Authorities have answers on the shocking deaths of Gene Hackman and his wife Betsy Arakawa.
The couple died of natural causes at their New Mexico home last month, authorities shared in a March 7 press conference.
Based on surveillance footage, Arakawa, 65, is believed to have died on Feb. 11. Her cause of death was ruled to be hantavirus pulmonary syndrome—a severe respiratory illness that is transmitted through rodent urine, droppings and saliva—based on lab testing.
As for Hackman, the two-time Oscar winner, 95, is believed to have died a week later, on Feb. 18 after his pacemaker recorded an “abnormal atrial fibrillation” or an abnormal heart rhythm, per authorities.
His cause of death is hypertensive and atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease (ASCVD)—or hardening of the arteries—with Alzheimer’s disease as a significant contributing factor.
The medical investigator shared that Hackman was in an “advanced state” of Alzheimer’s—a neurodegenerative brain disorder—and “it’s quite possible that he was not aware that [Arakawa] was deceased.” There was no food in his stomach at his time of death.
