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Gene Hackman's wife Betsy Arakawa's doctor claims she called him day after officials say she died
Dr. Josiah Child claims Betsy Arakawa called his clinic on February 12, contradicting the medical examiner's date of death on February 11.
Betsy Arakawa's doctor has claimed that Gene Hackman's wife called him after the authorities said she died. In a bombshell interview, Dr. Josiah Child from Santa Fe told the Daily Mail that the 65-year-old contacted his office on February 12. The claim has deepened the mystery surrounding the Hollywood veteran and the classical pianist's death as, according to the medical examiner's conclusion, the latter died on February 11.
Gene Hackman's wife Betsy Arakawa called her doctor a day after officials say she died: Physician
“Mrs. Hackman didn’t die on February 11 because she called my clinic on February 12,” Child told the outlet. Arakawa and her 95-year-old husband were found dead in their home in a gated community in Santa Fe, New Mexico, on February 26. However, officials concluded that Hackman died from heart disease, with advanced Alzheimer's being a contributing factor, on February 18.
Child went on to say that Arakawa had “called me a couple of weeks before her death to ask about getting an echocardiogram [heart scan] for her husband.” “She was not a patient of mine, but one of my patients recommended Cloudberry to her,” he added. However, Arakawa cancelled her appointment two days before she was due to see the physician.
“She called back on the morning of February 12 and spoke to one of our doctors who told her to come in that afternoon,” Child revealed. “We made her an appointment but she never showed up. 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,” he added.
According to Santa Fe County Medical Examiner Heather Jarrell, Arakawa died of hantavirus pulmonary syndrome. “Based on the circumstances, it is reasonable to conclude that Ms. Hackman passed away first, with February 11 being the last time that she was known to be alive,” Dr. Jarrell was quoted as saying by the New York Times.
