Actor Jean Hackman and his wife Betsy Arakawa were found dead in Santa Fe, New Mexico last month, but they didn’t stand out from each other, so it’s their proximity that led to their death situation.
Arakawa developed Alzheimer’s disease and became a caregiver for Hackman in his later years when he was unable to even perform the simplest tasks. She ran out the family errands to make sure he was still active and protected from illness.
Santa Fe officials said Friday that the couple died of natural causes. Heart disease Hackman, Arakawa from a rare viral infection. Arakawa first passed away probably on February 11th. Investigators said at a press conference that 95-year-old Hackman is likely unaware that his wife has passed away.
He would have been alone at home for days, lost his help and was too frail to seek help. His pacemaker last recorded his heartbeat on February 18th. This indicates that he passed away about a week after his wife.
Their disintegration bodies were discovered on February 26th when maintenance workers called security after no one answered the door. Emergency responders found 65-year-old Arakawa on the bathroom floor near the spilled pills and bottles of medicine. The pills were identified as diltiazem, an unspecified thyroid drug, Tylenol and hypertension drug. Her body showed signs of “mummification.” This suggests that she had been dead for a while.
Jinna, one of the three dogs, was found dead in a wooden frame in a closet. Hackman’s body in slippers was found in a mudroom near his cane.
New Mexico’s Chief Medical Inspector confirmed that Arakawa succumbed to the Hantavirus. Hackman’s Alzheimer’s disease and his declining physical state were listed as a contributor to his death.
“An autopsy and post-cambrane CT examinations showed no acute findings of internal or external trauma and showed severe heart disease, including multiple surgical procedures involved in the heart, evidence of previous heart attacks, and severe kidney changes due to chronic hypertension.”
Authorities are still awaiting the results of the dog’s autopsy. At a press conference Friday, New Mexico’s public health veterinarian Erin Phipps said that the dog Jinnah had “potentially” died of dehydration and starvation.
The exact details of that final week remain unknown. Friends and neighbors told the New York Times about how couples have increasingly withdrawn from public life, especially after the Covid-19 pandemic.
Arakawa had taken strong precautions to avoid exposing Hackman to illness. She often wore a mask in public places, and surveillance footage from February 11 showed her visiting the Sprouts Farmers Market, CVS Pharmacy and Pet Food Store in Santa Fe before returning to the gated community around 5:15pm.
After that, she never saw or heard again. Investigators believe she stopped checking her email that night, and no further communication was recorded, authorities said Friday.
The Sheriff’s Office found no evidence that other than Arakawa he was caring for Hackman. “He had no food in his stomach, which means he hadn’t eaten recently,” Jarrell said.
Hackman’s decline is in stark contrast to the life he once built. The Oscar-winning actor moved to Santa Fe in the late 1980s after divorced his first wife, and soon fell in love with the city’s scenery and the arts community. He already won an Oscar in 1971 for his role in the French Connection, and later another unforgiving win in 1992.
“I think you can get away anywhere, but I think it’s the beauty of the city. They loved the area,” photographer Mark Kreusch told Fox News after the couple’s death. “He really loved Santa Fe, despite his slight hiding. That resonated with him.”
Arakawa, a classic Hawaiian pianist, met Hackman while working part-time at the Los Angeles Fitness Center. One day, when Hackman forgot his entry card, Arakawa refused to let him in.
“They seemed equal in so many ways that I never thought of that part,” my friend Susan Contreras told The New York Times. “She was a personality to herself.”
Over time, Hackman’s health became visibly decreasing.
“Obviously he was 95 years old, so he was slowing down,” Stuart Ashman, who met Hackman while working together on the committee at the Georgia O’Keefe Museum in the late ’90s, told Fox News. “And after Covid, he was more hidden, protecting his immune system and everything else.”
Two of the couple’s family friends, Daniel and Barbara Lenihan, told People magazine that Hackman, along with his son Aaron, had recently “essentially going home” and “stop riding bikes around the neighborhood.”
“Betsy was aggressive and trying to get him engaged,” Aaron said, adding that Hackman did puzzles and yoga via Zoom every day. “She was still trying to keep him as active as possible, attractive and healthy.”
Daniel and Barbara Lenihan said in the “last few months” that the late actor was “really slipping over there.”
Gary Sinise, who collaborated with Hackman in the 1995 film Quick and the Dead, made a similar observation.
“I know he retired after he retired to New Mexico. He didn’t want to come back and get the award. He’s finished, and he was on the way ahead from that part of his life,” Sinise told Fox News.
Their privacy, which is extremely valuable in Santa Fe, may have ultimately contributed to their tragic death.
