Gene Hackman's final autopsy reveals the two-time Academy Award winner suffered a devastating health decline before he died at 95.

Official documents, reported by Fox News, made public by the New Mexico Office of the Medical Investigator, confirm that Hackman had a history of congestive heart failure. His kidneys, according to the report, showed "severe chronic hypertensive changes," and he had "severe atherosclerotic and hypertensive cardiovascular disease."

Hackman has had a number of surgeries, including a bi-ventricular pacemaker in April 2019, coronary artery stents, a bypass graft, and an earlier aortic valve replacement.

Microscopic tests determined "advanced stage Alzheimer's disease," an affliction that haunted the final years of the mummy's life. Dr Heather Jarrell, New Mexico's chief medical examiner, said in a press conference on March 7, "Mr. Hackman showed evidence of advanced Alzheimer's disease. He was in a very poor state of health."

Hackman had been suffering from dementia due to advanced Alzheimer's, and medical experts believe he never even realized that his wife, Betsy Arakawa, had died shortly before him. Jarrell said, "It's quite possible that he was not aware that she was deceased."

Rodent Infestation Linked to Wife's Death

Arakawa, 65, was later found to have died first from Hantavirus pulmonary syndrome, probably on or around February 12. Alzheimer's and kidney disease were among the complications that led to Hackman's death a few days later on February 18.

The investigation was then expanded after they suspected a serious carbon monoxide leak in the building, but found none. TMZ further reported that the couple's property had a serious rodent problem, with the home worth $4 million. Health authorities discovered dead rats and nests in eight separate outbuildings and declared the house a "hantavirus breeding ground".

Sources close to the situation told the site that Hackman was aware there was a problem. However, his sudden declining health made him neglect the problem. There were signs of traps on the property, according to insiders, suggesting that at least someone had attempted to handle the issue.

"It's terribly tragic because it shows that they didn't go far enough in combating it," one source said. "It also means their deaths probably were preventable had the right measures been taken."

Hackman was married to Arakawa for 34 years.

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Celebrity deaths