Close friend reveals reason Gene Hackman couldn’t ‘call for help’

Gene Hackman. Credit / Getty Images

A close friend of Gene Hackman and Betsy Arakawa has revealed the heartbreaking reason the late Hollywood superstar was unable to call for help after his wife’s death.

The entertainment industry was left reeling in shock late last month when the decomposing bodies of Gene Hackman and his classical pianist wife, Betsy, were discovered at the couple’s home in Santa Fe, New Mexico.

It was widely speculated that the pair had to have succumbed to carbon monoxide poisoning or some sort of gas leak, while other, more radical theories, suggested that they had been murdered.

Reports initially stated that the authorities suspected no foul play in the deaths, though later updates revealed that there was suspicion enough to warrant a proper and full investigation.

Since then the world has waited with baited breath for the results of the promised toxicology reports, while drips and drabs of information have trickled out every day.

Late last week on Friday it was finally confirmed that both Arakawa and Hackman had died of natural causes, though the circumstances of their passing were unexpected. Arakawa, it’s said, died of the rare viral infection Hantavirus Pulmonary Syndrome, an exceedingly rare and often fatal illness contracted from exposure to rodent droppings or urine.

JACKSONVILLE, FL – FEBRUARY 4: Actor Gene Hackman attends the Next House ESPN The Magazine party on February 4, 2005 in Jacksonville, Florida. (Photo by Evan Agostini/Getty Images)

As per The Guardian, Arakawa had become Hackman’s primary caregiver in recent years. The two-time Oscar winning actor had developed Alzheimer’s disease and was incapable of carrying out simple tasks. As such, Arakawa ran their household and ensured her husband stayed active and safe.

After her death (believed to have been on or around February 11), Hackman was left alone in the house they shared for days, disorientated and unable to seek help. Investigators claimed in a subsequent press conference that he likely wasn’t even aware that his wife had died.

According to the Daily Mail, a close friend of the couple, Tom Allin, has now revealed that Hackman would have been unable to call for help after his wife’s death as he didn’t own a phone and was “uninterested in technology.”

“This is so sad. Mrs Hackman died, and Gene was so far advanced with his Alzheimer’s that he was wandering around and didn’t eat,” an insider said, hinting at Hackman’s debilitating illness, which was also a “significant factor” in his death.

They added: “If he didn’t have a phone he couldn’t have called for help, even if he’d wanted to.”

One of the couple’s three dogs, Zinna, was also found dead in a crate when the Hackmans’ bodies were discovered by maintenance worker Jesse Kesler.

Rest in peace, Gene Hackman and Betsy Arakawa.