Gene Hackman dead at 95: Iconic actor and wife, 63, are found dead with their dog at Santa Fe home. #3

[Warwick7]

I am thinking the same thing. If she was sick she may have been toughing it out caring for GH and ignoring calls. Probably sleeping a lot not realizing she had something potentially terminal. In which case she may have lingered on closer to the 17th/18th when she fell and died. At some point GH had fallen and he may have laid there a day or two earlier than his heart went out, perhaps not wandering around for full 7 days perhaps woken up himself to finding her dead closer to 17th/18th. All this makes for some debate, not only for the "public that has to know", but for the families as whichever died first weighs in on the way the estate is distributed. I don't think BA had any siblings, however she may have been financial source of care for her mom who at this time has survived her. The medical examiner has decided she has cause and time of death nailed down and I guess that settles it. There will remain the question of the phone contents and whether there were communications that affect either decedents death certificate. I find this especially sad for BA because she had a long life ahead of her had this not occurred.

BBM
I agree.
If the death certificate becomes available to the public, I'm sure the ME has listed 2-11-25 as date of death.

 

[Cherwell]

Your understanding and my understanding differ on "being the last time that she was known to be alive."

Do the maths. The course of the illness means that she was likely ill for between four and eight days before death.
She was well enough to be out driving and shopping on the 11th.

"The last time she was known to be alive" means that nobody, as far as is known, saw or had contact with her after the 11th. It doesn't mean she was dead. She would have been feeling unwell but probably thought she had flu and would recover in due course, so saw no need to contact anyone.

 

[Cherwell]

If the death certificate becomes available to the public, I'm sure the ME has listed 2-11-25 as date of death.

I don't know how they handle uncertain dates of death on US certificates, but the ME never said that she is likely to have died on that date. Even if they give that as the date of death, it doesn't mean it is correct.
They are on firmer ground with Gene because of the pacemaker evidence.

 

[Warwick7]

Do the maths. The course of the illness means that she was likely ill for between four and eight days before death.
She was well enough to be out driving and shopping on the 11th.

"The last time she was known to be alive" means that nobody, as far as is known, saw or had contact with her after the 11th. It doesn't mean she was dead. She would have been feeling unwell but probably thought she had flu and would recover in due course, so saw no need to contact anyone.

I have done the math. I have watched the press conference. "Numerous emails were unopened on her computer on February 11th. There was no additional outgoing communication from her or known activity after February 11th, 2025.
We're working with state police to get the information from those phones but our investigation shows that the all the last known communication and activity from Ms. Arakawa was on February 11th.
Based on the circumstances, it is reasonable to conclude that Ms. Hackman passed away first with February 11th being the last time that she was known to be alive."

 

[Cherwell]

The medical examiner has decided she has cause and time of death nailed down and I guess that settles it.

Could you show me the source for that statement, please. She was clear on the cause of death, but I am not aware of any firm statement as to date/time of death.

 

[priyaya]

Do the maths. The course of the illness means that she was likely ill for between four and eight days before death.
She was well enough to be out driving and shopping on the 11th.

"The last time she was known to be alive" means that nobody, as far as is known, saw or had contact with her after the 11th. It doesn't mean she was dead. She would have been feeling unwell but probably thought she had flu and would recover in due course, so saw no need to contact anyone.

Perhaps there are other things from the investigation that are making them also think she wasn't mobile, addition to the unanswered emails, .like missed dates on planners they took.
I think they are waiting to get back location data on the phone or possibly the logs.of any phone.functioning after the 11th. As well as the dog. It shouldn't matter but it will be helpful data for future health research. The cases are so rare there isn't a ton of data to go off of like other redpitory viruses.

 

[Warwick7]

Could you show me the source for that statement, please. She was clear on the cause of death, but I am not aware of any firm statement as to date/time of death.

https://turboscribe.ai/transcript/share/4980981187887858464/36FWZhd5l3_dwbhcUFWaBXevd-hLrekSeP3lRkE-A6E/see-officials-provide-an-update-on-gene-hackman-and-wifes-death-investigation

 

[airportwoman]

but she said he wasnt dehydrated, so does that mean he could have been eating before?
how long does it take for your stomach to empty? or he must have been drinking something?

Stomach emptying time is widely variable, for many reasons, but I also got the impression that there was very little left in his intestines, which takes much longer. The senses of hunger and thirst do get blunted with Alzheimer's.

 

[nhmemorymaker]

I agree. I just kept having images of Gene wandering around the house, seeing his wife on the floor and that little doggo in the crate, jumping up first wagging its tail wanting out of the cage and Gene not understanding what was going on. Doing that several times until that poor little dog died. The thing that got me was Gene had his sunglasses on. I wasn't sure if at some point he had moments of clarity and during that time, tried to go out for help and then the veil of dementia once again fell and he was left wondering where he was. So incredibly sad. Sometimes I feel guilty when it's seems I care more for the animal's suffering which isn't really true. Maybe because their survival depends so much on humans like those poor dogs left in a house when its owners moved.

It is just too hard to be rosy about their demise, it really is. I certainly think of Gene too, but I just keep thinking about Betsy....failing, failing failing...but thinking about Gene, and what she couldn't take care of. I just do see so much sadness....but we have to think of the lessons too .....

 

[HoneyBunOne]

Establishing who died first may well be important depending on their wills. It's usually accepted that where there is doubt, the elder person died first, but in this case it seems unlikely.

As for the wealth of money left behind, all I hope is that there is plenty of money put aside for the care of Betsy's mother until the end of her days.

