The death of Gene Hackman y Betsy Arakawa It seemed to be just another tragic story of old age, disease and isolation. However, a new testimony has added a disconcerting turn to the facts: Arakawa’s doctor says he received a call of his February 12, one day after the official date of his death.
The Forensic of Santa Fe had established that Arakawa died on February 11 because of Hantavirus, an unusual respiratory disease transmitted by rodents. Hackman, the legendary actor of the unforgivable and French Connection, died a week later, on February 18, at age 94, for heart failure aggravated by Alzheimer’s. Now, the doctor Josiah Child, A former specialist in medical emergencies currently directs Cloudberry Health in New Mexico, has sown doubts about that chronology.
“Mrs. Hackman did not die on February 11 because she called my clinic on February 12“Child said in statements to the press this Saturday. According to her testimony, Arakawa contacted her consultation a few weeks before to ask about the possibility of making her husband an echocardiogram.”He was not my patient, but he held an appointment for February 12“He explained.
That morning, he called again and spoke with one of the doctors of the clinic, who told him that he could go in the afternoon. “We met him, but he never appeared“Child added.”It did not present symptoms of respiratory distress, the consultation was not related to the Hantavirus. We tried to call it a couple of times, but we didn’t get an answer“.
If what Child says is true, Hackman’s widow was alive at least one more day than the coroner ruled. That 24 -hour margin, which might seem insignificant, opens a range of questions about what really happened in the last days in the Santa Fe ranch.
A mystery in isolation
Both had been far from the media focus years, living in their extensive property in New Mexico with the only company of their three dogs. It was there that their bodies were found in circumstances that researchers have described as “strange“.
The body of Arakawa, 65, appeared on the floor of the bathroom, surrounded by pills. Just six meters away, in the laundry room, Hacyman lay. There were no signs of violence or indications of a violent death, but the scene was disturbing.
The actor’s pacemaker records indicated that his heart stopped beating on February 18. However, the autopsy revealed that he had no food in his stomach, which has led researchers to consider the possibility that his advanced dementia prevented him from realizing that Arakawa had died.
More chilling is still the fate of one of his dogs. Zinna, a dog that was in a cage recovering from surgery, died of hunger and dehydration. His death suggests that, in the days prior to the finding of the bodies, there was no one capable of dealing with animals or house.
Unanswered questions
Dr. Child’s testimony is not a definitive proof that Arakawa was alive on February 12. Without a registration of the call or a physical proof that corroborates it, his statement is just one more link in a chain of uncertainties.
If Arakawa died on February 11, who made that call? Was it a mistake in the identification of the voice? A confusion on dates? And if I was really alive on the 12th, why did he died so suddenly after?
The story of Gene Hackman, who spent his last days in an increasingly deep solitude, has now become an enigma that continues to add pieces. What seems clear is that his last week of life was marked by confusion and abandonment. And, as in the great scripts he played in his career, the end continues to leave unsolved questions.
