New details reveal tragic details of Gene Hackman’s final few days

For years, actor Gene Hackman's doting wife Betsy Arakawa would do whatever she could to help keep him healthy, whether it meant wearing a mask everywhere she went or encouraging him to stay fit by riding his bike or doing yoga on Zoom.

In late February, the couple was found dead in their New Mexico home, a heartrending end to the life they shared. Arakawa, 65, died of hantavirus and days later, Hackman, 95, died of heart disease, the New Mexico medical investigator's office revealed on Friday.

Authorities, working to lay out a timeline of what happened, said Hackman had Alzheimer's disease and may have not realised he was alone in the days before he died.

Clues as to what the couple's life looked like before their tragic deaths could be gleaned from their last interactions with loved ones. Close and longtime friends of the couple say they seemed to be in good health at their most recent encounter.

"Last time we saw them, they were alive and well," Daniel Lenihan told CNN's Erin Burnett last week. Barbara, Lenihan's wife, said she had last seen Arakawa a few weeks ago at a home decor shop the two had opened together in Santa Fe.

"They were so delightful to be around," Barbara said, adding how proud Hackman and Arakawa were of each other. "Probably never seen a couple that got along and enjoyed each other so much."

Using evidence gathered from their home, authorities pieced together what they now believe happened, answering many of the questions behind what began as a mystery.

Investigators believe she died first

Arakawa's last known interactions were on February 11. She had a short email exchange with her massage therapist that morning and later visited a Sprouts Farmers Market, CVS pharmacy and a dog food store before returning to her gated community at around 5:15pm, Santa Fe Sheriff Adan Mendoza said on Friday.

After that, there was no other known activity or outgoing communication from her, the sheriff said.

"Numerous emails were unopened on her computer on February 11," Mendoza said.

Arakawa died from hantavirus pulmonary syndrome, a rare disease that results from infection through contact with rodents, according to Dr Heather Jarrell, chief medical examiner for the New Mexico Office of the Medical Investigator.

Pills found scattered on the bathroom floor near Arakawa's body were prescription thyroid medication and not related to her death, Jarrell said.

Zinna, one of the animal-loving couple's dogs, was found dead in a crate in the bathroom near her body.

"Based on the circumstances, it is reasonable to conclude that Ms Arakawa passed away first," Jarrell said.

What Hackman's days looked like after his wife of more than 30 years left his side has yet to be fully pieced together, but the end came in a matter of days.

Hypertensive and atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease took the acting legend's life, likely on February 18 when his pacemaker last recorded his heartbeat, according to Jarrell.

The device recorded Hackman was experiencing atrial fibrillation, an irregular heart rhythm.

His body was discovered on the ground near the kitchen, with a walking cane and sunglasses next to him, on February 26.

Authorities said he was "in a very poor state of health".

Hackman had "advanced" Alzheimer's disease, which was "a significant contributory factor" in his death, and it was possible the actor was "not aware" his wife had died several days earlier, Jarrell said.

Alzheimer's, a brain disorder caused by damage to nerve cells in the brain, begins with mild memory loss and can lead to the inability to carry out daily activities, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The disease, estimated to affect nearly 7 million Americans, was the seventh-leading cause of death in the US in 2022, according to the CDC.

"As people advance in the sequence of their Alzheimer's disease, they become more and more reliant on a caregiver," Dr Jonathan Reiner, medicine and surgery professor at George Washington University, told CNN's Sara Sidner Friday night.

It's unclear whether Arakawa was his primary caregiver or if Hackman had other caregivers. If Arakawa was his principal caregiver, "she would be responsible for giving Mr Hackman his medications, for cleaning him, for helping him to the bathroom and for feeding him," Reiner said. With Arakawa's sudden death, "one can see how, sadly, that could lead to his death," he said.

Other findings paint a grim picture of Hackman's last days.

Investigators have found no signs Hackman was communicating with anyone.

They also did not find any food in his stomach, "which means he had not eaten recently," the medical examiner said.

Some questions may remain unanswered

Officials said it is going to be "hard to tell" if Arakawa was feeling sick in the days leading up to her passing.

It is possible she had been ill for weeks before she died, though Arakawa did not appear to be sick or struggling in surveillance camera footage captured on February 11.

