GettyImages 22666101
Newly released bodycam footage is raising new concerns about the circumstances surrounding the final days of legendary actor Gene Hackman and his wife, Betsy Arakawa.
In the weeks before their tragic deaths, the couple reportedly had two unsettling encounters that left them feeling uneasy, according to Fox News.
Hackman, 95, and Arakawa, 65, were found dead in their Santa Fe, New Mexico, home on February 26, along with one of their dogs.
Authorities later confirmed Hackman’s death was caused by hypertensive atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease, with Alzheimer’s disease being a significant contributing factor.
Betsy had passed away days earlier, and her cause of death was identified as hantavirus pulmonary syndrome — a rare but serious respiratory illness.
Their dog, Zinna, is believed to have died from dehydration.
Now, in newly surfaced bodycam footage obtained by Fox News Digital, a man named Christopher — who worked as Betsy’s hairstylist — told Santa Fe County Sheriff’s deputies about strange and unsettling encounters she had with an unknown man on two separate occasions in December.
“She mentioned to me that there was a man who had parked outside their gate and followed them,” Christopher says in the footage. “On two separate occasions. One time, when they went to White Rock, they had lunch there, and the guy followed them from parked outside their gated community all the way to White Rock.”
Christopher explained that Betsy was shaken by the experience and expressed concern that their security had failed to notice the man.
Continuing his account to police, the hairstylist said: “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.’”
He added that Betsy told him the man had pulled out a folder full of photographs of Hackman and asked for autographs. “She said… she approached him and told him he needed to have more respect,” Christopher recalled.
Christopher admitted he was personally alarmed by the interaction. “I said, ‘That’s so weird because Santa Fe’s not a place for paparazzi and stuff,’” he remembered telling Betsy.
The hairstylist also described a second incident involving the same man, who followed the Hackmans to another location and tried to give them a bottle of wine, which they declined.
“I said, ‘Oh my gosh, Betsy, that’s crazy. You should not have approached this person. This makes me nervous.’ He knew what [they] drove. That’s the scary part,” Christopher told officers.
Following their deaths, the Hackman estate moved quickly to block public access to sensitive details.
On March 13, a lawyer for the estate filed a petition in the state District Court in Santa Fe to prevent the Office of the Medical Investigator and the Santa Fe County Sheriff’s Office from releasing footage and other records related to the couple’s deaths.
The legal filing, submitted by attorney Kurt Sommer, argued that the Hackmans’ right to privacy outweighed the public’s interest in accessing these materials.
“Once the images are released, the bell cannot be unrung,” Sommer wrote, according to The Sun, referencing a precedent set in the Kurt Cobain case, where courts refused to release “death-scene” photos.
“During their lifetime, the Hackmans placed significant value on their privacy and took affirmative, vigilant steps to safeguard their privacy,” Sommer added.
A temporary restraining order was granted, blocking the release of photographs or videos that include images of Gene or Betsy Hackman, the interior of their home, or any deceased animals found at the residence. The order also restricts the release of autopsy or death reports, with a hearing scheduled for March 31.
New questions also arose regarding the timeline of Betsy’s death.
Authorities had initially believed she passed away on February 11, but preliminary cellphone records obtained by Fox News suggest she may have still been alive the following morning.
“We can now confirm that Mrs. Hackman’s phone was used on the morning of February 12 to call a medical center in Santa Fe, Cloudberry Health,” officials said. “A total of three calls were made that morning, all to the medical center. One incoming call was made to Mrs. Hackman from the same medical center that afternoon. That appeared as a missed call on Mrs. Hackman’s cell phone.”
This revelation aligns with a statement from Dr. Josiah Child, a former emergency care specialist and the operator of Cloudberry Health.
As the investigation continues and the legal battle over public access unfolds, the strange sightings, the delayed death timeline, and the privacy efforts from the estate raise more questions than answers about the mysterious deaths of the Hollywood couple.
