New Evidence Prompts Police To Revise Timeline Of Gene Hackman's Wife's Death

The timeline of the death of Gene Hackman's wife, Betsy Arakawa, has been changed after new evidence was uncovered. Initially, the authorities had claimed that the classical pianist had died on February 11 based on a medical examination of her body.

However, a Santa Fe doctor recently revealed that Arakawa had called his clinic on February 12, which ruled out the earlier date.

According to reports, the late wife of Gene Hackman had called to make a medical appointment but did not show up during the scheduled time that same day.

Following the passing of Gene Hackman and his wife, Betsy Arakawa, investigators released details indicating that Arakawa's time of death was on or around February 11.

However, they have now had to change the timeline after a Santa Fe doctor, Dr. Josiah Child of Cloudberry Health in New Mexico, revealed that the late classical pianist had called his office on February 12.

"We can now confirm that Mrs. Hackman's phone was utilized on the morning of February 12 to call a medical center in Santa Fe, Cloudberry Health," the sheriff's office said in a statement to Today prior to updating the timeline.

They added, "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 cellphone."

The authorities also revealed that their information was sourced from the cellphone data on Arakawa's phone, which was recovered from her residence.

In a separate interview with "Good Morning America," Santa Fe Sheriff Adan Mendoza hinted that Arakawa's call to the clinic indicated that she was "seeking medical advice or medical help and may not have been feeling well."

Mendoza's claims were confirmed by Child, who said that Arakawa had first placed a call to his office several weeks before and called on February 12 to schedule an appointment.

According to the doctor, her reason for contacting him was to ask about getting a heart scan –echocardiogram— for her husband.

He also clarified that Arakawa did not mention having any respiratory distress, which is a symptom of the Hantavirus that caused her shocking death.

"We made her an appointment, but she never showed up," Child said. "She did not show any symptoms of respiratory distress. The appointment wasn't for anything related to Hantavirus. We tried calling her a couple of times with no reply."

There is currently no change to the timeline of Hackman's death, which is believed to have been on February 18.

According to reports, the late veteran actor died of severe heart disease after living with Alzheimer's for years. Arakawa had been the one taking care of him prior to her death in their $3.8 million Santa Fe home.

For days, their bodies went undiscovered until a maintenance worker found them on February 26.

Their dog, Zinna, was also found dead in a crate when the Hackmans' bodies were discovered by maintenance worker Jesse Kesler. The late couple also owned two other dogs, who were found roaming freely when authorities arrived.

Since their deaths, tributes have poured in honor of Hackman from high-profile names like Clint Eastwood and Morgan Freeman.

TMZ released audio of the 911 call that led to the discovery of the couple by the police.

According to the news outlet, a caretaker could be heard frantically telling the dispatcher that he had seen two bodies that weren't moving, pleading for help to be sent to the actor's Santa Fe mansion in New Mexico.

The caretaker believed to be one of the two maintenance workers called, Roland Lowe Begay and Jesse Kesler, reportedly became tearful as they shouted "Damn" several times during the call.

The caller is said to have stood outside and looked through a window while reporting the incident to the dispatcher.

At one point, he noted that "[it's] a female and a male probably. I don't know, sir. Just send somebody up here really quick."

In the meantime, photographs and other recordings of the bodies of Hackman and his wife won't be released to the public.

It follows the filing of a motion by a representative of the Hackman estate to keep the footage out of the public eye via a restraining order, as reported by The Blast.

The representative had argued in his filing that Hackman had lived a private life, which should not be ignored just because he was dead.

He also appealed to the family's constitutional right to grieve privately under the 14th Amendment.

On Monday, a New Mexico judge ruled in favor of the actor's estate, which implies that the records will remain sealed for the foreseeable future.