The property where Hollywood actor Gene Hackman and his wife Betsy Arakawa were discovered deceased in February was reportedly infested with rats that carried a dangerous illness.
The 95-year-old actor and his 65-year-old wife were found lifeless on February 26 at their residence in New Mexico. Security personnel noticed their bodies through a window and promptly notified the authorities.
Initially, carbon monoxide poisoning was suspected as the cause of death. However, this theory was discarded when investigators uncovered that the couple’s dog had also died in a separate location on the premises.
It was later concluded that Arakawa died from hantavirus pulmonary syndrome around February 12, a rare condition brought about by the hantavirus that is spread via rodent droppings and urine.
Hackman is believed to have died a few days later on February 18 from severe heart disease, which was exacerbated by Alzheimer’s disease and kidney disease.
Hackman may have been unaware Arakawa was dead, investigators speculated, given his severe health condition at the time of her death.
A week after the bodies were discovered, the New Mexico Department of Public Health conducted a health assessment on the property.
The department concluded – via TMZ – that dead rodents and their nests were found in ‘eight detached outbuildings’ on the Hackman property making it a ‘breeding ground’ for the hantavirus.
The deadly hantavirus typically spreads through rodent urine and droppings that one may come into contact with when cleaning a basement or an attic.
There were droppings found in three garages, two casitas, and three sheds on the property.
Additionally, there was a live rodent, dead rodent and a rodent nest found in three more garages on the property, according to the inspectors.
There were also two vehicles seen on the estate that had evidence of rodents, and they even found traps in the buildings as well, suggesting this had been an ongoing issue for the Hackmans.
The health assessment was conducted to assess whether first responders or others who were on the property were safe from the virus.
The results revealed that the primary residence was deemed ‘low-risk’ with no signs of a rodent infestation inside.
The hantavirus was first identified in South Korea in 1978 when researchers isolated the virus from a field mouse.
The virus is rare in the US, with fewer than 50 cases reported yearly. For reference, there are roughly 2,000 cases of West Nile Virus reported in the US annually.
However, after Arakawa’s death, the virus claimed three more victims in the town of Mammoth Lakes, California.
Hackman’s 1995 will listed Arakawa – whom he married in 1991 – as his sole inheritor.
Arakawa’s will meanwhile revealed that if the spouses were to die within 90 days of each other, the proceeds from the estate would be donated to charity.
Hackman retired from acting after 2004’s Welcome to Mooseport and was rarely seen in public during the final two decades of his life.
The body cam footage and details of the investigation into Hackman’s property were made public by court order earlier this month.
The ruling from a New Mexico judge allowed the release of redacted police body camera video and other investigative materials, including images of the couple’s dead dog.
All photos, video and documents from the investigation had been restricted from release by an earlier, temporary court order, to protect the Hackman family’s constitutional right to privacy.
An attorney for the estate, Kurt Sommer, argued that the couple took great pains to stay out of the public light during their lifetimes and that the right to control the use of their names and likenesses should extend to their estate in death.
But judge Matthew Wilson permitted details to be released, provided they did not depict the bodies of Hackman or Arakawa.
‘There shall be no depiction of either body in any video production’ or photographic image of the bodies, Santa Fe-based Judge Matthew Wilson said in response to questions from attorneys on his ruling.
The previously redacted body cam footage shows deputies talking with two workers who called authorities to report seeing someone lying on the floor inside the Hackman home.
With no signs of forced entry or other evidence of suspicious circumstances, the deputies asked about the possibility of a gas leak or carbon monoxide poisoning, and the workers said they didn’t see how that could have been the case.
‘Something’s not right,’ one of the workers said.
Authorities quickly determined there were no leaks that could have been fatal, fuelling a mystery that captured the public’s attention.
But the case was ultimately when medical investigators confirmed that Hackman died of heart disease with complications from Alzheimer´s about a week after hantavirus pulmonary syndrome took the life of his wife.
