The final days of famed actor Gene Hackman and his wife, Betsy Arakawa, came to light this week, two months after the couple’s bodies were discovered with their pet dog in their home in New Mexico.
Hackman, 95, “showed severe atherosclerotic and hypertensive cardiovascular disease with placement of coronary artery stents and a bypass graft, as well as a previous aortic valve replacement,” according to a copy of the report obtained by Fox News Digital. “Remote myocardial infarctions were present involving the left ventricular free wall and the septum, which were significantly large. Examination of the brain showed microscopic findings of advanced stage Alzheimer’s disease.”
Hackman had been fitted with a bi-ventricular pacemaker in 2019, allowing experts to determine he had died six days after Arakawa, who is believed to have perished on February 12. Investigators dated her death through her last known online activities.
The autopsy also noted Hackman had a “history of congestive heart failure” as well as “severe chronic hypertensive changes, kidneys” and “neurodegenerative features consistent with Alzheimer’s disease.”
The death of Betsy Arakawa
Investigators believe that Hackman’s Alzheimer’s disease prevented him from understanding that his wife had died. A necropsy report earlier revealed she perished from the rodent-borne hantavirus pulmonary syndrome.
Police, earlier this week, also released footage collected during the course of their investigation, including footage of a pest control expert confirming that he hadn’t seen Hackman or Arakawa for a month prior to their deaths.
Authorities also found dead rats, rat feces, and nests throughout the eight buildings that make up their estate, the Independent reported.