The plot has thickened regarding the famous deceased Hollywood couple, after new information shared by Betsy Arakawa’s doctor suggests she’d called him when she was meant to be dead
Betsy Arakawa and her husband, Gene Hackman, were found dead along with one of their three beloved dogs in their home last month.
The reclusive couple lived in Santa Fe, New Mexico, with reports estimating they lay dead for at least a week before a welfare check by local security discovered their fate. Betsy, 65 was discovered on the bathroom floor next to an open bottle of thyroid medication, whilst Gene was found in a utility room next to the kitchen.
The Sante Fe County Sheriff’s office confirmed the tragic news in a statement: “On February 26, 2025 at approximately 1.45pm, Santa Fe County Sheriff’s deputies were dispatched to an address on Old Sunset Trail in Hyde Park where Gene Hackman, 95 and his wife Betsy Arakawa, 64, and a dog were found deceased.”
Authorities are still piecing together the full story but here’s what we know so far.
Betsy as caretaker
A source close to the couple explained how dedicated Gene and Betsy were to each other, with Betsy operating as her husband’s full-time carer.
Gene’s friend of 20 years, Tom Allin, told the New York Times that Betsy was “very protective of him”, adding that Gene would have passed “long ago” without his wife’s care.
“She just really looked after him,” he continued, reporting that the dedicated classical pianist even went so far as to dilute her husband’s wine glass with soda water during his 90th birthday party.
Daniel and Barbara Lenihan were also fond friends of the couple, commenting: “Last time we saw them, they were alive and well… Probably never seen a couple that got along and enjoyed each other so much.
“Betsy was a wonderful wife. They were very close, and she was a good cook and really, really took good care of him. He had had a triple bypass, maybe around 60 [years old], and he’d been in really good health since then, and I’m sure she was one of those factors.”
Autopsy results
Carbon monoxide was at first feared as the cause of death, but data from Gene’s pacemaker suggested he had passed away from heart failure on February 18.
Meanwhile, Betsy’s autopsy led medical examiners to believe she had died from hantavirus on February 11 – more than two weeks before the pair were found on February 26.
Gene’s stomach was found to be empty upon autopsy, suggesting Gene’s Alzheimer’s may have been the cause of his death after his caretaker wife’s passing.
The pair’s deceased pet – a dog named Zinna – was also found to have an empty stomach after autopsy. All the bodies was found partially mummified (due to the environment), and with an absence of any signs indicating trauma or poisoning.
The other two dogs, named Bear and Nikita, survived, but Zinna was discovered dead in a crate inside a bathroom closet, near the body of Betsy.
An unusual will
Reports emerged after the pair’s death that Gene’s eyewatering £40 million fortune was left to his wife, oddly excluding his children from his first marriage from the will.
The document stated that in the event that both Gene and Betsy did not survive, after 90 days all assets would be transferred to charity organisations.
Son Christopher, and daughters Leslie and Elizabeth may, however, still be able to stake a claim as direct living descendants, due to no pre-nuptial arrangements between Hackman and Arakawa.
Reports claim that Christopher has already employed an attorney specialised in will disputes.
The ‘shocking’ house
Gene and Betsy were known for living a private and quiet existence in their $3.5 million ranch. A community member remarked: “He wanted to be quiet, he didn’t want to be bothered, and I don’t blame him.”
However, reports show that the pair did not employ a housekeeper, and their house quickly fell into disarray. The ranch house has been described as “a mess” and “shocking” by one unnamed informant.
A source told the MailOnline: “They didn’t have a housekeeper or a maid, so it had beautiful things – furniture and paintings – but there was dog poop on the floor.
“The inside of the house was bad. Nothing had been dusted. There was nothing in the fridge.”
Call to doctor
The latest piece of evidence came from a doctor that revealed Betsy made a phone call the day after her suspected death, casting doubt on the police’s narrative.
Dr Josiah Child of Cloudberry Health told The Mail on Sunday: “Mrs Hackman didn’t die on February 11 because she called my clinic on February 12.
“She’d called me a couple of weeks before her death to ask about getting an echocardiogram [heart scan] for her husband. She was not a patient of mine, but one of my patients recommended Cloudberry to her.
“She made an appointment for herself for February 12. It was for something unrelated to anything respiratory.”
He added, “She did not show any symptoms of respiratory distress. The appointment wasn’t for anything related to hantavirus. We tried calling her a couple of times with no reply.”
Hantavirus Pulmonary Syndrome is a rare disease contracted by coming into contact with the urine, droppings, and saliva of mice. Around 38% of people who develop respiratory symptoms may die from the disease.
Dr Child also told the Mirror that Betsy had previously called to cancel an appointment due to her husband being unwell.
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Source: Celebrities - dailystar.co.uk
