EXCLUSIVE: Gene Hackman's Hermit Lifestyle Blamed for Horrific End to His and Wife Betsy Arakawa's Lives – 'If He Hadn't Been So Stubborn, They Wouldn't Have Wound Up Mummified and Killed by Rat Virus'

The decaying corpses of Hollywood legend turned recluse Gene Hackman and his wife, Betsy Arakawa, weren't discovered until nine days after their deaths – and RadarOnline.com can now reveal the grim end was a direct result of the hermit-like lifestyle championed by the loner actor.

Hackman, 95, and Arakawa, 65, were found by a landscaper who spotted their decomposing bodies after peeking into windows of their sprawling Santa Fe, N.M., home on February 26 when they didn't answer the door.

An insider told us: "This is just the most horrifying, undignified way for one of the most loved actors in the world to leave this earth, and everyone has their theories, from a suicide pact to just an unfortunate chain of events."

The French Connection star's body was lying in the home's entryway, while his wife's was sprawled on a bathroom floor, with heart and thyroid drugs scattered on a countertop.

The couple's dog Zinna – one of three they owned – was also found dead nearby.

Authorities called the deaths "suspicious," and while Santa Fe County Sheriff Adan Mendoza said there was no initial evidence of foul play, his department was not ruling it out.

A source told RadarOnline.com, the long time lapse between death and discovery is not surprising, considering the privacy-obsessed pair didn't seem to have had any contact with the outside world in ages.

"It's heartbreaking, it's perplexing," said Hackman's long-time friend Doug Lanham, who hadn't seen the couple since before the 2020 pandemic.

Hackman's daughter Leslie Anne, 58 – the youngest of the actor's three children with first wife Faye Maltese – said she hadn't spoken to her father in two months.

"What's amazing is that Gene and Betsy lived in an 8,700-square-foot house, yet didn't even have a housekeeper," our source said. "They were always kind of keep-to-yourself folks, but their isolation seemed to only increase in recent months. Nobody heard or saw them.

"What's really sad is that if they had opened themselves up to friends or even household help a little more, they may have gotten help, instead of this tragic and mysterious end."

Forensic pathologist Dr. Michael Baden theorizes that a chain reaction led to the deaths – first Hackman, who had a pacemaker, had a heart episode, then Arakawa hit her head in the bathroom as she scrambled for his meds, possibly causing internal bleeding.

Meanwhile, the couple's dog, which was in its crate, may have died of dehydration.

Our insider bluntly concluded: "They died horrific deaths because they were living far too reclusively with no-one to check in on or help them."

Another source said Hackman loved being loner above his and wife's safety.

They said about the famously stubborn and fiery star: "Gene never took any nonsense. Even though he had dementia at the end, he could never be persuaded to bring in extra care for him and his wife – it was always his way or the highway.

"In the end, and even though it sounds harsh, they may not have died – or at least died the way they did – if he hadn't been so harsh.

"He may not have ended up so riddled with dementia and his wife could have avoided literally being poisoned by rats.

"It's all so sad."