Gene Hackman’s wife died later than originally thought, authorities say

Authorities in New Mexico have recovered evidence that Betsy Arakawa, wife of actor Gene Hackman, died at least one day later than they had previously estimated.

New Mexico authorities initially believed that Arakawa had likely died of a rare viral infection on February 11 because that was when she was last seen publicly and stopped returning emails.

Betsy Arakawa with her dogs Zinna (left), and Bear, in Santa Fe.Credit: Sherry Gaber via AP

But after analysing her phone, investigators learned that Arakawa had made three calls on the morning of February 12, Denise Womack-Avila, a spokesperson for the Santa Fe County Sheriff’s Office, said on Monday. She said that Arakawa had made the calls to a concierge medical service, Cloudberry Health.

Dr Josiah Child, the lead physician there, said the clinic called Arakawa back that morning and scheduled an appointment for that afternoon. He said she had reported feeling congested but that there were no signs of respiratory distress. Arakawa did not show up for her appointment that afternoon, Child said.

Arakawa and Hackman were both found dead in their secluded home outside of Santa Fe late last month. The state medical examiner concluded that Arakawa, 65, died from the effects of hantavirus, which is contracted through exposure to rodent excrement. The virus can cause flu-like symptoms before progressing to shortness of breath, as well as cardiac and lung failure.

They said that Hackman, who had Alzheimer’s, spent another week in the house with her body and died on February 18 of heart disease.

The timeline of the couple’s death has shifted as law enforcement has recovered new information about their final outings and communications. It was about two weeks after Arakawa’s death that a maintenance worker and a neighbourhood security guard discovered their bodies.

Child said Arakawa had not been a patient of the clinic previously. She had initially scheduled an appointment for February 12, then cancelled it two days before, saying that she needed to take care of her husband. The clinic rescheduled the appointment after Arakawa called again that morning, he said.

The clinic called her that afternoon after she did not show up for the appointment, but she did not pick up, Child said.

Authorities were able to estimate Hackman’s time of death by using information from his pacemaker, which led them to conclude that he died on February 18, nearly a week after his wife.

This article originally appeared in The New York Times.