People Magazine’s second cover story this week is about Gene Hackman and his wife Betsy Arakawa. Their bodies were discovered in their Santa Fe, New Mexico home last week, and investigators say that it’s likely they passed away nine days before they were found. Meaning, whatever happened in that house, Betsy and Gene probably passed away on February 17th and no one came by the house or raised any sort of alert about them until nine days later. That, to me, is especially bizarre – Gene is survived by three adult kids and NONE of them tried to speak to their father or check in with him? No one stopped by the house in nine days? Gene and Betsy weren’t missing from any lunches or appointments? There weren’t any neighbors who noticed two dogs running around the property all day and night?
Well, it’s clear that even with a full investigation ongoing in Santa Fe, there will still be a lot of unanswered questions. Which is why People Mag and other outlets are running exclusives from random investigators and pathologists theorizing about what could have happened. This piece is getting a lot of attention:
The circumstances surrounding the deaths of Gene Hackman and his wife Betsy continue to mystify the public. The longtime couple was found dead in their Santa Fe, N.M., home on Feb. 26. Although the causes of death has yet to be determined, police are investigating what happened to Gene, 95, who was discovered in the home’s mudroom, and Betsy, 65, who was found dead in the bathroom, where prescription pills were scattered on a counter. It looked like both had been dead for a number of days, said authorities.
James Gill, Chief Medical Examiner, with the Connecticut Office of the Chief Medical Examiner, is not investigating Hackman’s death in his professional capacity. But he theorizes that the couple may have both died from natural causes.
“From the initial kind of circumstances, it seems like he may have collapsed,” he says. “He’s got a history of heart disease. He’s got a pacemaker. So that would not be unusual. But the unusual part is that why then did she also collapse? Assuming she would’ve found him. Then you start wondering about: There is this thing where the stress of seeing someone die that could have triggered a natural death in her.”
Gill says another possibility could be that Betsy died first and Gene “found her and was going out to get help or get his phone, and he then collapsed from the stress of that, too. Just as likely. He’s older, he’s got known heart disease. But the autopsy would certainly show if she had heart disease or cancer or what have you.”
Gill says two natural deaths around the same time “has been known to happen, kind of a broken heart-type thing, almost. Suddenly finding your loved one dead on the floor that can increase your adrenaline and that stimulates your heart to beat faster, and that can put your heart into an irregular rhythm,” he says.
Gill says there are also instances where, after finding a loved one, “people get very despondent and they do something to take their own life, and that may be with pills or what have you. I think the toxicology workup will be helpful in excluding causes such as an intoxication or injuries.”
“I think the autopsy and the toxicology testing is what’s needed to be seen in order to make that final determination,” he says. “Otherwise, it’s kind of speculation at this point.”
These theories have been circulating for the past week and I still have so many questions and thoughts. I’m coming around to the idea that Betsy was the one who collapsed or fell and hit her head, something like that. I could totally understand how a 95-year-old man with a heart condition would find his wife on the floor and he would have a heart attack or episode. But the positioning makes no sense – it appeared as if Gene was just returning home or leaving home. Yeah. So many mysteries. I really wonder if the full pathology report will have more information. I want to know if they found any evidence of Betsy falling or hitting her head.
Photos courtesy of Avalon Red, Backgird. Cover courtesy of People.
