The mystery surrounding Gene Hackman and his wife’s death continues, after the Hollywood great was found dead in his Santa Fe home, having died a number of days earlier
Tim Hackman, nephew of Gene Hackman, has spoken out on the emerging theories around the Hollywood actor’s death.
One theory suggested that Gene, 95, and his wife Betsy Arakawa, 65, may have died by “companion suicide”. Their partially mummified bodies were found in different rooms in their Santa Fe mansion, while one of their dogs died too.
The deaths have been marked “suspicious” by Santa Fe County Sheriff’s Office, with other theories circulating too. Another was that the couple had died from carbon monoxide poisoning, and while there were reports of a gas leak being discovered, it was also said that it could not have killed them.
Now, Gene’s nephew Tim has hit out at the “negative” theories surrounding the French Connection star and his pianist wife.
He told Us Weekly: “We’re waiting on toxicology. That will tell us everything.
“It’s hard to theorise. There are lots of theories out there and I don’t want to speculate. It’s easy to speculate negative theories.”
Tim, whose father Richard Hackman was brother Gene’s stuntman, added: “The family wants to keep it positive for now and when we know the truth we will deal with it.”
He explained that the manner in which Gene and Betsy’s bodies were found has only raised more questions. The actor was found in the home’s mudroom, while Betsy was on the bathroom floor.
Earlier this week, an expert, who is not linked to the case, threw doubts on the “companion suicide” theory. James Gill, Chief Medical Examiner for the Connecticut Office of the Chief Medical Examiner, told People: “Usually they’re together in bed.”
He continued: “The fact that they’re in two separate locations tells me that I think that’s less likely.”
James instead suggested that Gene may have collapsed from some sort of heart issues. He added: “He’s got a history of heart disease. He’s got a pacemaker. So that would not be unusual.
“And the fact that he’s ambulatory, that I think is important too because sometimes we’ll see instances where someone is bedridden and maybe they have dementia and then their caregiver dies from a natural event, and then there’s no one there to take care of them, and then they can die from dehydration or what have you.
“I don’t think that’s the case in this.”
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Source: Celebrities - dailystar.co.uk