Although it's none of my business, I do wonder where Betsy's money would go if Gene and her mother had gone before her. Charity? Animal welfare? Distant relatives? Gene's kids? Just thinking out loud here, because again, it's none of my business.

 

[Warwick7]

I wish media would have asked what BH was wearing when they found her.

 

[Luna20]

Perhaps there are other things from the investigation that are making them also think she wasn't mobile, addition to the unanswered emails, .like missed dates on planners they took.
I think they are waiting to get back location data on the phone or possibly the logs.of any phone.functioning after the 11th. As well as the dog. It shouldn't matter but it will be helpful data for future health research. The cases are so rare there isn't a ton of data to go off of like other redpitory viruses.

They have to have had a look at their phones by now. I understand that they have to go through proper procedures but it would be odd to reference the 11th as the last digital activity without looking at the phone. What if it was the 14th? It would be awkward and a bit creepy if they had to offer a correction after finding out that the last phone call was the 14th. They avoid being wrong at all cost.

Just my opinion.

 

[HoneyBunOne]

I wish media would have asked what BH was wearing when they found her.

Why? I'm pretty sure one article stated what they were both wearing. He was wearing track pants, slippers and a long sleeved t-shirt I believe. I think it mentioned she was also casually dressed in a similar fashion.
EDIT: I found the article. She was wearing sweat pants and a sweat shirt.

Gene Hackman's and wife Betsy Arakawa's cause of death revealed. Here's what we know.

Gene Hackman died of heart disease and Betsy Arakawa's cause of death was hantavirus pulmonary syndrome, officials said.

www.cbsnews.com

 

[MrsEmmaPeel]

Oh sure, but some people have implied that the open door suggested that a third party was involved in some way.

Thanks!

 

[Warwick7]

Why? I'm pretty sure one article stated what they were both wearing. He was wearing track pants, slippers and a long sleeved t-shirt I believe. I think it mentioned she was also casually dressed in a similar fashion.
EDIT: I found the article. She was wearing sweat pants and a sweat shirt.

Gene Hackman's and wife Betsy Arakawa's cause of death revealed. Here's what we know.

Gene Hackman died of heart disease and Betsy Arakawa's cause of death was hantavirus pulmonary syndrome, officials said.

www.cbsnews.com

Thank you...

 

[Warwick7]

Interesting about the Hantavirus...

"On March 5th, the New Mexico Department of Health staff conducted a risk assessment of the property, including the main residence as well as other structures on the property. This was critically important to address concerns about health risks to first responders as well as to inform any prevention measures needed to protect the family and other individuals entering the property in the future.

We assessed the risk of exposure in the primary residence as low, similar to other well-maintained houses in New Mexico.We did identify signs of rodent entry in other structures on the property and provided information and resources about reducing the risk of Hantavirus transmission related to those areas."

Someone had said the other day they wondered if the dog crate had come from storage in another building on the property. I thought that was really interesting. And here they are saying they did identify rodent entry in other structures on the property.

 

[branmuffin]

Could you show me the source for that statement, please. She was clear on the cause of death, but I am not aware of any firm statement as to date/time of death.

There are several phases of hantavirus symptoms. It's during the second phase, hantavirus pulmonary syndrome that death can occur suddenly. I have no reason to doubt the medical examiner's findings.

Hantavirus pulmonary syndrome - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

 

[Warwick7]

She said there was evidence of deer mouse droppings within out buildings. Now I wonder if they had a stash of dogfood in an open bldg, where she was exposed to it while always feeding the dogs, but Gene wasn't because he didn't go out there. And that would be how the other dogs kept feeding themselves after the deaths.

 

[RedHaus]

It's not pleasant but at least I'm not allowing dead rats to lie around outside for the cats and other creatures to eat.

The outdoor bait boxes are usually preventative.

If you use rodenticide, they come and restock the boboxes.

RSBM
I am not one to perseverate on WS. I usually say my peace and move on to not crowd out others.

But as you may have seen in my post #602 I am passionate about warning people about the dire consequences of using RODENTICIDE, including the "bait" used by licensed agents in black boxes.

So, a few reactions to your posts.

1. Poisoned rodents don't die upon ingestion of RODENTICIDE. Depending upon their dose, they usually die slowly - suffering as long as 10 days. Source.

2. So it's not just dead poisoned rodents to worry about for unintended deaths of pets and wildlife (e.g owls, hawks, etc.). It is the millions of still-alive poisoned rodents who wonder slowly around attracting predators as prey while they die.

3. You have a choice, even if you hire a pest control company, to OPT OUT of using RODENTICIDES as @MrsEmmaPeel does.

Please choose not to. We humans are inadvertently killing wild birds and animals as well as pets because we trust our pest control companies to safely and effectively remove pests.

ETA: a Source, clean up bits

 

[ClearAhead]

I have done the math. I have watched the press conference. "Numerous emails were unopened on her computer on February 11th. There was no additional outgoing communication from her or known activity after February 11th, 2025.
We're working with state police to get the information from those phones but our investigation shows that the all the last known communication and activity from Ms. Arakawa was on February 11th.
Based on the circumstances, it is reasonable to conclude that Ms. Hackman passed away first with February 11th being the last time that she was known to be alive."

it reads “Based on the circumstances, it is reasonable to conclude that Ms. Hackman passed away first with February 11th being the last time that she was known to be alive.”

The ME has stated Betsy was known to be alive on Feb 11th, not that she died on Feb 1th.