GOSSIP & RUMORS: Gene Hackman had advanced Alzheimer’s, ‘in very poor health’ before death

Gene Hackman “was in very poor health” before his death, which was caused by heart problems and advanced Alzheimer’s disease, officials revealed on Friday.

New Mexico Chief Medical Examiner Heather Jarrell shared the details of Hackman’s health in his final days at a press conference in Santa Fe alongside Sheriff Adan Mendoza.

According to Jarrell, the Oscar-winning actor died roughly a week after his wife, Betsy Arakawa, from hypertensive and atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease and Alzheimer’s.

“Examination of the brain showed advanced Alzheimer’s disease as well as blood vessel changes in the brain,” Jarrell said.

“It is reasonable to conclude that Mr. Hackman died on February 18,” she continued, based on evidence of a “cardiac event” recorded by his pacemaker.

The medical examiner added that the autopsy and full body post-mortem CT examination carried out on Hackman’s body showed the actor had “severe heart disease,” a history of heart attacks, severe changes of the kidneys due to chronic high blood pressure,” and had undergone “multiple surgical procedures involving the heart.”

However, there was no evidence of “internal or external trauma.”

The “French Connection” star “had not eaten recently” before passing away as there was “no food in his stomach,” Jarrell said at the press conference, though she shared that the actor’s body showed no “evidence of dehydration.”

Though there had been speculation that both Hackman and Arakawa died from carbon monoxide poisoning, testing indicated neither had the poisonous gas in their systems at the time of their deaths, and only a “minuscule” gas leak was detected at their home.

Jarrell also said,”There were no other significant natural disease findings,” and that pills found near Arakawa’s body were a thyroid medication.

Hackman was 95.

Officials determined that Arakawa, 65, died from Hantavirus, a flu-like illness spread mainly by rodent feces and is not spread from person to person, according to the CDC.

Security camera footage showed Arakawa, a classical pianist, shopping at a local Sprouts Farmers Market on February 11 before later entering the gated community where she and Hackman lived.

“Numerous emails were unopened on her computer on February 11,” Sheriff Mendoza said. “There was no additional outgoing communication from her or known activity after February 11, 2025,” he added, noting that it’s reasonable to assume that was the day she died.

Her body had become mummified by the time law enforcement found her.

The Sheriff acknowledged that Hackman was likely home with his wife for a week before he passed away.

Citing Hackman’s Alzheimers, Jarrell noted, “It is quite possible he was not aware that she was deceased.”

Both deaths were from natural causes.

Maintenance workers discovered Hackman and his wife’s bodies on February 26 after they were unable to get in touch with the couple. One of the couple’s three dogs was also found dead.

Law enforcement arrived on the scene shortly after the workers contacted neighborhood security and confirmed the deaths the following day.

Hackman and Arakawa met in the 1980s and married in 1991. They lived a reclusive life in New Mexico and were rarely seen out in public before their deaths.

Conflicting accounts of Hackman’s health emerged shortly after he passed.

His daughter Leslie Anne told TMZ that her father was “in very good physical condition” in the months leading up to his death. But a friend of Hackman’s, who spoke to People, claimed the “Unforgiven” star’s health was “slipping” and that he was “essentially kind of homebound.”