Forensic experts on Friday concluded that Oscar-winning actor Gene Hackman died of heart disease with complications from Alzheimer’s disease a week after a rare, rodent-borne disease took the life of his wife at their home in Santa Fe, New Mexico, ending more than a week of mystery surrounding the death of one of Hollywood’s most beloved stars.
The partially mummified remains of The French Connection star, 95, and Betsy Arakawa, 65, were discovered on Feb. 26 when maintenance and security workers arrived at the home and alerted police.
Authorities unraveled the mysterious circumstances and revealed that Arakawa likely died on Feb. 11 at home from hantavirus pulmonary syndrome, a rare, but potentially fatal, disease spread by infected rodent droppings.
Photo: AP
Hackman, in the advanced stages of Alzheimer’s, apparently was unaware that his wife was dead.
“He was in a very poor state of health. He had significant heart disease, and I think ultimately that’s what resulted in his death,” New Mexico Chief Medical Investigator Heather Jarrell said. “It’s quite possible he was not aware she was deceased.”
The deaths were ruled to be from natural causes.
Santa Fe County Sheriff Adan Mendoza said Arakawa’s last known outing was a round of errands and shopping on Feb. 11, when she visited a pharmacy, a pet store and a grocery store before returning to the couple’s gated neighborhood that evening.
Arakawa stopped answering e-mails that day. The couple’s cellphone communications have not yet been analyzed.
Hackman’s pacemaker last showed signs of activity a week later, indicating an abnormal heart rhythm on Feb. 18, the day he likely died, Jarrell said.
Hackman was found in the home’s entryway, and Arakawa was found in a bathroom. Their bodies were decomposing with some mummification, a consequence of body type and climate in Santa Fe’s especially dry air at an elevation of nearly 2.2km.
Experts believe Hackman was severely impaired due to Alzheimer’s disease and unable to deal with his wife’s death in the last week of his life — or seek help after she died.
Additional reporting by AFP
Romania’s electoral commission on Saturday excluded a second far-right hopeful, Diana Sosoaca, from May’s presidential election, amid rising tension in the run-up to the May rerun of the poll. Earlier this month, Romania’s Central Electoral Bureau barred Calin Georgescu, an independent who was polling at about 40 percent ahead of the rerun election. Georgescu, a fierce EU and NATO critic, shot to prominence in November last year when he unexpectedly topped a first round of presidential voting. However, Romania’s constitutional court annulled the election after claims of Russian interference and a “massive” social media promotion in his favor. On Saturday, an electoral commission statement
Chinese authorities increased pressure on CK Hutchison Holdings Ltd over its plan to sell its Panama ports stake by sharing a second newspaper commentary attacking the deal. The Hong Kong and Macau Affairs Office on Saturday reposted a commentary originally published in Ta Kung Pao, saying the planned sale of the ports by the Hong Kong company had triggered deep concerns among Chinese people and questioned whether the deal was harming China and aiding evil. “Why were so many important ports transferred to ill-intentioned US forces so easily? What kind of political calculations are hidden in the so-called commercial behavior on the
‘DOWNSIZE’: The Trump administration has initiated sweeping cuts to US government-funded media outlets in a move critics said could undermine the US’ global influence US President Donald Trump’s administration on Saturday began making deep cuts to Voice of America (VOA) and other government-run, pro-democracy programming, with the organization’s director saying all VOA employees have been put on leave. On Friday night, shortly after the US Congress passed its latest funding bill, Trump directed his administration to reduce the functions of several agencies to the minimum required by law. That included the US Agency for Global Media, which houses Voice of America, Radio Free Europe and Asia and Radio Marti, which beams Spanish-language news into Cuba. On Saturday morning, Kari Lake, a former Arizona gubernatorial and US
Indonesia’s parliament yesterday amended a law to allow members of the military to hold more government roles, despite criticisms that it would expand the armed forces’ role in civilian affairs. The revision to the armed forces law, pushed mainly by Indonesian President Prabowo Subianto’s coalition, was aimed at expanding the military’s role beyond defense in a country long influenced by its armed forces. The amendment has sparked fears of a return to the era of former Indonesian president Suharto, who ex-general Prabowo once served and who used military figures to crack down on dissent. “Now it’s the time for us to ask the
RSS