Gene Hackman’s Wife Betsy Died At Least One Week Before Him; He Survived in Home Alone With Advanced Alzheimer’s Until His Death

Gene Hackman died of hypertensive and atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease, with Alzheimer’s disease as a significant contributory factor, officials in New Mexico announced on Friday, and survived in the home he shared with his wife, Betsy Hackman, for a week after she died in their living room of Hantavirus Pulmonary Syndrome, a severe respiratory illness caused by viruses transmitted to humans through contact with infected rodents, officials said.

Hackman, a two-time Academy Award winner whose Hollywood career spanned four decades and classical pianist Betsy Hackman were found Feb. 26 in separate rooms of their home during a wellness check; neither showed signs of external trauma, police said, but Hackman’s pacemaker had sent its last record on Feb. 17, suggesting he had been dead for at least one week before his body was discovered slumped over in a mud room off the kitchen. Santa Fe County Sheriff Adan Mendoza said at the time that he didn’t believe there was foul play in the deaths of the couple, who had spent more than 30 years together in the house on Old Sunset Trail Road. 

Gene Hackman‘s autopsy showed signs of advanced Alzheimer’s disease and officials indicated that he may not have known that his wife had died while he survived in their house for at least a week. Officials said it’s difficult to know the legendary actor’s mental state before his wife’s death but said that he was in very poor health and there was no food in his stomach. He was not dehydrated at the time of his death.

At a Friday press conference at the Santa Fe Sheriff’s Office, Dr. Heather Jarrell, chief medical examiner at the Office of the Medical Investigator, announced the findings of autopsies performed on both Hackmans, who had been married for 30 years and enjoyed a private life in Santa Fe following Gene Hackman’s iconic Hollywood career. Jarrell said that the autopsy examination of Gene Hackman’s body, showed severe heart disease, including evidence of multiple surgical procedures involving the heart as well as evidence of prior heart attacks. The actor’s autopsy also showed severe changes to his kidneys due to chronic high blood pressure.

An examination of the brain, showed advanced Alzheimer’s disease, as well as blood vessel changes in the brain, secondary to chronic high blood pressure, Jarrell told reporters on Friday.

At least a week prior to Gene Hackman’s death, Betsy Hackman died of Hantavirus Pulmonary Syndrome, which is a severe respiratory illness caused by hantaviruses, a family of viruses that are transmitted to humans through contact with infected rodents. Symptoms of Hantavirus typically appear one to eight weeks after exposure and early symptoms may resemble the flu. The disease can progress rapidly, leading to severe respiratory distress, low blood pressure, and organ failure.

On Feb. 11, Betsy Hackman was seen at a CVS and at a pet food store, Sheriff Mendoza told reporters and emails on her computer are unopened after that date.

“There was no additional outgoing communication from her or known activity after Feb. 11, 2025 cell phone information,” he said. “We’re working with state police to get the information from those phones, but our investigation shows that all the last known communication and activity…”

More to come.