Police uncover emotional handwritten notes expressing Gene Hackman’s unwavering love for his wife Betsy in recently discovered photos.

Handwritten notes found at Gene Hackman’s residence have unveiled the deep affection and commitment the Hollywood star harbored for his wife Betsy.

The couple was discovered deceased in their $4 million Santa Fe estate on February 26. Hackman, aged 95, passed away due to heart disease aggravated by Alzheimer’s disease, approximately a week following Betsy’s death from hantavirus at the age of 65.

Law enforcement in northern New Mexico made public a collection of papers this week, featuring images of the small notes regularly exchanged between Betsy and Hackman.

Hackman appeared grateful to his wife, even on occasion calling her ‘lovely girl’, and seemed to almost always sign his letters ‘Love, G’, the police images show.

Among the most heartbreaking notes in the collection was one the actor wrote to Betsy in which he apologises for needing her help preparing a birthday dinner.

‘Good morning,’ the note began. ‘Happy several days after your birthday. Sorry still about the dinner and having to ask for your help, although it was appreciated.’

He signed the note: ‘Love you and the guys, G.’ 

The heartbreaking notes were released along side harrowing police body camera video of the moment authorities discovered Betsy’s remains. The couple’s dog watched over her lifeless body as deputies combed through their cluttered estate.

The series of undated notes found scattered throughout the couple’s home offers a glimpse into their relationship and the final moments of their lives together.

Hackman left several notes for his wife hung throughout the residence, but the poor quality of the police photographs made his words hard to decipher.

However, each note clearly ends with ‘Love, G’, which appears to be his signature valediction.

In one of his notes, Hackman detailed how he was ‘thinking’ of Betsy one morning. 

He wrote: ‘Morning lovely girl, thinking of your and the other little guys. Love G.’

Another note showed how Hackman, who was suffering from Alzheimer’s, seemingly knew he was battling the debilitating disease.

‘Ho, Ho, I am off to see the Wizard, the Wizz of Achie, Pokie,’ he wrote. ‘She stabs me here and stabs me there, she stabs me almost everywhere (almost). 

‘But I” survive because after (sic) I am still alive. (But some times just barely),’ he added. ‘Love, G.’ 

In a more playful letter, the actor appeared to be informing Betsy that he was heading out for some sort of errand.

‘I’m going down to that building out past the hot water place where you sit, and do whatever it is that people are supposed to do in such a building – maybe I’ll remember once I get down there,’ he wrote.

But instead of his usual closing, Hackman signed this note: Love, what’s his name.’ 

Betsy, who appears to have managed the day-to-day activities and errands, would leave jigsaw puzzles for Hackman to complete, the notes revealed.

In one letter detailing how she needed to take their dog to the vet, Betsy penned: ‘Hi G! Taking Zin to obedience class & the vet appt. See you back at home!

‘There is jigsaw puzzle on the table. xo B.’ 

Police photos taken in the home showed a collection of completed jigsaws stacked in a pile on top of a table, suggesting that the couple frequently worked on puzzles.

In another note, which is partially illegible due to a water stain, Betsy revealed that ‘there was a water leak’ somewhere at the property. 

It appears she is informing Hackman that it will be getting ‘fixed’ or that a maintenance person will be ‘working’ at the property – but due to the water damage, most of the note remains a mystery. 

What is clear, however, is that Betsy signed the note with her usual ‘xo B’, yet again demonstrating her love for Hackman.

She also seemingly left notes posted around the home to detail what is presumed to be her activities, with one stating that a yoga class was scheduled for 12.30pm.

Police released the body camera video and other public records related to the investigation into the reclusive couple’s deaths on Tuesday.

The documents, which initially had been sealed by a temporary court order to protect the Hackman family’s privacy, were released after a court ruled that most of them are public record. 

The court cleared the way for the release of investigative records as long as there were no videos or photos of the couple’s bodies. 

The records detail some of Betsy’s last emails, phone calls and internet searches that appear to show she was looking for information on flu-like symptoms and breathing techniques.

