Was a great actor and a decent guy, dead at 95. The mystery of his death has been officially solved. Natural causes.

https://www.scmp.com/news/world/united-states-canada/article/3301592/gene-hackman-died-heart-disease-wife-died-hantavirus-week-earlier

His temple work can be done 1 year after his death. Does the clock start ticking when the body was discovered, or two weeks earlier?

Mormonism taught me critical thinking, so I do not believe the officials. I don't trust the science. How am I supposed to believe this guy lived in his house for a week with his deceased wife without calling 911, picking up the spilled pills or the space heater, or doing whatever you do to avoid having a dead dog in your closet?

Still, the dog could have eaten one of the pills that nobody picked up. There is enough plausibility to believe the report, if one wants to. So, what is a healthy amount of skepticism?



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 03/08/2025 06:21AM by bradley.

His wife died of Hantavirus (that's the unusual part) about a week prior. Hackman died of heart disease, which considering that he had a pacemaker, is unsurprising. He also had Alzheimer's (this is mentioned as a contributing cause of his death on the death certificate,) and the speculation is that it was so advanced that he had no awareness of his wife's passing. He possibly was unable to drink enough and feed himself adequately, and take his medications, which would have put additional stress on his heart.

Knowing someone right now with dementia who would starve/dehydrate if people didn't put food and water in front of him, I find it completely credible that that could have happened once his wife died. Perhaps the dog had no source of water either, though the toilets should serve for a fair amount of time.

With three near-simultaneous deaths, one would at least suspect foul play of some sort, but apparently all natural causes, except the dog may have poisoned itself accidentally.

Pretty mundane case really, except for the number of deaths involved and the celebrity status of Mr Hackman.

I heard a news report this morning that Hackman had been adequately hydrated, but that he hadn't had food in a while.

The dog had been crated following a medical procedure. It's speculated that the animal died from lack of hydration and/or starvation, but they will be doing a necropsy to confirm. It's a shame that the poor dog had to die as well, but it appears to be an unfortunate accident. If it had been left loose like the other dogs, it may have survived.

I was reading that the type of Hanta that is active in the southwestern U.S. right now has a 38-40% kill rate. It initially presents like the flu (fever, chills, nausea, respiratory problems,) but its victims can rapidly deteriorate, often within 48 hours. My best guess is that his wife was either misdiagnosed with the flu, or she figured that she had the flu, and could ride it out. The speculation is that she inadvertently inhaled droppings/detritus from the local deer mouse population, which carries Hanta. Their house was clean, but deer mice had been active in some of their outbuildings.

Apparently his stomach was completely empty.

I felt surprised that a week would go by with nobody realizing they weren't around. Very sad ending.

It's like having home teachers.

Thanks, my suspicious mind is satisfied. The dog stayed by her side without eating for two weeks, which is a long time for a dog.