There have been more developments in the case of Gene Hackman and his wife Betsy Arakawa, who were found dead just feet apart in their Sante Fe home.
Hackman, 95, a two-time Oscar winner in his illustrious career, may not have known that his wife died for up to a week before his own death, as he passed on 18 February due to 'hypertensive and atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease, with Alzheimer’s disease as a significant contributory factor'.
Betsy Arakawa, 65, was said to have passed away due to hantavirus pulmonary syndrome, a rare infectious disease that begins with flu-like symptoms and progressively gets worse, on 11 February.
It was reported that the former actor was found in a mudroom, partially mummified, with Arakawa found in the bathroom with bloating and mummification on her body, surrounded by pills.
While a post-mortem examination revealed that Arakawa died of the rare rat-borne respiratory disease on 11 February, a Santa Fe doctor has made a bold claim about the timing of her death.
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Dr Josiah Child is a former emergency care specialist that runs Cloudberry Health in the couple's local area in New Mexico, US.
Speaking to The Mail on Sunday, on Friday (14 March), he claimed: "Mrs Hackman didn't die on February 11 because she called my clinic on February 12."
Dr Child went on: "She'd called me a couple of weeks before her death to ask about getting an echocardiogram [heart scan] for her husband.
"She was not a patient of mine, but one of my patients recommended Cloudberry to her. She made an appointment for herself for February 12. It was for something unrelated to anything respiratory," he said.
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Dr Child further added that two days before the appointment, she allegedly cancelled due to Hackman feeling unwell.
"She called back on the morning of February 12 and spoke to one of our doctors who told her to come in that afternoon," he said.
"We made her an appointment but she never showed up. She did not show any symptoms of respiratory distress. The appointment wasn't for anything related to hantavirus. We tried calling her a couple of times with no reply."
If true, these claims would dispel the conclusions that were drawn by the coroner, as she would have been alive for at least a day longer than first thought.
Dr Child concluded: "I am not a hantavirus expert but most patients who have that diagnosis die in hospital.
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"It is surprising that Mrs Hackman spoke to my office on the phone on February 10 and again on February 12 and didn't appear in respiratory distress."
LADbible had contacted the Santa Fe Medical Examiner for comment on the claims.
Hackman's pacemaker revealed that he died on 18 February, and a post-mortem found that he had no food in his stomach.
One of the couple's three dogs, Zinna, was also found to have died of starvation and dehydration, after being found in a bathroom cupboard by the Santa Fe Fire Department.
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However, their other two dogs survived.
Fire Chief Brian Moya told USA Today that Bear and Nikita sadly took them to the bodies of their deceased owners.
“They realised (the dog) was trying to say, ‘Hey, come over here! Come over here!’” Moya explained.
The first responders then followed one of the dogs to a mudroom where Hackman's body was found.
Topics: Gene Hackman, Celebrity, Health
Joshua Nair