillance video captured her visiting a pharmacy before going back home, according to Santa Fe County Sheriff Adan Mendoza, who also said Arakawa stopped responding to emails after that day. The pills that had been found next to Arakawa’s body were determined to be thyroid medication that did not play a role in her passing. Instead, Dr. Jarrell said, Arakawa died as a result of hantavirus, which can result from exposure to the “urine, droppings, and saliva” of rodents like rats or mice, according to the CDC.
The medical examiner believes that Hackman died a few days later, on Feb. 18, based on the final recorded activity on his pacemaker. Hackman tested negative for hantavirus, but his autopsy did reveal severe heart disease along with the signs of several previous heart attacks. Dr. Jarrell added that Alzheimer’s was another contributing factor to Hackman’s death.
It remains unclear what happened to the dog who was also found dead in the home, but authorities said the other two dogs who were discovered alive are “healthy and receiving the best care in a familiar environment,” according to the dog boarder who is caring for them until the late couple’s lawyer makes a decision about what should happen to the pets.
What have other celebrities said about these tragic deaths?
Hackman was a Hollywood legend, who won two Academy Awards — one for best actor for his work in The French Connection, and another for best supporting actor in Unforgiven. He met Arakawa, a classically trained pianist from Hawaii, in the mid-’80s before the pair married in 1991.
Tributes have poured in for the actor since news of his death broke.
“The loss of a great artist, always cause for both mourning and celebration: Gene Hackman a great actor, inspiring and magnificent in his work and complexity,” Francis Ford Coppola, who directed him in 1974’s The Conversation, posted on Instagram.
Nathan Lane, who co-starred with Hackman in The Birdcage, told Variety in a statement that the 95-year-old was his “favorite actor.”
“Getting to watch him up close, it was easy to see why he was one of our greatest. You could never catch him acting,” Lane said. “Simple and true, thoughtful and soulful, with just a hint of danger. He was as brilliant in comedy as he was in drama, and thankfully his film legacy will live on forever.”
