Gene Hackman, wife and dog found dead / wife died of hantavirus, Hackman a week later of heart failure

I have never seen Hoosiers. Now I think I need to watch the movie in honor of Gene.
A truly great sports movie. It's my favorite Hackman performance, but Dennis Hopper is at least as good as the assistant coach. And remember, when Jimmy Chitwood finally joins the team all the pistols start firing!
 
That is very weird. Wondered if he died and then she took her own life with the pills, and the dog ate some of the pills and died as a result. it doesn't seem like carbon monoxide was the cause according to the fire department, and there wasn't any blood around.
I'm wondering if we will ever know the truth of what happened - there were no witnesses and apparently no cameras - and it's probably going to be hard for detectives to find what really happened unless a note or something is found. I've read a number of stories of suspicious or unsolved deaths of movie and television stars over the years, some dating back to the silent movie era, and I wonder if this will end up becoming one of those stories. It's just very sad, whatever happened.
 
I'm wondering if we will ever know the truth of what happened - there were no witnesses and apparently no cameras - and it's probably going to be hard for detectives to find what really happened unless a note or something is found. I've read a number of stories of suspicious or unsolved deaths of movie and television stars over the years, some dating back to the silent movie era, and I wonder if this will end up becoming one of those stories. It's just very sad, whatever happened.
The autopsies will likely rule out a number of things and may point to actual causes of death. From there, it may take some educated guesswork to figure out exactly what happened.
 
If the theory mentioned above is correct
Hackman dies
Wife elects to commit suicide but leaves door open so people will come in and find them soon
Then the German Shepherd guard dog in a crate makes some sense. She likely figured they would be discoveed in a day or two (and not the 9 or so some have mentioned) and did not want the panicked dog attaching people who entered the house. The dog would be fine also if people found them soon
 
If the theory mentioned above is correct
Hackman dies
Wife elects to commit suicide but leaves door open so people will come in and find them soon
Then the German Shepherd guard dog in a crate makes some sense. She likely figured they would be discoveed in a day or two (and not the 9 or so some have mentioned) and did not want the panicked dog attaching people who entered the house
Or didn’t want the dog to eat their bodies
 
If the theory mentioned above is correct
Hackman dies
Wife elects to commit suicide but leaves door open so people will come in and find them soon
Then the German Shepherd guard dog in a crate makes some sense. She likely figured they would be discoveed in a day or two (and not the 9 or so some have mentioned) and did not want the panicked dog attaching people who entered the house. The dog would be fine also if people found them soon
It's adds an extra layer of sadness to this story that even in her distraught state, Hackman's wife didn't want anything bad to happen to those who discovered their bodies or their dog. And, as such, she put their German Shepard in its crate. That sort of thinking is all to common in extremely stressful situations, as this was.
 
My guess is that the wife, the caregiver, had a heart attack first. The one dog was crated. He, with dementia, didn't know how to call for help and fell and couldn't get up in his agitated state.

If so, very sad and horrifying.
I think this is what probably happened, too.
 
If he died on Feb 17, here is Santa Fe weather that day. Would a caregiver leave door open normally with a dementia patient in the house? I could see door being left open if weather was nice and demential was not an issue
 
My guess is that the wife, the caregiver, had a heart attack first. The one dog was crated. He, with dementia, didn't know how to call for help and fell and couldn't get up in his agitated state.

If so, very sad and horrifying.
That was my thought as well. I'm actually surprised that there aren't more "caregiver dies unexpectedly, and invalid is unable to call for help," deaths.
 
So I was reading about Gene Hackman, and this is in the article:

It appeared he fell suddenly, and he and his wife "showed obvious signs of death," the document said.





Obvious signs of death?? Like...being dead?

 
Last edited:
Back
Top