Why questions over who died first – Gene Hackman or his wife – may hold the key to who will inherit his $80mn fortune

A week ago, it seemed as if all the questions about the mysterious death of reclusive Hollywood legend Gene Hackman, found ‘partially mummified’ in his home alongside his younger wife, had been answered.

In a dramatic televised press conference, police in New Mexico announced that Betsy Arakawa had died first from a rare rodent-borne virus.

Seven days later, Hackman, who suffered from Alzheimer’s, had passed away. It is believed he died from heart failure, confirmed by data from his pacemaker. The pair then lay undiscovered for a further eight days, until maintenance workers stumbled upon the macabre scene.

Case closed, as the sort of hard-bitten, on-screen detective once played by the double Oscar-winning Hackman might have concluded.

But judging from the latest revelations emanating from America, the title credits have yet to roll on this saga – because yesterday the Mail revealed details of the couple’s wills.

Hackman, who was worth $80 million, arranged to leave his fortune and sprawling $3.8 million Santa Fe home to a trust overseen by 65-year-old Betsy.

Given his ill-health and the fact he was 95, the assumption must have been that he would pre-decease his wife.

Betsy, who had no children and whose closest-living relative is her elderly mother, in turn had arranged that when she died, her wealth would be distributed to local charities that the couple supported during their life and to the settlement of medical debts.

But if she died first – which it now appears she did – any of her money would also go into the same trust as set up by her husband.

Hollywood legend Gene Hackman was found ‘partially mummified’ in his home alongside his younger wife

Gene Hackman ‘s daughters, Elizabeth Gene Hackman and sister, Leslie Anne Hackman, are seen leaving a Denny’s restaurant

Law enforcement officials talk outside the home of actor Gene Hackman

The couple were found in the home that the owned together in Santa Fe last month

What arrangements exist within the trust – known as the Gene Hackman Living Trust – is unknown because, unlike the will, it is a private document.

Which means it is unclear where Hackman’s three children stand following this double tragedy. And whether all, or just some of them, now stand to benefit from their father’s fortune.

Interestingly, while Betsy was to have had a pivotal role in handling his estate, Hackman did not give any of his children similar responsibilities. Instead, a lawyer, Julia Peters, was named as his ‘personal representative’ in case his wife died before him.

Yesterday, she sought to block the public release of autopsy and investigative reports, including photos and police body-camera video, related to the deaths.

Ms Peters argued the family had a right to privacy having lived an ‘exemplary private life for over 30 years in Santa Fe, New Mexico, and did not showcase their lifestyle’. Whether she was acting at the request of Hackman’s children is unclear.

The product of his first marriage, it appears Christopher, 65, Elizabeth, 62, and Leslie, 58, had had complicated relationships with the star, something Hackman himself observed.

Asked in an interview in 2000 what his children were doing with their lives, he replied: ‘Well, that’s a good question. I’m not sure, actually. It’s tough being the son or daughter of a celebrity. I couldn’t always be home with them when they were growing up and, then, living in California, they’ve had my success always hanging over their heads.’

When he died, Hackman’s two daughters and granddaughter Annie released a statement saying they were ‘devastated’ by his death. ‘He was loved and admired by millions around the world for his brilliant acting career, but to us he was always just Dad and Grandpa,’ it read.

Their 12-year-old dog Zinna was found dead along with them in the home. She is believed to have died from starvation and dehydration after being left to fend for herself in a crate after her owners died (Pictured: Hackman and Arakawa with their old dogs in 2005) 

In her will, Betsy designates her assets to a trust, to be distributed to charitable organizations and the settlement of medical debts; the pair seen in 1991

Hackman (pictured in 2005) was discovered lying on the ground of a mud room just off the kitchen with his sunglasses and cane nearby, indicating he may have fallen according to officials

At around the same time Leslie and Elizabeth were seen walking into a Denny’s restaurant in California together, even managing to raise a smile as they left the diner.

But, thus far, no one has heard from Christopher, from whom Hackman admitted he had once been estranged.

He said: ‘I lost touch with my son in terms of advice early on. Maybe it had to do with being gone so much, doing location films when he was at an age he needed support and guidance. It was very tough for me to be gone three months, then come home and start bossing him around.’

What has now also emerged is that Christopher has engaged the services of lawyer Andrew M. Katzenstein, a $2,000-an-hour partner at the prestigious Hollywood firm Proskauer Rose – a move legal sources in America say is significant.