Betsy’s computer showed that between Feb. 8 and the morning of Feb. 12, she was researching medical conditions related to COVID-19 and flu-like symptoms, according to the records released by the Santa Fe County Sheriff’s Office.

In an email to her masseuse, she said Hackman woke up Feb. 11 with flu or cold-like symptoms and she’d have to reschedule her appointment for the next day.

Her search history on the morning of Feb. 12 showed she was looking into a medical concierge service in Santa Fe.

A call with the service lasted less than two minutes, and she missed a return call later that afternoon, according to investigators.

Redacted police body camera images showed officers going through the home and finding no signs of forced entry or anything out of the ordinary with the home’s contents. 

Investigators took note of prescription medication on a bathroom counter as one of the couple’s dogs barked in the background.

Both deaths were ruled to be from natural causes. Hackman’s death was tied to heart disease with Alzheimer’s disease contributing. 

Authorities linked Betsy’s death to hantavirus pulmonary syndrome, a rare but potentially fatal disease spread by the droppings of infected rodents.

Hackman’s pacemaker showed an abnormal heart rhythm on Feb. 18 – the day he likely died, chief medical examiner Dr. Heather Jarrell said.

While there’s no reliable way to know for sure when each died, all signs point to their deaths coming a week apart, Jarrell said.

Hackman’s body was found in the home’s entryway, and Betsy’s body was found in a bathroom. Thyroid medication pills prescribed to Betsy were found nearby and weren’t listed as contributing to her death, Jarrell said.

Investigators earlier retrieved personal items from the home, including a monthly planner and two cellphones. One of the couple’s three dogs was found dead in a crate near Betsy. Authorities initially misidentified the breed.

The virus typically is reported in spring and summer, often when people are exposed to mouse droppings in homes, sheds or poorly ventilated areas. It can cause a severe, sometimes deadly lung infection called hantavirus pulmonary syndrome.

An environmental assessment of the Hackman property found rodent feces in several outbuildings and live traps on the property, according to a New Mexico Department of Health report. The inside of the home was clean, with no evidence of rodent activity.

Nestled among the piñon and juniper hills overlooking Santa Fe, the Hackman home is not unlike others in the area as mice are common within the surrounding landscape.

This was the first confirmed case of hantavirus in New Mexico this year. Hantavirus does not spread between people.

Initial symptoms can include fatigue, fever and muscle aches. As the disease progresses, people can experience coughing, shortness of breath or tightness in the chest as the lungs fill with fluid, according to the CDC. 

About a third of people who develop respiratory symptoms can die, the agency said.

Hackman appeared in a broad range of movie roles dating back to 1961, when he debuted in Mad Dog Coll. 

His roles included playing the arch nemesis Lex Luthor in the Superman movies and a coach finding redemption in the sentimental favourite Hoosiers.

He was a five-time Oscar nominee who won best actor in a leading role for The French Connection in 1972 and best actor in a supporting role for Unforgiven two decades later. He retired in the early 2000s.

Betsy was born in Hawaii in December 1959 and grew up in Honolulu. She studied piano and, as an 11-year-old sixth grader, performed in youth concerts in front of thousands of students at the Honolulu International Center Concert Hall.

She attended the University of Southern California and was a cheerleader for the Aztecs, a professional soccer team in the North American Soccer League. She also worked as a production assistant on the television game show Card Sharks.

She met Hackman while working part-time at a California gym in the mid-1980s. They soon moved in together and relocated to Santa Fe by the end of the decade.

Betsy was vice president of Pandora´s, a home decor and furnishing store in Santa Fe, according to New Mexico business records.

Their Pueblo revival home, a style typical in the area, sits on a hill in a gated community with views of the Rocky Mountains far from Hollywood. The area is known as a preferred location among artists and a retreat for celebrities.

The home was featured in a 1990 article by Architectural Digest. The four-bedroom, 8,700-square-foot structure on 6acres had an estimated market value of a little over $4million, according to Santa Fe County property tax records.

Hackman could be spotted around the historic state capital, but he disappeared largely from the public eye in his later years. His hobbies included painting, deep-sea diving and, later in life, writing novels.