Experts have shared that the bodies of and his wife were not found for so long for a heartbreaking reason, with it being likely that the 95-year-old actor did not even realise she was deceased prior to his own death. The couple were both found dead inside their on February 26, along with one of their , Zinna – with clouds of mystery surrounding their sudden demise.
After a thorough investigation by authorities, it was determined that Betsy had died a week prior to her husband. The classical pianist is thought to have died from , a rat-borne disease, on February 11, while the Superman actor reportedly died about a week later – around February 18.
Gene Hackman died aged 95 (Image: Getty)
His cause of death was reported to have been hypertensive and atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease, but his advanced Alzheimer’s was also a “significant contributory factor”.
Fox News’ medical contributor, Dr. Marc Siegel, seemed to think that Hackman’s mental state played a huge role in the delayed discovery of their bodies.
He explained: “If he was incapable of calling 911, and getting her seen, and just sat there for a week, then he either went into a state of great despondency or was somehow incapacitated himself. Or his Alzheimer’s was so severe that he was incapable of even noticing what was going on.”
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The couple both died within days of each other (Image: Getty)
Forensic pathologist Dr. Michael Baden echoed Mr Siegel as he shared what Hackman’s final days could have looked like. He said: “I think what [happened] here is he didn’t realise it and … didn’t understand that she was dead. He didn’t understand that he needed to call 911.
“It sounded like he kind of wandered around, was able to drink water from… [the] kitchen sink or even get some food out of the refrigerator… [he] probably couldn’t cook anything but could eat bread or something if he was hungry.”
The actor’s autopsy reportedly showed signs of “severe heart disease, including multiple surgical procedures involving the heart, evidence of prior heart attacks, and severe changes of the kidneys due to chronic high blood pressure.”
The coroner also found “advanced Alzheimer’s disease” in his brain and “blood vessel changes in the brain secondary to chronic high blood pressure.”