GENE Hackman and wife Betsy Arakawa’s autopsies can be released – alongside any documents, pictures, and videos that do not show their bodies, a judge has ruled.
Judge Matthew Wilson sealed off any public records containing images of the bodies on Monday after the late actor and his wife’s estate pushed for privacy around the deaths.
A temporary hold had been placed on all records as the estate argued that Hackman, who was notoriously private, should be afforded the same rights after his death.
The hold was released on Monday but only on any files that don’t include the body images.
Hackman, Arakawa, and one of their dogs were found dead under mysterious circumstances at their sprawling New Mexico estate on February 26.
Santa Fe sheriff officials found the Academy Award-winning actor, 95, fully clothed in a mud room off the kitchen with his cane next to him.
Meanwhile, Arakawa, 65, was later discovered on the bathroom floor near a space heater with tablets from a prescription bottle scattered on the floor.
Arakawa’s body was said to have been found in a state of partial mummification.
Police and medical professionals quickly ruled out any foul play.
Dr. Heather Jarrell, the chief medical examiner of New Mexico, revealed that Arakawa died of hantavirus pulmonary syndrome, which is caused by contact with rodents like rats and mice.
Hackman’s cause of death was ruled as hypertensive and atherosclerotic cardiac disease, Jarrell added.
An autopsy showed that Hackman had advanced Alzheimer’s, which played a significant role in his death.
Hackman death twist as bodycam footage reveals mystery man STALKED couple
While most of the details from the autopsy were released in a press briefing on March 7, lawyers had argued over whether the full reports should be made public.
The hearing was attended by lawyers for Hackman’s estate, one of the actor’s children, attorneys for Sante Fe County, and the University of New Mexico for the Medical Examiner.
Lawyers for CBS and the Associated Press were also present at the First Judicial District Court.
“Gene and Betsy Hackman’s names, likenesses and images are valuable and need to be protected and that is clearly proven out by virtue of the press wanting to get their hands on the documents to exploit them for their own personal profit and gain,” Kurt Sommer, a lawyer for Hackman’s estate, argued before the judge.
“This estate has a duty to protect Gene and Betsy’s property, including photographs and videos of their dead bodies,” he added.
RIGHT TO PRIVACY
During his closing statement, Sommer stated that his clients, the Hackman children, have the right of privacy not to have pictures of their father’s body posted online.
Despite the pair’s public personas, Somer argued that the couple “took great pains” to make their lives private.
“They lived in a private gated community. They lived very quietly in Santa Fe and unfortunately, they died a very tragic death,” he said.
Sommer noted that Hackman would only ever do two hours of press for his movies and repeatedly denied CBS News Sunday Mornings’ interview requests.
The attorney called the media’s request to unseal photos and videos of Hackman’s death “nothing more than backdoor exposure to the Hackmans’ lifestyle that could not be attained by the press during their lifetime.”
“There’s no damage to the media by waiting until these matters are decided, a significant amount of videos have already been released to the press,” Sommer said.
Arguing for the release of the documents to the media, Walker Boyd said it was not common for a judge “to stop state entities from doing their statutory required jobs.”
Boyd mentioned that New Mexico’s privacy laws do not grant a person the same privileges in death as it does in life.
“The estate and intervening family members do not possess the right of privacy being asserted here,” he argued.
BODYCAM RELEASE
Some footage from the Hackmans’ home after their deaths was already released last week.
It was also revealed the couple had complained of a mystery man stalking them in the weeks before their deaths.
The footage showed a hairstylist telling police that Betsy Arakawa confided in him about a stranger who followed the pair twice in December.
In a video obtained by Fox News, the hairstylist, identified as Christopher, claimed Arakawa told him a man parked outside their gate and followed them on more than one occasion.
“She mentioned to me that there was a man that had parked outside of their gate and followed them,” he told officers.
“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.’”
REPORTS SCHEDULED
It is not clear when the remaining body cam footage will be released.
The New Mexico Office of the Medical Investigator also confirmed on Monday that it had not finalized all reports but would respect the judge’s ruling.
“As of today, the NM OMI has not finalized the post-mortem examination reports of Mr. Eugene Hackman and Mrs. Betsy Hackman,” the agency said.
“However, once those reports are finalized, the NM OMI will release the reports and will not release photos, as ordered.
“The NM OMI will release documents to those who have requested them through it’s normal protocol, which is through The University of New Mexico’s public records portal. The NM OMI offers condolences to the Hackman Family.”
Hackmen’s estate has not yet commented on the ruling.
The couple died on separate dates, as authorities believe Arakawa was last alive on February 12, while Hackman is suspected to have died around February 18 – the last day his pacemaker reported heart data.
Jarrell, the chief medical examiner, said that because of Hackman’s advanced Alzheimer’s, it is possible he did not know his wife was dead in the home.
“Mr. Hackman showed evidence of advanced Alzheimer’s disease. He was in a very poor state of health,” she said at a March 7 press conference.
“He had significant heart disease, and I think ultimately that’s what resulted in his death.”
One of the couple’s three dogs, Zinna, was also found dead in a crate near a bathroom by Arakawa.
Although Arakawa had no children, Hackman is survived by his three children from his first marriage with Faye Maltese.
Legal expert: Gene Hackman’s 3 children ‘will likely get everything’ in $80 million estate
Legal expert Goldie Schon told The U.S. Sun that Gene Hackman’s three adult children are likely to inherit his $80 million estate despite being left out of his will.
Schon noted that Hackman’s intentions were for his estate to go entirely to his wife, Betsy, who tragically passed away before him, leaving the situation legally complex.
Schon clarified that because Hackman’s will designated his wife as the sole beneficiary, her death before his created a legal conundrum.
“Now we’re in a situation where his will and trust says that everything goes to her, but she died first,” she said.
As a result, Hackman’s estate enters intestate proceedings, which treat the situation as if Hackman had no will.
Under intestate laws, Schon explained, the estate defaults to the actor’s next of kin.
“Let’s just simplify it,” she said.
“It is as if he did not say who’s it going to go to, and when that happens, we have other rules in place that tell us who it’s going to go to, and the first people that it goes to are your next of kin, which would be his children.”
Schon revealed that one of Hackman’s children had already engaged legal counsel to contest the estate.
“It is not odd or strange that one of his children, or all three of his children, for that matter, will find an attorney and counsel to obtain a portion of his estate,” she said.
Yet she argued that this is a standard legal step and aligns with inheritance laws.
The legal expert emphasised that Hackman’s children have a strong case since there is no explicit language in the will that disinherits them.
“Gene Hackman wasn’t intentionally saying in his will or trust, ‘I do not want my children to get any of my estate,’” she explained.
“This is just a man who had been with his wife for decades and loved his wife and understood that his wife was younger than him, and wanted to give his estate to her, to allow her to live her life in however she deemed appropriate.”
Given Betsy’s death, Schon said the estate is left in a position where Hackman’s children are the natural heirs.
“Because, quite frankly, that’s the way it should be if there was nothing between the children and Gene Hackman,” she remarked, suggesting there were no significant family disputes that would complicate matters.
Schon also highlighted the simplicity of intestate laws in this scenario.
“Now what it is, is actually fairly simple. It’s going to be a fight, of course, but it’s simple because it’s as if Gene Hackman passed without a will,” she explained, making the path forward clearer for the children’s legal claims.
