John Mulaney jokes about Gene Hackman death investigation
John Mulaney has joked about the investigation into the deaths of Gene Hackman and Betsy Arakawa and the confusion surrounding the details of their demise.
John Mulaney has joked about the investigation into the deaths of Gene Hackman and Betsy Arakawa.
The 42-year-old comedian referenced the deaths of Oscar-winner Hackman and his wife Betsy – who were found deceased at their Santa Fe home in mysterious circumstances in February - during a recent episode of ‘Everybody’s Live With John Mulaney’.
According to Us Weekly, he said: “Scientists are now like, ‘We believe dinosaurs were killed 66 million years ago by an asteroid’. Stop. You don’t know that. We don’t even know how Gene Hackman and his wife died, and we found their whole bodies with full clothes on, one week after the event. How about that Santa Fe police? ‘Uh, hello. Press conference No. 470. We now believe that a rat bit Mrs. Hackman, turning her hands into mummy hands.’ Just slow down. You don’t know what happened.”
Gene, 90, and Betsy, 65, were found dead in separate rooms in their home on February 26.
After a lengthy investigation, it was revealed that Betsy likely died on February 12, with Gene passing away almost one week later on February 18.
Betsy’s official cause of death was listed as Hantavirus Pulmonary Syndrome (HPS), a rare, airborne infectious disease from rodent urine, while Gene’s was hypertensive atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease with Alzheimer’s disease as a significant contributing factor.
One of their three dogs was also found dead, with a state necropsy report revealing the pooch died of starvation and dehydration, after it was found in a crate where it had been recovering from surgery.
An environmental assessment of their home revealed rodent infestation in outbuildings and garages, with rodent feces, a live rodent, a dead rodent and a rodent nest all found.
