Regular readers know we learned that Gene and Betsy Hackman died on February 27, and we wrote a piece which primarily analyzed an affidavit filed to allow the police to more thoroughly search the Hackman residence. Since then, there had been a press conference that frankly didn’t shed very much light on the subject, as well as the release of the 911 audio. But we will get to that in a minute.
But first, the news today is that there was a long press conference where the cause of deaths for both of them was announced, and we will give you the entire raw footage, rather than just some snippet, because we think you can’t get the whole picture without listening to all of it. Of course, if you don’t want to listen to all of it, we will summarize a great deal of it.
(Jump ahead about ten minutes.)
First, as a bit of housekeeping, you will notice that we are no longer referring to Mrs. Hackman as ‘Betsy Arakawa.’ Marital and maiden names can be complicated, but we have learned that her legal name was ‘Betsy Hackman.’ So that’s how she presented herself and we think everyone should respect that.
In any case, what they are telling us is that Mrs. Hackman died of Hantavirus Pulmonary Syndrome. Here’s what the CDC says about it:
Hantavirus Pulmonary Syndrome (HPS)
HPS is a severe and potentially deadly disease that affects the lungs. Symptoms of HPS usually start to show 1 to 8 weeks after contact with an infected rodent. …
Four to 10 days after the initial phase of illness, the late symptoms of HPS appear. These symptoms include coughing and shortness of breath. Patients might experience tightness in the chest, as the lungs fill with fluid.
HPS can be deadly. Thirty-eight percent of people who develop respiratory symptoms may die from the disease.
Further discussion in the press conference suggests that Mrs. Hackman basically had fluid fill her lungs. She was found on the floor, but they don’t think she was alive that way for very long.
As for Mr. Hackman, it was heart disease that killed him, with Alzheimer’s being a contributing factor.
At the moment, there hasn’t been an autopsy of the dog that died or similar examination. We now know the dog was named Zinna. As you will recall, two other dogs were found alive on the property. We now know Zinna had been caged, and they noted that Zinna had some kind of procedure recently that would justifying caging the dog. This author doesn’t know much more than a lay person about human medicine and knows even less when it comes to dogs, but they speculated that the dog likely died of thirst or starvation, without being sure.
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As for the time of death, the bodies couldn’t provide that information, but outside evidence gives some clues. The best information we have is about Gene Hackman. Mr. Hackman had a pacemaker and it somehow sent signals about his status. While in an earlier press conference they said that the last signal was received on February 17, examining the machine told them that the device had recordings about his heart rate on the 18th. They believe he died on or about that day. Their bodies were discovered on February 26, so Mr. Hackman was dead for about a week before he was found.
As for Mrs. Hackman’s time of death, we feel less certain. The last time she affirmatively communicated with anyone as far as they know was February 11, and many people have taken it to mean that she must have died on or about that date. Put that together with the fact that Mr. Hackman probably died around a week later, it paints a pretty grim scenario.
But how can we say this? Santa Fe County Sheriff Adan Mendoza is not exactly impressing us in these press conferences. He doesn’t seem to be a very exact thinker and doesn’t seem to be asking the logical questions. Right now he says that Mrs. Hackman had a bunch of unanswered and unopened emails after February 11. But he doesn’t tell us whether or not this is unusual—which is a crucial question. Not everyone opens and answers all their email all the time. fAnd he admits that they don’t have data from their cell phones. So we don’t feel 100% comfortable saying that she definitely died around the 11th at this time. That being said, Dr. Heather Jarrell, who is the chief medical investigator at New Mexico Office of the Medical Investigator did say that ‘It is reasonable to conclude that Ms. Hackman passed away first.’
So, we tend to think she probably died first, but we are not certain of the exact timeline.
And if Mrs. Hackman died first, it paints a grim picture. Mr. Hackman had ‘Advanced Alzheimer’s.’ While Ms. Jarrell didn’t have any data on Mr. Hackman’s current functionality anyone who has witnessed the ravages of this disease can imagine what this might mean. This is speculation, but he literally might have kept forgetting that she died. As in, he would go to the bathroom, see her body, walk away with a plan to act on this information, and then forget that it happened. And he might have also had trouble knowing when to take his medication without her help. She was approximately three decades younger than him. The practical reality is that she might have been taking care of him to a great degree at this point and without her, he could no longer take care of himself. Which, yes, is pretty grim.
