BY COMFORT OGBONNA
Oscar-winning actor Gene Hackman was in an advanced stage of Alzheimer’s disease and died from heart disease and other factors, likely just days after his wife, Betsy Arakawa, succumbed to a rare virus spread by mice, according to autopsy results released Friday in New Mexico.
The 95-year-old Oscar winner, his 64-year-old wife, and one of their dogs were found dead on February 26 in different rooms of their Santa Fe home.
At a press conference at the Santa Fe Sheriff’s Office, officials confirmed that Hackman died from heart disease, while Arakawa’s death was caused by hantavirus pulmonary syndrome.
Autopsy results indicated that Arakawa died a week before Hackman. When asked whether Hackman’s advanced Alzheimer’s prevented him from realizing his wife’s passing, Sheriff Adan Mendoza responded, “I would assume that is the case.”
“He was in an advanced stage of Alzheimer’s, and it is quite possible he was not aware that she had passed,” said Heather Jarrell, chief medical investigator at the New Mexico Office of the Medical Investigator.
Authorities believe Arakawa died around February 11, based on the date of her last email. Jarrell determined that Hackman died on February 18, using data from his pacemaker.
Hantavirus is a rare disease in the U.S., with most cases occurring in the western states of New Mexico, Arizona, Colorado, and Utah. In northern New Mexico, the virus is primarily spread through the droppings and urine of deer mice.
The virus is often transmitted through the air when people clean areas where infected mice have been present, such as sheds or closets. It starts with flu-like symptoms and can progress to heart and lung failure. The fatality rate ranges between 38% and 50%.
In recent years, New Mexico has reported between one and seven cases annually, according to health data.
State health inspectors did not find evidence of rodents inside Hackman’s home but detected rodent activity in outdoor structures, according to State Veterinarian Erin Phipps.
Hackman and Arakawa, a pianist, had lived in Santa Fe since the 1980s and were active in the city’s art and culinary communities. In recent years, they were seen less frequently as Hackman’s health declined. The couple lived a very private life before their deaths, Mendoza said.
A caretaker at their gated community discovered the couple deceased. Sheriff’s deputies found Hackman in the kitchen, while Arakawa and a dog were found in a bathroom.
Both appeared to have collapsed suddenly, and neither showed signs of blunt force trauma.
On February 9, Arakawa had picked up one of her dogs from a Santa Fe veterinarian, which could explain why the animal was later found dead in a crate in their home on February 26, Mendoza said. Phipps suggested the dog may have died from starvation.
Hackman, a former Marine known for his distinctive raspy voice, starred in more than 80 films, as well as television and stage productions, during a career that began in the early 1960s.
He earned his first Oscar nomination for his breakout role as the brother of bank robber Clyde Barrow in 1967’s Bonnie and Clyde. Hackman won the Academy Award for Best Actor in 1972 for his portrayal of detective Popeye Doyle in The French Connection, and in 1993, he won Best Supporting Actor for Unforgiven.