Gene Hackman New Mexico Home Was a 'Breeding Ground' for Rats

Investigators have discovered that Oscar-winning actor Gene Hackman’s home had become a “breeding ground” for rats which contributed to both his wife’s death and his own.

Authorities say that Hackman’s wife, Betsy Arakawa, 64, succumbed to the effects of the deadly hantavirus sometime around February 12. And, due to his advanced state of Alzheimer’s disease, the famed, 95-year-old actor himself died, alone and uncared for, several days later. He apparently died from a combination of heart and kidney disease, exacerbated by Alzheimer’s.

Due to his mental state, officials say that Hackman may not even have fully understood that his wife had died.

In March, Heather Jarrell, the chief medical examiner for the New Mexico Office of the Medical Investigator, said that the data from Hackman’s pacemaker revealed it stopped functioning over a week before his body was found when maintenance workers were unable to access the couple’s property in Santa Fe.

“Based on this information, it is reasonable to conclude that Mr. Hagman probably died around February 18. Based on the circumstances, it is reasonable to conclude that Miss Hackman passed away first, with February 11 being the last time that she was going to be alive,” Jarrell added.

Further investigation revealed that the disease that took Arakawa’s life was brought about due to the infestation of rats in the couple’s $4 million New Mexico estate, authorities now say, according to the Daily Mail.

Rats and rat nests were found all over the Hackman property, in every outbuilding and the main residence, making the property a “breeding ground” for the hantavirus. The virus is spread through rat droppings an urine spread by infestation. Officials also found numerous traps with dead rats, revealing that the couple had been trying to rid the property of the disease-laden vermin.

Arakawa is not the only American to have died from the hantavirus. At least three others, living in Mammoth Lakes, California, succumbed to the virus.

Police were called on February 26 when someone saw at least one of the couple’s bodies lying inside the home. Officials at first thought that they may had died from carbon monoxide poisoning, but further investigation revealed the actual causes of death.

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