Officials say

Actor Jean Hackman died of heart disease after a week, when his wife died of Huntwirus in her New Mexico Hillside house, likely she was unaware that she was dead because she was in advanced stages of Alzheimer’s disease, the authorities revealed on Friday (March 7, 2025).

Both deaths were decided to be due to natural causes, Chief Medical Examiner Dr. Heather Jarell said at a news conference with the state fire and health officials.

“Shree. Hakman showed evidence of advanced Alzheimer’s disease,” said Dr. Jarel. “He was in a very poor health condition. He had a significant heart disease, and I think he finally died.”

Officers were discovered on 26 February after the bodies of Hackman, 95, and 65 -year -old Betsi Arakawa. Immediate tests for carbon monoxide toxicity were negative.

Arkawa was last seen on 11 February

Investigators found that the final known communication and activity from Arkawa was on February 11 when he visited a pharmacy, pet store and grocery before returning to his Gailed neighborhood that afternoon, Santa Fe County Sheriff Adan Mendoza said on Friday.

Dr. Jarell said Hackman’s pacemaker last showed signs of activity a week later and on February 18, he had an unusual heart rhythm.

Although there was no reliable way to determine the date and time when both died, all indications indicate their deaths in addition to a week, Dr. Jarel said.

The New Mexico office of the Officers of Santa Fay County Sheriff’s office and Medical Investigative Officers held a press conference on the death of actor Jean Hackman and his wife Betca Arkawa on 7 March, 2025, in New Mexico, on 7 March, 2025. Photo Credit: Reuters

“It is very possible that she knew that she was dead,” Dr. Jarel said.

Hackman’s Alzheimer’s Disease

Former Medical Examiner of New York City, Dr. Michael Baden said he believes that Hackman was severely impaired due to Alzheimer’s disease and was unable to deal with his wife’s death in the last week of his life.

Most of the old American live at home with dementia, and many take care of families or friends.

His body was found slightly after a week. The hackman was found in the entrance of the house. His death was tied to heart disease with the contribution of Alzheimer’s disease.

Hantavas

Arkawa was found in a bathroom. Authorities connected his death to the Huntwirus pulmonary syndrome, a rare but potentially malignant disease spread by infected rodent drops. Jarel said that Arakawa was found to be found to be prescribed thyroid pills nearby and was not listed as contribution to his death.

Huntwirus is commonly reported in spring and summer, often caused by exposure when people occur near mouse drops in homes, sheds or poorly ventilated areas. This is the first confirmation of Huntwirus in New Mexico this year.

While Huntavirus is found worldwide, most cases in the US have been found in western states. The virus can cause a severe and sometimes deadly lung infection.

Dr. Jarell said that it was not known how soon Arakawa died.

1 dog dead, 2 left

One of the three dogs of the doubles was found dead in a basket in a bathroom closet near Arkawa, while two other dogs survived. Officials initially denied the breed as wrong.

Erin Fips, a veterinarian from the Health Department of New Mexico, said that dogs are not ill with huntwirus. Sheriff assumes it on an open investigation until they do not receive the results of dog necropy and finish the data from individual cellphones obtained from home.

When hackman and arakawawa were found, the bodies were disintegrating with some mammarks, as a result of body type and climate in especially dry air at a height of about 7,200 feet (2,200 m).

“We all knew that he should have investigated it,” said Stuart Ashman, co-owner of Arts de Cuba Gallery. “I was not guessing. … It’s really sad. And she died a week before that. Oh God.”

A forensic pathologist from Virginia, Dr. Victor Vedon said that when two bodies are found at the same time, the general belief would be that they died at the same time. But Hackman’s Alzheimer’s disease added a complex factor: he was clearly unable to seek help after his wife’s death.

“They died in addition to several days: dying of a viral infection, huntwirus, which can kill very quickly. And the second death from heart disease. And that too can also cause a sudden sudden death,” Dr. Vedon said. “His (officers ”) explanation, I thought, was quite clear and admirable. I believe he really came to know what had really happened in this matter.”

Hackman’s legacy

A Hollywood icon Hackman won two Oscars during a career in films including “The French connections,” “Hosiers” and “Superman” from the 1960s until his retirement in the early 2000s.

Born in Hawaii, Arkawa studied as a concert pianoist, attended the University of Southern California and met Hackman working in the California gym in the mid -1980s.

Hackman dedicated most of his time to painting in retirement and writing novels away from Hollywood’s social circuit. He served for several years in the trustee mandal at Georgia O’Kifle Museum in Santa Fi, and he and his wife were investors in local businesses.