Gene Hackman and wife Betsy Arakawa died a week apart from different causes, officials say

Authorities on Friday revealed the causes of death for actor Gene Hackman and his wife, saying the couple are believed to have died a full week apart at their home in New Mexico from two different diseases.

The state's chief medical examiner said Hackman, 95, died as a result of heart disease, with advanced Alzheimer's disease being a contributing factor. He also had chronic high blood pressure and poor kidney function.

"He was in a very poor state of health," Dr. Heather Jarrell told a news conference on Friday.

Hackman's wife, Betsy Arakawa, died from a rare lung infection known as hantavirus pulmonary syndrome. The condition is spread by infected rodent droppings and can cause respiratory failure.

WATCH | Medical examiner explains autopsy results:

Gene Hackman had advanced Alzheimer's, autopsy shows

2 days ago

Duration 1:52

Authorities announced Friday that actor Gene Hackman showed severe signs of Alzheimer's disease and died of heart disease about a week after his wife, Betsy Arakawa, died of hantavirus pulmonary syndrome. Dr. Heather Jarrell, New Mexico's chief medical examiner, told reporters it was possible that Hackman was not aware his wife had died in their home.

Investigators found that the last known communication and activity from Arakawa was Feb. 11 when she visited a pharmacy, pet store and grocery before returning to their gated neighborhood that afternoon, Santa Fe County Sheriff Adan Mendoza said Friday. It's believed she died that day. 

Hackman's pacemaker indicates he died seven days after his wife.

Officials believe the late actor was alone in the house with his wife's body during that time. He might not have realized Arakawa had died due to the progression of his Alzheimer's, Jarrell said.

"It's quite possible he was not aware she was deceased," the medical examiner said at the news conference.

The couple's bodies weren't discovered at their home until Feb. 26. Hackman was found near his cane in the entryway, and Arakawa was found on the bathroom floor.

The bodies were decomposing with some mummification, a consequence of body type and climate in Santa Fe's especially dry air at an elevation of nearly 2,200 metres.

Jarrell said pills found near Arakawa's body were thyroid medication and not linked to her cause of death. The medical examiner said hantavirus is spread through rodent feces and can initially cause flu-like symptoms before progressing to shortness of breath as well as cardiac and lung failure.

The Santa Fe County Sheriff's Office has said it does not suspect foul play, and tests for carbon monoxide poisoning were negative. 

One of the couple's three dogs also was found dead in a crate in a bathroom closet near Arakawa, while two other dogs survived. 

Dogs do not get sick from hantavirus, said Erin Phipps, a veterinarian with the New Mexico Health Department. The sheriff considers this an open investigation until they receive results of the dog's necropsy and finish checking into data from personal cellphones retrieved from the home.

'Quite clear and plausible'

"All of us that knew him should have been checking on him," said Stuart Ashman, co-owner of Artes de Cuba gallery who cherished his encounters with Hackman at a local Pilates exercise studio, where they used to swap stories. "I had no idea. ... It's just really sad. And that she died a week before him. My God."

Dr. Victor Weedn, a forensic pathologist in Virginia, said when two bodies are found at the same time, the usual assumption would be that they died at the same time. But Hackman's Alzheimer's disease added a complicating factor: He apparently was unable to seek help after his wife died.

"They died several days apart: One dying of a viral infection, the hantavirus, which can kill quite quickly. And the other death occurring from heart disease. And that too can be a relatively sudden death," Weedn said. "Their [the authorities'] explanation, I thought, was quite clear and plausible. I believe they really discovered what truly happened in this case."

Hackman, a Hollywood icon, won two Oscars during a storied 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, attended the University of Southern California and met Hackman in the mid-1980s while working at a California gym.

Hackman dedicated much of his time in retirement to painting and writing novels far from Hollywood's social circuit. He served for several years on the board of trustees at the Georgia O'Keeffe Museum in Santa Fe, and he and his wife were investors in local businesses.

WATCH | Hackman and his wife died of natural causes: 

Gene Hackman died of heart disease 1 week after wife died of hantavirus

2 days ago

Duration 2:49

U.S. investigators say Oscar-winning actor Gene Hackman likely died of heart disease one week after his wife Betsy Arakawa died of hantavirus in a separate room in their New Mexico home. Police say Hackman’s dementia was a likely contributor to his death.