New details released in deaths of Gene Hackman and wife Betsy Arakawa

SANTA FE — The Office of the Medical Investigator said Friday that actor Gene Hackman died of complications of severe heart disease and Alzheimer’s disease and his wife, Betsy Arakawa, died of hantavirus.

OMI Chief Medical Examiner Heather Jarrell said Arakawa, 65, died days before her 95-year-old husband, although the exact time span was unclear.

Due to Hackman’s affliction, the question was posed whether he knew his wife had died.

“It’s difficult to answer the question,” Jarrell said. “... But I can tell you that he was in an advanced state of Alzheimer’s, and it’s quite possible that he was not aware that she was deceased.”

A Feb. 27 autopsy found Arakawa, a classical pianist, died of hantavirus, also known as hantavirus pulmonary syndrome, while her husband showed no traces of the disease, she said.

Santa Fe County Sheriff Adan Mendoza said he is still waiting to learn the cause of death for the couple’s kelpie mix Zinna, who was found dead in a crate inside the home.

For the past several days, people all over the world were speculating as to what led to the couple’s deaths. On Friday, the wait ended.

At least a dozen news outlets set up cameras and microphones outside the Santa Fe County Sheriff’s Office in preparation for the news conference. As they waited, some reporters theorized loudly about what may have killed the family.

Mendoza said his investigators were able to trace Arakawa’s last movements. On Feb. 11, she was caught on video going to grocery stores and a drug store before returning home at 5:15 p.m.

“There was no additional outgoing communication from her or known activity after Feb. 11,” he said.

Jarrell said the autopsy showed the wife died before her husband, whose pacemaker showed his “last event” was Feb. 17.

On Feb. 26, the bodies were found in a state of decomposition inside their picturesque 8,700-square-foot home just outside Santa Fe city limits. Maintenance workers called neighborhood security after not hearing from them for days.

Hackman and Arakawa died in separate rooms. Their dog was found near the bathroom where Arakawa’s body fell. Two dogs were found alive and the back door of the home was slightly open.

There were no signs of foul play or head trauma, Mendoza said.

‘Hero of the screen’

People in Santa Fe are still processing the deaths, including Video Library owner Lisa Harris, who said she knew the couple for 25 years.

“They were so private then all of a sudden, (they) were on the front page,” she said.

Harris said the couple enjoyed action and adventure movies and “tried to keep up with all the current ones, especially those made by actors like Tommy Lee Jones and Clint Eastwood.”

Harris said a few of her favorite Hackman movies were “The Conversation,” “Unforgiven” and “Young Frankenstein,” adding of the latter, “He had a small role in it, but it was the first time people were (like), ‘Oh my God, he can do comedy.’”

Hackman was cordial, asking what’s going on in the world, whether there was interesting local gossip or if she had seen any good movies recently, Harris said.

“They really tried to blend in and help the community,” she said.

On the front desk at Jinja Bar and Bistro sits a vase with a note that reads, “Gene, Hero of the Screen.” Hackman, who played characters ranging from Sheriff “Little Bill” Daggett in “Unforgiven” to Max Millan in “Scarecrow,” was one of the restaurant’s original investors.

Inside Jinja are a handful of paintings by Hackman, including one known as “The Mural” that nearly covers a wall in the main dining area.

“The news of the passing of Gene Hackman is something that touched us deeply at Jinja,” a Jinja Facebook post states. “Gene and his wife (have) always meant a lot. Not only to us at Jinja, but to Santa Fe and the entire art community.”

Man about town

Aside from painting and acting, Hackman served on the board of trustees at the Georgia O’Keeffe Museum and was a writer.

After his death, people went to bookstores like Op.cit. books to buy copies of his work or biography and get a chance to learn more about a man few people knew.

Bookstore employee Alvin Haimowitz said he saw Hackman a couple of times, including less than a year ago, when he thought Hackman “looked pretty good.” He never tried to approach the actor.

“Even though I’m starstruck,” he said, “I gave him his space.”

James Dunbar, co-owner of the bookstore Allá, said he hung out with Hackman at The Dragon Room several years ago.

“He didn’t go out promoting himself,” Dunbar said. “He didn’t need to. He had two Academy Awards. That’s one reason he was such an affable person, down to earth.”

Not everyone was willing to talk about the couple as they absorbed the shock of the deaths, including an employee with Pandora, a home decor and furnishing store Arakawa helped open.

Daniel Zales, a vendor in the Santa Fe Plaza, setting up his umbrella to peddle hot dogs, said the mystery of the pair’s demise had captivated the town.

“People speak more when they’re dead than when they were alive,” Zales said.