How Gene Hackman’s wife could have caught rare deadly virus
Mystery continues to surround deaths of Gene Hackman and his wife Betsy Arakawa as investigators look into “loopholes” in the sudden deaths of the devoted couple.
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Mystery continues to surround deaths of Gene Hackman and his wife as investigators confirm they are looking into “loopholes”.
Officials have revealed the causes of death of the 95-year-old actor and 65-year-old Betsy Arakawa, but Sheriff Adan Mendoza says there are still questions to be answered before closing the case.
The haunting details about the couple’s tragic last days were announced by a New Mexico medical examiner who revealed the actor died days after his wife from cardiac disease.
Ms Arakawa, is believed to have died first on February 11 from a rare rodent disease called hantavirus pulmonary syndrome.
Hantavirus spreads when exposed to rodents’ urine, droppings, and saliva, according to the US Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
While Hantavirus is rare, it carries a 38 per cent death rate, according to the CDC.
But, while many questions have now been answered, Sheriff Mendoza said in a press conference that police are still looking into the case to close “the loopholes.”
“We consider this an open investigation until we close the loopholes of the cell phones, until we finish out the necropsy results of the canine and the other loose ends that we need to tie up,” he said.
One of the couple’s dogs, Zinna, was also found dead at the property in a crate in a cupboard in the bathroom “10 to 15 feet” away from Ms Arakawa’s body.
Their other two dogs, Bear and Nikita, were found alive but distressed at the property, police said.
Zinna had undergone a procedure at a local veterinary hospital “which may explain why the dog was in a crate,” the Sheriff said, as they wait to hear of its cause of death.
Investigators are awaiting cell phone records from the couple’s phones though it is “very unlikely” they will bring anything to light that authorities do not already know, the Sheriff said.
Just hours before her death, Betsy Arakawa was busy with her day-to-day chores as Hackman’s sole caregiver, The Sun reports.
She sent emails and ran errands in her final hours before she tragically died from the rare rat virus.
Theories about the couple’s death ended after New Mexico medical investigators revealed in a press conference that the 95-year-old Oscar winner died from a heart condition seven days after Ms Arakawa died from the rare hantavirus pulmonary syndrome, which is caused by contact with rodents.
Hantavirus symptoms present as a chest cold, meaning it is often misdiagnosed, Dr Jeffrey Klausner, an infectious disease expert and professor at the University of South California, told TMZ.
Dr Klausner said hantavirus was akin to severe pneumonia and, like any other severe virus, the percentage of survival is much greater if it’s diagnosed immediately and the person is hospitalised.
Ms Arakawa was tragically found dead in the house’s bathroom with scattered pills from an open prescription bottle on the counter.
While there was no rodent activity in the pair’s main house, rodent droppings were discovered in the couple’s garage and outhouses, the Daily Mail reported.
According to experts, Ms Arakawa could have picked up the deadly disease when she was cleaning those specific areas of the property where the rodents had been.
Hackman — suffering from the debilitating effects of Alzheimer’s — is believed to have died on February 18, seven days after his wife’s death.
Hantavirus hits so fast that Ms Arakawa tragically may not have realised that her life was in danger, an expert said.
Symptoms of hantavirus infection include fever, muscle aches and coughing, which can lead to shortness of breath and heart or lung failure.
Hantavirus is not transferable between humans, and Hackman had not contracted the illness.
He tragically lived alongside his wife’s body, likely not knowing she was dead.
He was found in the kitchen with no food in his stomach, but he showed no signs of dehydration.
One of the couple’s three German Shepherd dogs was also found dead in the bathroom’s closet.
Adan Mendoza, Santa Fe County Sheriff, outlined Ms Arakawa’s final movements, saying that on February 9, she picked up the dog that was later found dead from the vets after a procedure.
On February 11, Ms Arakawa went shopping in a farmer’s market, pharmacy and a pet food store.
She returned to their gated community and all of her emails were left unread after that date.
Dr Heather Jarrell, New Mexico’s chief medical examiner said: “Mr Hackman showed evidence of advanced Alzheimer’s disease.
“He was in a very poor state of health. He had significant heart disease, and I think ultimately that’s what resulted in his death.”
She added: “There is no reliable method to determine time or date of death, but it is probably likely Mr Hackman died around February 18.
“And based on circumstances, it is reasonable to conclude Ms Hackman died first, with February 11 the last time she was known to be alive.”
The bodies of Hackman and his wife were found in different rooms.
The Oscar winner was discovered fully clothed in a wet room off the kitchen with his cane laid out next to him, according to a search warrant.
Ms Arakawa was found on the bathroom floor, near a space heater, and her body was said to have been partially “mummified”.
An early theory was that carbon monoxide poisoning had killed the couple and their dog, but that was ruled out by negative chemical tests.
Hackman had three children with his first wife, Faye Maltese — Christopher, 65, Elizabeth, 63, and Leslie, 58.
He married Ms Arakawa, a classical pianist, in 1991.
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Originally published as How Gene Hackman’s wife could have caught rare deadly virus
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