Gene Hackman’s official cause of death has been confirmed two months after the legendary Hollywood actor was found dead at his Santa Fe home in New Mexico
Gene Hackman’s official cause of death has been revealed – two months after his death. Gene died at the age of 95 at his mansion in Santa Fe, New Mexico, and was found on February 26 alongside his wife Betsy Arakawa, who was just 65.
A caretaker at the property was the one to sound the alarm on that day, calling responders when he spotted a woman laying on the floor as he looked through a window into the property. Betsy was ruled to have died around a week before her husband, who may not have been aware of her death due to his progressed Alzheimer’s disease.
Official documents state: “Autopsy showed severe atherosclerotic and hypertensive cardiovascular disease, with placement of coronary artery stents and a bypass graft, as well as a previous aortic valve replacement.”
The statement continued: “Remote myocardial infarctions were present involving the left ventricular free wall and the septum, which were significantly large. Examination of the brain showed microscopic findings of advanced stage Alzheimer’s disease.”
The medical examiner noted that Gene had a “history of congestive heart failure” and had a “bi-ventricular pacemaker” placed in April 2019, while adding that he had acetone levels at 5.3 mg/dl, with normal levels rising to only 0.3 mg/dL, according to Fox News.
The toxicology report suggested that acetone is “also a product of diabetic- and fasting-induced ketoacidosis as well as a metabolite following isopropanol ingestion,” and concluded that Gene’s levels may have suggested prolonged fasting.
Examinations also confirmed that carbon monoxide levels were in the normal range, after the actor’s family immediately assumed that a gas leak was likely responsible for his and Betsy’s deaths. Alongside ruling out carbon monoxide poisoning, the examiner also confirmed that Gene didn’t die of the same illness that killed his wife; hantavirus.
It was previously concluded that Betsy had died from hantavirus pulmonary syndrome; a rare condition spread via rodent droppings and urine.
Gene and Betsy lived in a home they designed together in Santa Fe, and it’s thought that the state of the house may have tragically led to Betsy’s early death. One week after the discovery of Gene and Betsy’s bodies, the New Mexico Department of Public Health carried out a full inspection of the property and found it in a harrowing condition.
Rodents and mess had overtaken the mansion that had once appeared in the Architectural Digest, with one source who entered the home describing it as a “mess.”
“The inside of the house was shocking,” they said. “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.”
However, despite the tragic circumstances of their last days together, discoveries within the house paint a picture of a devoted, loving couple up until the end. Love notes were found in the mansion, with the couple having been communicating back and forth with touching handwritten messages. Gene and Betsy got married in 1991, and the actor movingly signed off his notes to his wife with: “Love, G.”
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