But without blaming anyone, it is human to look at mistakes and figure out how you can avoid making the same ones. It sounds like Mrs. Hackman was the only person keeping an eye on her husband on a daily basis and it sounds like that was a mistake. So, if you know of a loved one who has trouble taking care of themselves—as Mr. Hackman probably did—there should be at least two people checking in on him or her on a regular basis, even if the second person only does so with a daily phone call. We don’t say that to beat up on anyone who knew or loved the Hackmans, just to help anyone who happens to read this to avoid repeating the same errors. You always make sure there is some redundancy in your life, so that if you pass on, you know the people you love will be safe. It’s not pleasant to think about but death can strike at any moment for even the most outwardly healthy person, by violence or natural causes.
They also spent a good portion of the press conference talking about Hantavirus, including how you get it and symptoms. This is probably a good chance to learn more about this disease and to become a little more vigilant against it. After all, if there is any good that can come out of this, it might come in the form of increased awareness and vigilance against this disease.
Also: Someone asked if dogs can get Hantavirus and the answer is ‘no.’
We will note that they also seemed to pretty conclusively rule out any form of violence. We would be very surprised if anyone in authority claims later that this was a murder.
Additionally, the pills that were spilled near Mrs. Hackman were described as thyroid medication that were prescribed to her, but this doesn’t seem related to her death in any way. The impression we get is just that she happened to die when she was trying to take these pills and so she dropped them as she collapsed. From consultation, it appears that these are not the type of pills you rush to take in an emergency.
Now as promised, we will also provide you the 911 call …
… and the previous press conference:
Naturally, during this press conference they didn’t have as much information as we do now. But we will note a few things.
We think the big thing that emerges the earlier conference and the 911 call is that there is a bit of a mystery about how anyone got into the house. The affidavit clearly indicates that the police were told that the groundskeepers had found the front door ajar. But on the 911 call, they clearly indicate that they couldn’t get into the house and they were somehow seeing the bodies from the outside. Further, there was no sign of forced entry. So how do we reconcile that?
We can think of at least two innocent explanations. The first is that if you read the affidavit carefully, you realize that the claim that the groundskeepers found the door ajar is double hearsay. That is hearsay within hearsay. The person writing the affidavit didn’t even hear the groundskeepers say this. They heard one of the cops who arrived on the scene first say that the groundskeepers say this. So, the double hearsay might be wrong in some significant way.
Alternatively, on the 911 call, they might have truly believed that they couldn’t get in and then as they were waiting for the police, they discovered a way in. It could be that rather than finding the door ajar (as claimed in that double hearsay) they tried the door and discovered it was unlocked (but not open) after the call—and then later someone in the chain of double hearsay misunderstood them as finding the door ajar. In that scenario, they might not have initially checked the front door, because they assumed it was locked and then later thought to give it a shot. Or maybe they even just found a way to jimmy the lock after the 911 call. For instance, this author once accidentally locked himself out of his apartment and used one of the cards in his wallet to open the front door—and bluntly, we are not exactly Guild Master for the Riften Thieves Guild in real life so if we can do it, almost anyone can.
Finally, we have to call out Sheriff Mendoza a bit on his continuous nonsense on HIPAA, a.k.a. the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act. In the earlier press conference, he claimed he couldn’t tell us what the medication spilled all over the place was or who it was prescribed to because of HIPAA. Today he claimed that he might not be able to get information about other health information because of HIPAA. Both of these statements are wrong.
First off, the only people bound to HIPAA are certain covered entities that includes health care providers, health care plans (like insurance companies and HMOs), and health care clearinghouses. Naturally, consult the law if you are concerned that you might be covered, but that’s the gist of it. A sheriff’s office is not on that list. So, if someone in the sheriff’s office sees a bunch of thyroid medicine spread on the ground and the bottle says it is prescribed to Mrs. Betsy Hackman, HIPAA doesn’t stop them from telling the public.
Second, while HIPAA can prevent providers from providing that information to others there are exceptions and one of the big ones is to help law enforcement in the course of an investigation. They might need a warrant to do it, but they should be able to get that information.
Now, we don’t beat lay people up too often when they get HIPAA wrong, but anyone in law enforcement should at least know what HIPAA says about disclosing health care information to law enforcement. This is inexcusable ignorance on the part of the sheriff. A sheriff should absolutely know what information is available to him or her and how to get it.
One of many, many questions I have.
