Inside tragic state of Gene Hackman's home as children left out of £62m will

Fresh details have emerged about the state of legendary actor Gene Hackman and his wife Betsy Arakawa's home after the couple were on February 26.

The couple were discovered at their Santa Fe property after concerned staff spotted their and contacted emergency services. What began as a mystery surrounding possible carbon monoxide poisoning eventually ended when tests concluded both had died from separate medical issues.

It was later confirmed Betsy, 65, had died from - a rare and deadly condition spread through the droppings and urine of infected rodents.

Her death is believed to have occurred around February 12. Just days later, Gene, aged 95, died from complications related to advanced heart disease, worsened by Alzheimer’s and kidney issues.

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Tragically, officials believe the award-winning actor may not have even realised his wife had died, given the extent of his declining health. Fresh details have since emerged about the property they were found inside.

A week after their bodies were found, the New Mexico Department of Public Health carried out a full inspection of the couple’s sprawling property. What they uncovered was alarming.

Rodent nests, faeces, and even carcasses were discovered across eight separate buildings on the estate - including garages, sheds and guesthouses. Inspectors also found evidence of rodents inside two vehicles, along with traps throughout the outbuildings, suggesting the issue was long-running.

While the main residence was deemed “low-risk” with no active signs of infestation indoors, the condition of the surrounding property led officials to describe it as a potential hotspot for hantavirus.

Hackman, who stepped away from acting two decades ago following Welcome to Mooseport, had lived a quiet life with his wife, far from Hollywood’s spotlight. The couple were known for fiercely guarding their privacy - something their estate’s legal team attempted to uphold even after their passing.

However, a judge recently ruled that certain details of the investigation - including body camera footage and photographs of the deceased dog also found in the home - could be made public, provided the images did not show Hackman or Arakawa’s remains.

The footage, released earlier this month, shows police speaking with workers who had alerted authorities after seeing a body through a window. “Something’s not right,” one of them can be heard saying in the video.

In his 1995 will, Hackman named Arakawa as his sole heir. Her own will stipulated that if both spouses were to die within 90 days of each other, the estate would be donated to charity.

The haunting series of events surrounding their deaths and the shocking state of their property have left fans reeling and raised awareness around the deadly Hantavirus - of which fewer than 50 cases are reported in the US each year.

The couple had been married for 34 years and had no children of their own, although Arakawa was a stepmother to his three children from a previous marriage. Legal experts have now said that because authorities say Arakawa died seven days before her husband, Hackman's children could now potentially inherit his fortune despite not being named in the will.

His three children with his late ex-wife, Faye Maltese - Christopher, 65, Elizabeth, 62, and Leslie, 58 - have not commented publicly on the matter. Authorities initially deemed the scene "suspicious" but later ruled out foul play.

One of their , Zinna, was also found deceased - though two of their other dogs, Bear and Nikita, were found running around the 12-acre property. Their home was located in a secluded gated community and .

"They have a gate, and we have a gate, and we just have never even seen each other," one neighbour told the . Another resident added: "He wanted to be quiet, he didn't want to be bothered, and I don't blame him."

According to reports, the $3.5million (£2.6million) ranch home had been "a mess" prior to the pair's tragic deaths. "The inside of the house was shocking," a source told . "They didn't have a housekeeper or a maid, so it had beautiful things - furniture and paintings - but there was dog poop on the floor."

The source added: "The inside of the house was bad. Nothing had been dusted. There was nothing in the fridge."

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