Gene Hackman and his wife Betsy Arakawa Hackman’s causes of death were revealed by Sante Fe, New Mexico officials on Friday, but Sheriff Adan Mendoza confirmed the investigation into the case remains ongoing.
At a press conference held more than a week after the couple’s bodies were discovered in their home on Feb. 26, Chief Medical Investigator Dr. Heather Jarrell announced that Gene’s cause of death was hypertensive atherosclerosis cardiovascular disease, with Alzheimer’s disease as a significant contributing factor. She confirmed that Betsy died of hantavirus pulmonary syndrome, a disease transmitted from animals to humans that is commonly found in rodents.
Jarrell said it was “reasonable to conclude” that Betsy, 65, died on or about Feb. 11 while Gene, 95, was likely alone in the home for about a week, until he died around Feb. 18, which was the last time activity was recorded on his pacemaker.
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While Mendoza said he thought “a lot of the questions have been answered,” he stated that authorities will continue their investigation since they were awaiting the Hackmans’ cell phone records as well as the results of a necropsy that is being conducted on the couple’s dog Zinna, who also was found dead in the house.
“We consider this an open investigation until we close the loopholes of the cell phones, until we finish out the necropsy results of the canine and the other loose ends that we need to tie up,” he said during the press conference.
“But, you know, I think we’re pretty close to the timeline and with the information that Dr. Jarrell provided,” Mendoza added.
Detectives listed two cellphones among the items that they took from the house, according to the search warrant inventory obtained by Fox News Digital.
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During the press conference, Mendoza said he thought it was “very unlikely” the cell phone records would reveal anything other than what authorities had already established regarding the timeline of the deaths.
Mendoza also confirmed that there was no evidence yet that Gene had communicated with anyone while he was alive for a week in the house following Betsy’s death.
“I don’t know if he used cell phones or technology or emails, there’s no indication of that,” he told reporters. “So right now there is no activity from Mr. Hackman.”
Mendoza also provided a timeline of Betsy’s activities and communications leading up to Feb. 11, the last day that she was known to be alive.
During the investigation, officers discovered Betsy had picked up Zinna from Gruda Veterinary Hospital in Santa Fe on Feb. 9. Authorities previously revealed that Zinna was found deceased in a crate that was in a closet about “10 to 15” feet away from where Betsy’s body was found on the floor of the bathroom.
“There was a procedure that was done with the dog which may explain why the dog was in a crate,” Mendoza explained.
The couple’s other surviving dogs, Bear and Nikita, were found on the property. Per the affidavit, “one of the healthy dogs was initially observed near the deceased female (inside the bathroom) and the other healthy dog was observed outside the residence.”
While detailing the timeline of Betsy’s movements, Mendoza said that detectives discovered email communications between the concert pianist and her massage therapist from 11:21 a.m. on Feb. 11.
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“Moving on into the afternoon, Ms. Arakawa was at the Sprouts farmers market between 3:30 and 4:15 p.m.,” Mendoza said. From there, surveillance video captured Betsy at the local CVS Pharmacy at around 4:20 p.m.
Numerous emails received on Feb. 11 remained unopened on her computer.
“There was no additional outgoing communication from her, or known activity, after Feb. 11, 2025,” Mendoza said, adding that the “cellphone information and the cell phone data is pending.”
During the press conference, Jarrell explained that hantavirus is characterized by “flu-like symptoms consisting of fever, muscle aches, cough, sometimes vomiting and diarrhea that can progress to shortness of breath and cardiac or heart failure and lung failure.”
“I don’t know when she began to feel ill,” Jarrell said of Betsy. “And those are just things that I don’t know that I’m ever going to have the answers to. But I think going back to that initial time period, roughly 3 to 6 days of feeling ill and then succumbing pretty quickly after fluid begins to build up in the lungs.”
Mendoza was asked whether it was known if Betsy had communicated with family or friends that she was feeling unwell prior to her death.
“Again, we’re going through some of the communications, and I think the cellphones may have some indications of that prior to the 11th,” he said. “But as of this moment, I don’t have any information that she was indicating that she was feeling ill during any communication.”
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At the beginning of the press conference, Mendoza said Zinna had been taken to the New Mexico Department of Agriculture’s Veterinary Diagnostic Services for a necropsy.
Asked if it was likely that Zinna died due to starvation or dehydration given that she was crated, Dr. Erin Phipps, New Mexico State Veterinarian with the New Mexico Department of Health said, “I don’t think we know the answer to that.”
“However, given the timelines presented, there is a possibility,” she added.
Phipps also clarified that Zinna had not died of the hantavirus as she asserted that dogs do not get sick from the disease.
She explained that the state has confirmed between one and seven cases of the rare infection in humans each year, ending in 2024.
“We have identified 136 infections over the past 50 years in New Mexico residents, five of these in Santa Fe County,” Phipps said. “This is a serious disease. Forty-two percent of these infections here in New Mexico were fatal.”
Detectives initially described the couple’s deaths as “suspicious enough in nature to require a thorough search and investigation,” according to a search warrant affidavit obtained by Fox News Digital.
Fox News Digital’s Tracy Wright and Lauryn Overhultz contributed to this report.
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