— Nick Sortor (@nicksortor) March 7, 2025
We suspect that Mrs. Hackman felt she could take care of him herself.
Uuuuuuuuuh, is this for real?
That is insane.
— Matt Van Swol (@matt_vanswol) March 7, 2025
Matt is an essential follow for dealing with the aftermath of Hurricane Helene.
I hate to even think about that.
— Nick Sortor (@nicksortor) March 7, 2025
We’re with you on that.
I saw a news report that claimed his children had been a bit estranged since Hackman married Betsy.
They were quoted as saying they assumed Betsy was caring for him which is why they didn’t check in frequently.
I’d prefer to remember him for the truly legendary actor that he… pic.twitter.com/DjYfvKJdx9
— War for the West (@War4theWest) March 7, 2025
The cut off text:
I’d prefer to remember him for the truly legendary actor that he was, I can’t think of anyone else as prolific and good, can you? Main or supporting character – doesn’t matter.
Good guy or villain, all excellent. One of my favorites of his was a movie call BAT 21.
He was a legend. Rest in peace.
We second what he said about his movie career. However, we don’t know if what he is saying about the family is true.
And I imagine the poor dog locked in the crate was howling for days! This just doesn’t add up whether he had Alzheimer’s or not. One moment of lucidity and he would have picked up the phone or at the very least rescued the dog.
— Julie D (@julie_d64386) March 7, 2025
Respectfully, if the Alzheimer’s was bad enough, he might not have been able to help the dog. But this is one of many people who thinks the story doesn’t add up, many of them basing it on mistakes about the facts.
“Alerting nobody” homie was 95 with Alzheimer’s and was found with barely any food in his stomach because he literally could not care for himself. His wife was his caregiver https://t.co/mbz0fRK0SH
— 𝒮𝒽𝒾𝓃𝒾𝑔𝒶𝓂𝒾 ✩✩ (@pvnkpvta) March 8, 2025
A little Googling tells me that it takes about two hours for food to leave your stomach. Going two hours without eating is not unusual in our experience. For instance, for all we know, Mr. Hackman might have died first thing in the morning before he even had breakfast.
So many people commenting and I can tell they didn’t listen to the press conference. That’s what Influencers do to people’s intelligence. https://t.co/WB1CGFr8zh
— Sherrie (@sherrie_tweets) March 8, 2025
Listening to the entire press conference is much more informative than most snippets which is why we posted the whole thing.
He had Alzheimer’s. My Dad did and was completely out of it towards the end. I’m sure Hackman was in the same boat. No clue that she was gone, sadly. I doubt he even ate. 😢
— Z (@zpatriot_) March 8, 2025
We will share one particularly painful memory from this author’s family. When this author’s grandfather (we’ll call him “A.W.”) died, our grandmother (“H.W.”) couldn’t remember that he had passed on. By then she was in her own mini apartment at a facility and before he died, A.W. wasn’t living with her for health reasons. So, she would say to this author’s family ‘Where’s A.W.?’ and, at first, they would try to tell her. It would be like she was hearing it for the first time, resulting in all the crying and misery one might imagine for a woman when finding out her husband died. Then fifteen minutes later she would ask ‘Where’s A.W.?’ again, not remembering that he had died. This cycle repeated itself more than once: They would tell her and she would be upset all over again, and then forget the entire thing minutes later. Pretty soon they just stopped telling her the truth, telling lies and half-truths to her instead. No good person likes to lie to their loved ones, but this seemed like the more compassionate way to proceed.
Alzheimer’s is one of the cruelest diseases known to man. If you’ve never dealt with it, it might be hard to wrap your head around how bad it can be.
Gene Hackman’s death was the way I learned that deer mice in New Mexico carry a 42% fatality rate Hantavirus… pic.twitter.com/IXfrvlvpq2
— Red Harrington (@RedHarrington44) March 7, 2025
That’s so sad, he was looking for her probably for days,she was his caretaker. Rest in peace now you two, they had a very special bond until the end. 🥺🙏💟 pic.twitter.com/PA0GSFaiiy
— AnnaJ 🌠🇺🇲 (@rosebud_jurado) March 7, 2025
It’s so sad. They were there so long. A reminder to check on our elderly more regularly. https://t.co/7F1Ag5wJiP
— Pancakes & Pandemonium (@PancakesPandem) March 7, 2025
Yes. And make sure there is redundancy in that monitoring as we said.
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