Judge blocks release of Gene Hackman autopsy documents
A US court has blocked the release of any public records that show the bodies of Gene Hackman and his wife, Betsy Arakawa, but says other images and documents can be disclosed.
A representative for the Hackman family estate had urged a New Mexico judge to seal photos, video and documents to protect the family’s privacy.
Santa Fe-based Judge Matthew Wilson had the court put a temporary hold on the release of records pending today’s hearing.
Judge Wilson said anything that did not include images of the couple’s bodies could be released.
The partially mummified remains of Hackman and Arakawa were found in their Santa Fe home on February 26, when maintenance and security workers showed up at the home and alerted police.
Authorities have confirmed Hackman, 95, died of heart disease with complications from Alzheimer’s disease about a week after his wife’s death.
Hackman may have been unaware Arakawa, 65, had died.
Her cause of death was listed as hantavirus pulmonary syndrome, which is a rare, rodent-borne disease.
Santa Fe County Sheriff deputies arrive at the Santa Fe gated community where actor Gene Hackman and his wife Betsy Arakawa were found dead. (AP: Roberto E Rosales)
New Mexico’s open records law blocks public access to sensitive images, including depictions of dead bodies.
Estate representative Julia Peters has emphasised the possibly shocking nature of photographs and video in the investigation and the potential for their dissemination by media in the bid to block them from being released.
The Hackman family estate also sought to block the release of autopsy reports by the Office of the Medical Investigator and death investigation reports by the Santa Fe County Sheriff’s Office.
An attorney for the estate, Kurt Sommer, argued during Monday’s hearing that the couple took great pains to stay out of the public light during their lifetimes and that the right to control the use of their names and likenesses should extend to their estate in death.
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.
At the start of Monday’s hearing, Wilson granted a request from media outlets including The Associated Press to intervene.
Authorities unravelled the mysterious circumstances of the couple’s deaths and described their conclusions at a March 7 news conference without releasing most related written and photographic records.
One of the couple’s three dogs, a kelpie mix named Zinna, was also found dead in a crate in a bathroom closet near Arakawa.
Two other dogs were found alive.
Gene Hackman won Academy Awards for his performances in The French Connection in 1967 and Unforgiven in 1992. (AP Photo: File)
Susan Madore, a publicist who had worked with the Hackmans for years, testified that the couple relished living in Santa Fe because it afforded them anonymity.
Hackman retired in the early 2000s.
Arakawa had no children, while Hackman was survived by three children from a previous marriage.
Privacy likely also will play a role as the couple’s estate is settled.
According to probate court documents, Hackman signed an updated will in 2005 leaving his estate to his wife while the will she signed that year directed her estate to him.
With both dying, management of the estate is in Ms Peters’s hands.
A request is pending to appoint a trustee to administer assets in two trusts associated with the estate.
Without trust documents being made public, it’s unclear who the beneficiaries are and how the assets will be divided.
Attorneys who specialise in estate planning in New Mexico say it is possible that more details could come out if there are any legal disputes over the assets.
Even then, they said, the parties likely would ask the court to seal the documents.
AP
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