Gene Hackman and wife Betsy’s cause of death revealed

Gene Hackman and wife Betsy Arakawa’s causes of death have been revealed by authorities.

Hollywood icon Hackman and his musician wife – as well as a dog – were found dead at their home in Santa Fe, New Mexico, on Wednesday 26 February.

Mystery has surrounded the deaths as the Oscar-winning star was found dead in one room, near his cane, while his wife was discovered on the floor of a separate room with some pills nearby.

On Friday, a press conference was held in which Dr Heather Jarrell, the Chief Medical Examiner assigned to the case, revealed the results of autopsies on the couple.

She revealed that Arakawa had died of hantavirus and pulmonary syndrome – with the cause of death being ruled, “natural”.

The medical expert added that the post-mortem and a CT scan found, “No findings of trauma, internally or externally.”

Hackman’s cause of death was ruled as, “Hypertensive and atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease, with Alzheimer’s disease as a significant contributory factor.”

Dr Jarrell added that the actor’s post-mortem showed, “severe heart disease, including multiple surgical procedures involving the heart, evidence of prior heart attacks and severe changes of the kidneys due to chronic high blood pressure.”

The authorities explained they had mapped a timeline of events showing that Hackman’s pacemaker stopped recording information on 18 February – while Arakawa had been seen in public on 11 February, but that email communications had stopped on that day.

It was also revealed that the pills discovered at the scene had belonged to Arakawa and they were thyroid medication that had been being taken as prescribed and were not rules to have contributed to her death.