Fresh Gene Hackman Death Mystery: 'Cover-Up' Conspiracy Theories Erupt After Hollywood Icon's Family Bids to BLOCK Autopsy Release in 'Highly Unusual' Move Following News of His Wife's Deadly Rat Virus
Gene Hackman's family want to prevent the release of his autopsy report and papers on the probe into his and his wife Betsy Arakawa's shock passings.
March 20 2025, Published 10:49 a.m. ET
The mystery surrounding Gene Hackman and his wife Betsy Arakawa's shock deaths has taken a fresh twist after his family made an usual move.
RadarOnline.com can reveal the Oscar-winner's loved ones want to prevent the release of the autopsy and death investigation reports.
Hackman and Arakawa, seen here on one of their last sightings, were found dead in their $4million Santa Fe home.
It comes after his family also tried to block photos and video of the couple's bodies, their dog's remains, and the general scene inside their Santa Fe home.
An insider close to the death investigation revealed they have never in their career heard of a family trying to block autopsy results in New Mexico.
"Trying to block the autopsy report is very atypical, that is not something I have ever seen before," our insider claimed.
They added: "New Mexico doesn't have an exemption for autopsy photos, and normally it's not a concern, but when it comes to celebrity deaths, a lot of people will request them.
"So it's common where family members of celebrities would use the New Mexico courts to block release of photos specifically.
"As with the Hackmans, Michael Jackson's family blocked Tito Jackson's autopsy photos, and with the Alec Baldwin shooting of Halyna Hutchins, her family did the same.
"However, blocking the actual autopsy report, again, is highly unusual."
Hackman, who was battling advanced Alzheimer's, may have been unaware his wife had died before he passed away.
In a temporary restraining order obtained by Hackman’s estate, the Santa Fe court barred the Sheriff's Office and the Office of the Medical Investigator from releasing any photos and video of Hackman and Arakawa's bodies or their deceased dog and the inside of their house pending a hearing later this month.
The unusual move to block the autopsy report in the restraining order, however, comes right after the blocking of the images.
As previously reported, the Office of the Medical Investigator in New Mexico confirmed during a news conference earlier this month that Hackman's wife was posthumously diagnosed with hantavirus pulmonary syndrome, a rare and potentially deadly disease transmitted through rodent exposure.
Hantavirus has in the past been a public health crisis, so it's also unusual that there would be interest in blocking information to the public about a reported case.
Adding to the complexity of issues surrounding the Hackmans' deaths was a revelation earlier this week that preliminary cell phone records show Arakawa, 65, made multiple calls to a Santa Fe medical center on February 12, 24 hours after she was initially believed to have died.
"We can now confirm that Mrs Hackman’s phone was utilized on the morning of February 12 to call a medical center in Santa Fe," authorities revealed.
Hackman's daughter Leslie Anne, left, seen above with her sister Elizabeth, last spoke to her famous father two months before the tragic discovery of his and Arakawa's bodies.
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A total of three calls were made that morning, all to the medical center.
Complicating matters even more, 95-year-old Hackman, who was battling advanced Alzheimer's, was reportedly left alone in the couple's home for several days following his wife’s death.
It's possible he was unaware of his wife's passing, with officials later confirming that he died on February 18, one week after his wife.
Hackman's cause of death was determined to be hypertensive atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease, with Alzheimer’s disease listed as a contributing factor.
The bodies of both Hackman and Arakawa were not discovered until February 26, when a neighbor's caretaker called 911 after finding them unresponsive.
