Gene Hackman died of natural causes days after wife died of rare respiratory virus

Cause of Betsy Arakawa's death was hantavirus pulmonary syndrome while Hackman died of heart disease, with advanced Alzheimer's disease contributing

The actor Gene Hackman died of natural causes days after his wife, Betsy Arakawa, succumbed to a rare respiratory virus, authorities said on Friday.

Arakawa died of hantavirus pulmonary syndrome while Hackman died of heart disease, with advanced Alzheimer's disease contributing, said Dr Heather Jarrell, the chief medical investigator for the New Mexico office of the medical investigator. The couple's partially mummified bodies were discovered last month at their home in New Mexico.