RIP Gene Hackman, 95...

The actor Gene Hackman was found dead in a mud room in his New Mexico home and his wife, Betsy Arakawa, was found dead on the floor of a bathroom on Wednesday, according to a search warrant affidavit. An open prescription bottle and scattered pills were discovered near her body on a counter in the bathroom.

A dead German shepherd was found between 10 and 15 feet away from Ms. Arakawa in a closet of the bathroom, the affidavit said. There were no obvious signs of a gas leak in the home, it said, and the Fire Department did not find signs of a carbon monoxide leak.

Detective Roy Arndt wrote in the affidavit that sheriff’s deputies reported to the home on Wednesday afternoon after a maintenance worker made an emergency call. One of the deputies found Ms. Arakawa lying on her side on the bathroom floor with a space heater near her head, the affidavit said. The deputy who found her said he suspected that the heater could have fallen with Ms. Arakawa, the filing said.

Ms. Arakawa’s body showed signs of decomposition, the affidavit said. The dead dog was found near her in a closet, and two other dogs were found alive on the property.

The deputies found Ms. Arakawa first and then discovered Mr. Hackman lying in the mud room, with his body in a similar condition to his wife’s, the affidavit said. He was found in gray sweatpants, a blue long-sleeve T-shirt, brown slippers and with a cane, the affidavit said. A pair of sunglasses was found to his left. One of the deputies on the scene said that it appeared he had “suddenly fallen,” the affidavit said.

Sheriff Adan Mendoza of Santa Fe County said in a phone interview that investigators were still trying to determine what caused their deaths, noting that there were no obvious signs of trauma to the bodies and that no note had been found. The sheriff said the home was continuing to be searched on Thursday.

“At this stage in the process there isn’t anything obvious like that,” he said. “The autopsy is going to tell us more.”

Gene Hackman Died of Heart Disease and Alzheimer’s
Wife’s Cause of Death Determined to Be Hantavirus

Gene Hackman likely died about a week after his wife, Betsy Arakawa, passed away due to hantavirus, a medical examiner announced Friday.

Hackman died of cardiovascular disease, with Alzheimer’s disease as a significant contributing factor, said Heather Jarrell, the chief medical examiner for the New Mexico Office of the Medical Investigator.

Arakawa likely died about a week earlier, on Feb. 11, of hantavirus, a potentially fatal virus transmitted by mice.

With his advanced Alzheimer’s, he wasn’t going to reveal anything to or about anybody .This was a compound collection of sad tragedies.