Gene Hackman death: New timeline emerges for passing of Oscar-winner’s wife Betsy Arakawa

US law authorities have revealed new timelines concerning the deaths of Oscar-winner Gene Hackman and his wife Betsy Arakawa in their New Mexico home last month.

The BBC reports that new evidence from the Santa Fe County Sherriff’s office contradict earlier reports citing her time of death as February 11 after it was revealed she made several phone calls to a local clinic seeking medical treatment that she never recieved the following day.

Officials had earlier told reporters that Arakawa had died on February 11 with Hackman passing away a week later from heart disease with complications from Alzheimer’s disease about a week later. The pair’s bodies were found in their home on February 26.

However, cell phone data on Arakawa’s phone have since led police to confirm that on February 12, Arakawa made three calls to personalised concierge medical practice Cloudberry Health. The BBC reported that a fourth call was made from the clinic to Arakawa.

“She called and described some congestion but didn’t mention any respiratory distress, shortness of breath or chest pain,” said the practice’s Dr Josiah Child.

She reportedly had scheduled an appointment earlier for February 12 but cancelled on February 10, telling the practice that she had to care for her husband.

She then called the clinic on the morning of February 12 but the clinic told her she needed to be seen in-person due to the fact she had not visited the practice in person before.

“There were a couple of calls back and forth just to schedule that appointment for the afternoon but she never showed up,” Dr Child said. “Our office called back several times and never got an answer.”

Authorities have previously stated that on the balance of probabilities, Arakawa passed away before Hackman, with medical examiners determining her cause of death as hantavirus pulmonary syndrome, a rare respiratory disease carried by rodents.

It’s believed Hackman died on February 18 given the last recorded instance of activity from the 95-year-old’s pacemaker.

The new evidence came as a New Mexico court granted a temporary restraining order Monday, local time, against the release of certain records related to the investigation into the recent deaths of actor Hackman and Arakawa.

The order is in response to a request by Julia Peters, a representative for the couple’s estate. She urged in a motion filed last week that the court seal records in the case to protect the family’s right to privacy in grief under the 14th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution.

Peters emphasized the possibly shocking nature of photographs and video in the investigation and potential for their dissemination by media.

A hearing has been scheduled for later this month to argue the merits of the request. For now, the Santa Fe County Sheriff’s Office and the state Office of the Medical Investigator cannot release photographs and videos showing the couple’s bodies or the interior of their home, autopsy reports or death investigation reports.

Hackman and Arakawa were found dead in their Santa Fe home in late February. Authorities have confirmed that Hackman died of heart disease with complications from Alzheimer’s disease about a week after hantavirus pulmonary syndrome — a rare, rodent-borne disease — took the life of his wife.

The request to seal the records notes that the couple placed “a significant value on their privacy and took affirmative vigilant steps” to safeguard their privacy over their lifetime, including after they moved to Santa Fe and Hackman retired. The state capital is known as a refuge for celebrities, artists and authors.

“The personal representative seeks to continue to preserve the privacy of the Hackmans following their tragic death and support the family’s constitutional right to remembrance and desire to grieve in peace,” the document states.

New Mexico’s open records law blocks public access to sensitive images, including depictions of people who are deceased. Experts also say that some medical information is not considered public record under the state Inspection of Public Records Act.

Still, the bulk of death investigations by law enforcement and autopsy reports by medical investigators are typically considered public records under state law in the spirit of ensuring government transparency and accountability.