Gene Hackman and Betsy Arakawa Hackman had two strange interactions with a man months before their deaths.
In newly released bodycam footage obtained by Fox News Digital, the classical pianist’s hairstylist detailed how a “frazzled” Betsy allegedly expressed concern about being followed on two separate occasions in December by an individual she had never seen before.
“She mentioned to me that there was a man that had parked outside of their gate and followed them,” her hairstylist, a man named Christopher, told law enforcement. “On two separate occasions. One occasion is when they went to White Rock. They went and had lunch there and the guy followed them from parked [outside of their gated community], followed them all the way to White Rock.”
“She said, ‘Christopher, I’m surprised that security didn’t [know] how he got there… because when we left, I noticed that this car had followed us from the residence to White Rock.’”
Christopher said Betsy told him the man had “pulled out a folder of photos of her husband and wanted him to sign them.”
“And I said, we were sitting here and I said, ‘That’s so weird because Santa Fe’s not a place of paparazzi and stuff,’” he told police. “She said… she approached him and said, ‘I told him he needed to have more respect.’”
On a separate occasion, the same man followed them to a different location.
He had offered the Hackmans a bottle of wine, Betsy told Christopher.
They declined to accept the gift.
“I said, ‘Oh my gosh, Betsy, that’s crazy. You should not have approached this person. This makes me nervous,’” Christopher said. “He knew what [they] drove. That’s the scary part.”
On March 13, a lawyer for the Hackmans’ estate filed a petition in state District Court in Santa Fe attempting to prevent the medical investigator and the Santa Fe County Sheriff’s Office from releasing footage, according to the Santa Fe New Mexican.
Lawyer Kurt Sommer wrote that once the images are released “the bell cannot be unrung.”
He also argued the couple’s right to privacy outweighs the public interest in the couple’s death.
He cited Kurt Cobain’s death in his petition and pointed out that a court refused to release the “death-scene” photographs.
“Undersigned counsel cannot think of respective harm that would come to the State and County offices from respecting the discretion of Mr. Hackman’s and Mrs. Hackman-Arakawa’s right to privacy,” he wrote.
“During their lifetime, the Hackmans placed significant value on their privacy and took affirmative, vigilant steps to safeguard their privacy.”
Last week, the Hackman estate was awarded a temporary restraining order against the release of records regarding the deaths of Gene and Betsy.
The order stated the “Office of the Medical Investigator and the Santa Fe County Sheriff’s Office, including each entities’ agents, assigns, and employees are hereby temporarily restrained from disclosing through IPRA or other means, any and all photographs or videos containing images of the following: the body of Gene Hackman, the body of Betsy Arakawa-Hackman, the interior of Mr. and Mrs. Hackman’s residence.”
Additionally, “any lapel video footage,” including the Hackmans’ bodies or footage of “images of any deceased animals at the Hackman residence,” was added to the temporary restraining order.
The Office of the Medical Investigator was temporarily restrained from disclosing the autopsy and/or death reports, according to the order. A hearing was set for March 31.
Gene and Betsy’s estate is represented by Julia Peters, a partner and chief counsel for the Avalon Trust Co. investment firm.
Betsy died of hantavirus pulmonary syndrome, New Mexico officials told reporters.
Gene died from hypertensive atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease, with Alzheimer’s disease as a significant contributing factor.
