kinda crazy story but makes sense when you consider he had alzheimers. It makes me sad thinking that he wandered around in house for a week around his dead wife and with his alzheimers he might not really have understood what was happening
Gene Hackman died of cardiovascular disease about a week after his wife died of hantavirus, according to the New Mexico medical examiner.
variety.com
Hackman died of cardiovascular disease, with Alzheimer’s disease as a significant contributing factor, said Heather Jarrell, the chief medical examiner for the New Mexico Office of the Medical Investigator.
Arakawa likely died about a week earlier, on Feb. 11, of hantavirus, a potentially fatal virus transmitted by mice. Both deaths fall under natural causes, which can include heart disease, stroke, cancer, respiratory failure, infections and age-related complications.
Hackman’s pacemaker registered cardiac activity on Feb. 17. On Feb. 18, the pacemaker picked up an abnormal rhythm, which was the last recording, suggesting that he died that day.