"She was walking around, she was shopping, she was visiting stores," Mendoza said of the surveillance video. "My detectives didn't indicate that there was any problem with her or struggle of her getting around."

The CDC has been notified of the case of hantavirus authorities said led to Arakawa's death, according to New Mexico State Public Veterinarian Erin Phipps. Hantavirus pulmonary syndrome does not spread from person to person.

Symptoms can take up to two months to show up after contact with an infected rodent, often starting with fatigue, fever and muscle aches that can develop into coughing and shortness of breath within a few days. More than a third of people who develop respiratory symptoms may die from the disease, according to the CDC.

Health officials searched the couple's property for signs of rodents, Phipps said. They found the risk of exposure inside the home was low, but they did find evidence rodents had entered other structures on the property.

Authorities are also awaiting necropsy results to determine how the couple's kelpie mix died. Starvation could have been a cause of death but officials are still unsure, Phipps said, noting that dogs do not get sick from hantavirus. Zinna underwent a procedure on February 9, which could explain why the dog was in a crate, according to Mendoza. The couple's other two dogs were found alive and had been able to go in and out of the house through an open door, authorities said.

As they work to complete a timeline surrounding the high-profile deaths, investigators are still searching Hackman's and Arakawa's cell phones for information that could shed light on their locations or other communications they had before they died.

"We're pretty close to the timeline," Mendoza said at a Friday news conference, noting the investigation will remain open until a few more "loopholes" are finalised.

"I think a lot of the questions have been answered," Mendoza said. "We are waiting on the cell phones, but (it is) very unlikely that the cell phones are going to show anything else."

Neither Hackman nor Arakawa had any internal or external signs of trauma, the medical investigator said. Both also tested negative for COVID-19, influenza and other common respiratory viruses, she said.

A postmortem CT examination on Hackman "showed severe heart disease, including multiple surgical procedures involving the heart, evidence of prior heart attacks and severe changes to the kidneys due to chronic high blood pressure," she said.

A love story spanning three decades

Hackman and Arakawa "met while she was working part-time in a California fitness centre," according to a 1989 New York Times Magazine story.

Hackman, then 59, had enjoyed three decades as a successful actor in Hollywood, while Arakawa was a classical pianist who found her love of music growing up in Hawaii.

"They share a two-bedroom adobe house on a wide brown plain outside Santa Fe," the story stated of their residence at the time. "He paints and sketches, solitary hobbies, and tools around in one of his two pickup trucks."

Hackman and Arakawa married in 1991. The pair enjoyed watching "DVDs that my wife rents; we like simple stories that some of the little low-budget films manage to produce," he told Empire in 2020.

Barbara Lenihan told The New York Times Arakawa also helped her husband in his literary pursuits, typing up longhand written versions of his books on the computer, while also assisting with edits and sharing her opinions about the characters.

"She was very involved with what he did," Lenihan said. "She made it very possible for him to do it."

Because of their health concerns following the COVID-19 pandemic, friends had seen less of the couple in the last few years, according to Lenihan.

Arakawa took measures like masking to ensure her husband wouldn't get sick. Until a year ago, Hackman was still riding his bicycle and Arakawa "had him doing yoga and different things at home on Zoom and trying to stay very fit," she said.

"Betsy was a wonderful wife. They were very close, and she was a good cook and really, really took good care of him," Lenihan said. "They ate very well. He had had a triple bypass, maybe around (age) 60, and he'd been in really good health since then, and I'm sure she was one of those factors."

Daniel and Barbara Lenihan described the couple as "very easy people to get along with."

When the pair would host the Lenihans at their home, Hackman would often ask Arakawa to play classical pieces on the piano, and she was equally supportive of his accomplishments, Barbara Lenihan said. They loved to travel and were well-liked in their community, she said.

The couple also shared a love of animals. While Hackman was filming "The Replacements" in Baltimore in 1999, two stray dogs wandered onto the set. Hackman took them to a shelter, where one of them was named after him. Later, Hackman and Arakawa adopted the dog named Gene.

Daniel Lenihan said he'll remember Hackman as an "interesting, funny, very intelligent man," while his wife described Arakawa as "clever and witty and fun."

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