‘I know Andy,’ said an LA-based trust and estates lawyer. ‘He is the best of the best. He is someone who regularly gives talks about estate issues and he is always on the cutting edge of the latest developments in estate law. He’s a lovely man but ruthless in court.

‘I’m not saying that Christopher is gearing up for a fight but it’s possible. You would imagine Gene Hackman told his children what his intentions were. If there is an issue about one or more of the children being left out of the will then Andy is the guy you want in your corner.

‘He is an old-school gentleman but when he is defending a client he’s a pitbull.’

Another legal source in the US added: ‘By hiring Katzenstein, it shows that he [Chris] is definitely trying to protect his interests. The fact that Chris got a high-powered lawyer indicates to me something is going on. I don’t know why the girls [daughters] are not represented. That tells me there must be some trouble brewing.’

So what is the truth about Hackman’s relationship with his three children?

A legal expert told DailyMail.com ‘If he died first and she [Betsy] had survived, it would’ve been World War III! His kids would’ve probably gone crazy’; seen with his three children in 1978

The possible omission of his children, who he was once estranged from, has raised the possibility of a legal battle over his fortune; Elizabeth and Leslie pictured in February

He seemingly maintained contact with Leslie and Elizabeth, who were both spotted on occasion accompanying him to film screenings and Hollywood events; seen in 1978

Gene pictured with his three children on a skiing holiday at Sun Valley 

In a brief interview with the Daily Mail on the day Hackman’s death became public, Leslie said it had been ‘a few months’ since she last heard from her father and stepmother, despite insisting they remained on good terms.

She said: ‘We were close. I hadn’t talked to them for a couple months, but everything was normal and everything was good.’

She went on to say that his death was ‘not terribly shocking because he was 95’, before paying tribute to her stepmother, Betsy, a pianist who had been married to Hackman for 31 years.

‘They had a wonderful marriage,’ she said. ‘I give credit to Betsy for keeping him alive. [She] took very good care of him and was always looking out for his health. I’m very saddened by her passing.’

Last night, approached by the Daily Mail, her sister Elizabeth declined to speak, saying: ‘I don’t give interviews and my family is extremely private.’ Christopher, meanwhile, failed to respond to multiple requests for comment.

‘I did get the impression he was a bit estranged from his children,’ Tom Allin, 75, Hackman’s best friend and golfing buddy told us.

‘I didn’t get the impression that he and Betsy saw much of Gene’s children. I never saw them [Hackman’s children] in Santa Fe and didn’t hear him talk about them.’

To fully understand the family dynamic, it’s necessary to go back to the early days of Hackman’s career in Hollywood.

Hackman’s life until 2004 was lived in the Hollywood glare – he is pictured with friend and Unforgiven co-star Clint Eastwood at the 1993 Oscars 

Gene Hackman, winner of Best Supporting Actor at academy awards in March 1993

Sean Young, Gene Hackman and Kevin Costner pictured for No Way Out, released in 1987

Gene starred in French Connection II, which was released in 1975

A woman who knew the actor and his first wife Faye Maltese – whom he married in 1956 – told the Daily Mail: ‘In the early days he was like all of us, struggling to get work. Faye worked in a bank when they met and, in the early days at least, they seemed happy, like any young family.

‘She raised the kids and he was always out trying to make a buck to put food on the table. He worked at restaurants and bars – we all did.’

Hackman landed small TV roles on long-forgotten shows such as Route 66 and The Defenders and would often work in theatre on Broadway in New York.

The friend said Hackman ‘worked solidly but didn’t make much money. He was always struggling’. What he thought would be his big break – being chosen by director Mike Nichols to star as Mr Robinson in the 1967 film The Graduate – ended in disaster when he was fired three weeks into rehearsals for being too young.

But his disappointment didn’t last long. Within a couple of months he was offered the role of outlaw Buck Barrow in Bonnie and Clyde (starring Warren Beatty and Faye Dunaway) which earned him a Best Supporting Actor Oscar nomination.

His long-time Hollywood friend said: ‘Gene’s career really took off in the 1970s with The French Connection which won him a Best Actor Oscar. From that moment on he was always working.

‘I remember talking to Faye and, of course, she was delighted the money was finally coming in. They moved into a bigger house, the kids went to better schools, but Gene was away for months on end. When he came home it was hard for him to adjust back into family life.

‘He did his best but you could tell when you saw Faye and him together that cracks were beginning to show. It’s hard to be a mom to three young kids and your husband is never around.’

