Jin Hackman: Cause of Death Revealed – Lived a Week with Deceased Wife

The 95-year-old Jin Hackman, who was found deceased inside his home in Santa Fe, New Mexico, in February, passed away due to heart disease, chronic hypertension, respiratory illness, and advanced-stage Alzheimer’s as announced by the medical examiner’s office. His wife, pianist Betzi Arakawa, 65, likely died a week earlier from a pulmonary syndrome caused by hantavirus. The hantavirus is a rare but deadly infectious disease transmitted by rodents, initially presenting flu-like symptoms that worsen into respiratory distress. According to the medical examiner Heder Jarell, the bodies showed no internal or external trauma. The autopsy and post-mortem axial tomography on Hackman revealed he had undergone multiple heart surgeries, had suffered heart attacks in the past, and exhibited severe kidney damage due to chronic hypertension. Hackman likely passed away around February 17, while Arakawa passed around February 11. The actor was found deceased, fallen on the floor of the living room, with his wife lying nearby in the bathroom. An open bottle of prescription medication and scattered pills were found near her. One of their three dogs was also deceased in a cage near Arakawa’s body, but the other two survived as they could move freely in and out of the house through a pet door. Sheriff of Santa Fe, Edwin Mendosa, stated that the actor probably remained in the house with his deceased wife for a week before his own death.