Experts debunk dominant theory in Hackman deaths
<p>It's been a week since acting legend Gene Hackman and his wife Betsy were both <a href="https://www.oversixty.co.nz/health/caring/sad-new-details-emerge-in-gene-hackman-case" target="_blank" rel="noopener">found dead</a> in their Santa Fe home. </p>
<p>Gene, 95, was found dead in the home's mudroom, with his cane nearby, while his 65-year-old wife was found in the bathroom, near an open bottle of prescription pills.</p>
<p>Preliminary autopsies have ruled out carbon monoxide poisoning as a cause of death, and Santa Fe Sheriff Adan Mendoza confirmed the actor had likely died about nine days before the bodies were discovered.</p>
<p>While there's been speculation that the death could have been a "companion suicide", experts have casted their doubts on this theory. </p>
<p>James Gill, Chief Medical Examiner with the Connecticut Office of the Chief Medical Examiner, <span style="font-family: -apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, 'Segoe UI', Roboto, Oxygen, Ubuntu, Cantarell, 'Open Sans', 'Helvetica Neue', sans-serif;">told </span><a href="https://people.com/gene-hackman-wife-betsy-suicide-less-likely-says-expert-exclusive-11690593" target="_blank" rel="noopener"><em style="font-family: -apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, 'Segoe UI', Roboto, Oxygen, Ubuntu, Cantarell, 'Open Sans', 'Helvetica Neue', sans-serif;">People </em></a><span style="font-family: -apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, 'Segoe UI', Roboto, Oxygen, Ubuntu, Cantarell, 'Open Sans', 'Helvetica Neue', sans-serif;">that it is unlikely the couple decided to end their lives together, as their bodies were found in different locations. </span></p>
<p><span style="font-family: -apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, 'Segoe UI', Roboto, Oxygen, Ubuntu, Cantarell, 'Open Sans', 'Helvetica Neue', sans-serif;">While he is not working on the case, he offered his expert opinion, saying: </span>“I’ve seen cases like that — usually they’re together in bed,”</p>
<p>“The fact that they’re in two separate locations tells me that I think that’s less likely.”</p>
<p>One of the couple's three dogs was also found dead inside the home, adding to the mystery. </p>
<p>“From the initial kind of circumstances, it seems like he may have collapsed — he’s got a history of heart disease. He’s got a pacemaker. So that would not be unusual,” Gill told <em>People</em>.</p>
<p>He also ruled out the theory that he had died after Betty because she was not around to take care of him. </p>
<p>“Sometimes we’ll see instances where someone is bedridden and maybe they have dementia and then their caregiver dies from a natural event, and then there’s no one there to take care of them, and then they can die from dehydration or what have you. I don’t think that’s the case in this,” he said.</p>
<p>Forensic pathologist Dr. Michael Baden believes that the couple's death could be the result of a tragic accident, suggesting that Hackman's pacemaker could provide clues as to what happened. </p>
<p>“That event would have been a cardiac arrest caused by an abnormal pulse rate,” he said.</p>
<p>“The pacemaker keeps track of the pulse, and when it gets down too low, it discharges. And that’s all in the record.”</p>
<p>“So the autopsy showed he didn’t have any injury,” Baden continued. “There was no carbon monoxide. And he had — the most common cause of death in this country — severe heart disease, coronary artery disease and high blood pressure perhaps, from what’s been released. So that would cause him, having cardiac arrest in the mudroom, to collapse right there.”</p>
<p>Dr. Baden suggested that Hackman's wife Betsy could have died while trying to help him. </p>
<p>“She may have struck her head on the way down and had some internal injury to the brain that doesn’t show up on the outside or bleeding in the inside of the brain,” he said.</p>
<p>“Or that she may also, at 65, had severe heart disease and excitement can cause a trigger to the cardiac rhythm causing death under those circumstances. I think the first, that striking her head would be more common.” </p>
<p>A criminal investigation was launched this week after New Mexico authorities deemed the circumstances around the couple’s deaths “suspicious.”</p>
<p><em>Image: Dave Lewis/ Shutterstock Editorial</em></p>
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