GENE Hackman lived alongside his wife's body likely not knowing she was dead - as officials have revealed the actor's tragic final days.
The actor, 95, died from a heart condition around a week after his wife was killed by a rare rodent disease, a medical examiner said at a press conference on Friday afternoon.
As he lived with severe Alzheimers, Dr. Heather Jarrell said it was likely Hackman had not realised wife Betsy Arakawa was dead.
He was found in the kitchen with no food in his stomach, but he showed no signs of dehydration.
The last signal from the actor's pacemaker was from February 18.
Arakawa and a dog were found in a bathroom, with scattered pills from an open prescription bottle on the bathroom counter.
She died on February 11 from a disease called hantavirus, the medic said, which is spread by infected rodent droppings.
Dr. Jarrell said: "Mr Hackman showed evidence of advanced Alzheimer's disease. He was in a very poor state of health.
"He had significant heart disease, and I think ultimately that's what resulted in his death."
She added: “There is no reliable method to determine time or date of death, but it is probably likely Mr Hackman died around February 18.
“And based on circumstances, it is reasonable to conclude Ms Hackman died first, with February 11 the last time she was known to be alive.”
Symptoms of hantavirus infection include fever, muscle aches and coughing, which can progress to shortness of breath and heart or lung failure.
It is not transferable between humans, and Hackman had not contracted the illness.
The disease is very rare, with just 864 cases documented in the US between 1993 and 2022, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
The triple-death tragedy in the Hackman home was shrouded in mystery for over a week.
Foul play was considered unlikely from early on, but a number of theories about the deaths swirled.
The bodies of Hackman and his wife were found in different rooms.
The two-time Oscar winner was discovered fully clothed in a wet room off the kitchen with his cane laid out next to him, according to a search warrant.
And Betsy was found on the bathroom floor, near a space heater.
Her body was said to have been partially "mummified".
One of the couple's three German Shepherd dogs was also found dead in the bathroom's closet.
Adan Mendoza, Santa Fe County Sheriff, outlined Arakawa's final movements.
On February 9, she picked up the dog that was later found dead from the vets after a procedure.
Then, on the afternoon of February 11, Arakawa went shopping in a farmer's market, CVS and a pet food store.
She returned to their gated community at around 5:15pm - and had no more known contact with anyone other than Hackman, the sheriff said.
All of her emails were left unread after that date.
Dr. Erin Phipps, a veterinarian, said it's possible to dog died from a lack of food and water.
Dogs cannot get sick from hantavirus, she noted.
An early theory was that carbon monoxide poisoning had killed the couple and their canine, but that was debunked last week by negative chemical tests.
Authorities said last week that the deaths were "suspicious enough in nature to require a thorough search and investigation".