Officials said that numerous emails went unopened on February 11, and that there was no further communication from Arakawa’s account after that day. (Pictured: The couple in 1993) 

Hackman and Arakawa are pictured with Hackman’s daughters Leslie and Elizabeth at a Beverly Hills movie premiere in 1996  

Gene Hackman arrives at the 60th Annual Golden Globe Awards held at the Beverly Hilton Hotel in Los Angeles with his wife

Hackman’s own father had abandoned his mother when he was just 13, something he later spoke about: ‘It was tough. I was down the street playing with some guys and he drove by and waved – and that was it.’

The long-time Hollywood friend added: ‘I think Gene did his best with his own kids. He certainly loved them, there was no question about that. But I don’t know how close he was to them.’

Hackman’s marriage to Faye ended in 1986. She died in 2017.

He met classical pianist Betsy in an LA gym in 1990 and they married the following year. It was Betsy who encouraged the actor to improve his relationship with his children.

‘She wanted him to know his kids. She never put up any sort of barrier, certainly not in the early days,’ the friend said.

Hackman seemingly signed the most recent copy of his will on June 7, 2005. It is unclear exactly when he was diagnosed with the neuro-degenerative disease.

In the will, he states that he gives his ‘entire estate’ to his wife ‘as the successor trustee of the Gene Hackman Living Trust’, which was set up in 1995.

In her will, Betsy states that ‘if my spouse survives me, I give the residue of my estate to the trustee of the Gene Hackman Living Trust’.

The pair were found at their Santa Fe home some time after they had both died 

Santa Fe County Sheriff Adan Mendoza answers questions about the investigation

Chief Medical Investigator Heather Jarrell with the New Mexico Office of the Medical Investigator

However, if were he to die first then she wanted her estate to go into ‘a charitable trust to achieve purposes beneficial to the community, consistent with the charitable preferences and interests expressed or indicated by my spouse and me during our lifetimes.’

She adds that her personal belongings – which could be items such as furniture, jewellery and artwork – could be divided according to a list she may draw up.

Given the sequence of deaths outlined by police it means that the vast majority of the couple’s wealth will go into the trust.

‘Between the two of them everything they have got is being placed into the Gene Hackman Living Trust,’ said Geoff Kertesz, a London-based lawyer who specialises in US and UK trusts and estates. ‘The beneficiaries of that could have been her, it could be his three children, but you won’t know because the only document that’s public in the States is the will, not the trust.’

A Los Angeles-based trust and estates lawyer added: ‘These public documents are what are called ‘pour-over’ wills. Mr and Mrs Hackman had private trusts so these pour-over wills are in place in case there were any assets which weren’t listed in their trusts. The details of their trusts will not be released publicly unless someone makes a legal challenge.’

However, the lawyer said there is one clause in Betsy’s will which jumps out.

In Article V under ‘Miscellaneous Terms’, it states: ‘If the beneficiary [her husband]… dies under circumstances in which sufficient evidence does not exist to determine whether or not that person survived me…’

Hackman was found collapsed in the home’s utility room with his sunglasses and a cane nearby

The police investigation established that Hackman probably died on February 18 from heart disease

Hackman seemingly signed the most recent copy of his will on June 7, 2005. It is unclear exactly when he was diagnosed with the neuro-degenerative disease

Both Hackman and Betsy appeared to have suddenly fallen to the floor and neither showed signs of blunt-force trauma 

The lawyer said: ‘This is key. The medical examiner has said Gene Hackman died seven days after his wife. His date of death is clear because his pacemaker stopped.

‘But someone on Betsy’s side may choose to challenge the will because her date of death may be based on decomposition and it’s possible you could get experts challenging that in court. This is important because we don’t know who she left her money to.

‘The pour-over will mentions charitable contributions but she may have left money to distant cousins or nieces.

‘The way things stand at the moment, they are saying she died first, so all her assets go to Gene Hackman, so his heirs would get her assets.

‘The only challenge I could see would be someone from her family lawyering up and arguing about her date of death.’

According to police, the couple were found deceased in separate rooms of their home on February 26. Betsy was found in a bathroom with one of the couple’s three dogs, which was dead in its crate.

Meanwhile, Hackman was found collapsed in the home’s utility room with his sunglasses and a cane nearby.

Both Hackman and Betsy appeared to have suddenly fallen to the floor and neither showed signs of blunt-force trauma.

The police investigation established that Betsy died around February 11 from the rodent-borne hantavirus, a rare disease in the US, while Hackman probably died on February 18 from heart disease.

But it would not be until more than a week later that workmen would discover the grisly scene.

It was a sign of the reclusive life the Hollywood star lived in recent years – rarely seen by local residents, nor, it would seem, by his three children.