Rat nests and dead rodents have been discovered on Gene Hackman’s property, after the actor’s wife Betsy Arakawa died of hantavirus – which can be caught from such animals.
The partially mummified remains of Hackman, 95, and Arakawa, 65, were found on 26 February, in separate rooms of their Sante Fe home, along with one of their dogs.
Amid the ongoing investigation, authorities have released a report detailing some of Arakawa’s last emails and internet searches, revealing she was investigating information on flu-like symptoms before she died.
A separate report by the local health department included an environmental assessment that found evidence of the presence of rats throughout many of the buildings on the late actor’s estate.
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Bodycam footage released in March
Arakawa died after developing hantavirus pulmonary syndrome (HPS) around 11 February, a pathologist said.
This is a disease that can be caught from exposure to rodents and includes flu-like symptoms, headaches, dizziness and severe respiratory distress, according to investigators.
The presence of rodents was found in several outbuildings across the property and a live rodent, a dead rodent and nests were found in three other garages.
Live traps were also said to have been found on the property.
There has so far been no confirmation about any potential link between the rodents and the hantavirus disease that claimed Arakawa’s life.
Image: Gene Hackman and Betsy Arakawa’s home in Sante Fe. Pic: AP
Last internet searches and emails
Arakawa had open bookmarks on her computer which showed she was actively researching medical conditions linked to COVID and flu-like symptoms.
She also mentioned in an email to her masseuse that Hackman had woken up on 11 February with flu-like symptoms so she would reschedule her appointment for the next day “out of an abundance of caution”.
Authorities are expected to release more information soon, including redacted police body camera footage.
The materials were released as the result of a recent court order after the Hackman estate and family sought to keep the records sealed, citing the family’s right to privacy.
The two-time Oscar winner was in the advanced stages of Alzheimer’s when he died of heart disease.
It was likely he was alone for around a week with the body of his wife after she had died first.
Dr Heather Jarrell, chief medical examiner for New Mexico, told reporters Arakawa was believed to have died around 11 February.
What is HPS?
HPS, commonly known as hantavirus disease, is a respiratory disease caused by hantaviruses – which are carried by several types of rodents.
It is a rare condition in the US, with most cases concentrated in the western states of New Mexico, Arizona, Colorado and Utah.
The New Mexico Department of Health said hantaviruses are spread by the saliva, droppings and urine of infected rodents, which in North America is most likely to be the eastern deer mouse (Peromyscus maniculatus).
The virus is often transmitted through the air when people sweep out sheds or clean closets where mice have been living, or by eating food contaminated with mouse droppings.
It is not transmissible from person to person, Dr Jarrell said.
The likelihood of death is between 38-50% and there is no cure, treatment or vaccine, but patients have a better chance of survival with an early diagnosis.
An ex-model has tearfully told a court that being sexually assaulted by Harvey Weinstein when she was 16 was the most “horrifying thing I ever experienced” to that point.
Warning: This article contains references to sexual assault
Kaja Sokola told the film producer’s retrial that he ordered her to remove her blouse, put his hand in her underwear, and made her touch his genitals.
She said he’d stared at her in the mirror with “black and scary” eyes and told her to stay quiet about the alleged assault in a Manhattan hotel in 2002.
Ms Sokola told the New York court that Weinstein had dropped names such as Penelope Cruz and Gwyneth Paltrow, and said he could help fulfil her Hollywood dream.
“I’d never been in a situation like this,” said Polish-born Ms Sokola. “I felt stupid and ashamed and like it’s my fault for putting myself in this position.”
Weinstein denies sexually assaulting anyone and is back in court for a retrial after his conviction was overturned last year.
Image: Weinstein denies the allegations. Pic: Reuters
The 73-year-old is not charged over the alleged sexual assault because it happened too long ago to bring criminal charges.
However, he is facing charges over an incident four years later when he’s said to have forced Ms Sokola to perform oral sex on him.
Prosecutors claim it happened after Weinstein arranged for her to be an extra in a film.
“My soul was removed from me,” she told the court of the alleged 2006 assault, describing how she tried to push Weinstein away but that he held her down.
Ms Sokola – who’s waived her right to anonymity – is the second of three women to testify and the only one who wasn’t part of the first trial in 2020.
Image: Miriam Haley testified previously in the retrial. Pic: AP
Miriam Haley last week told the court that Weinstein forced oral sex on her in 2006. The other accuser, Jessica Mann, is yet to appear.
Claims against the film mogul were a major driver for the #MeToo movement against sexual harassment and abuse in 2017.
Weinstein’s lawyers allege the women consented to sexual activity in the hope of getting film and TV work and that they stayed in contact with him for a while afterwards.
An antiques expert from the TV show Bargain Hunt has been charged by police following an investigation into terrorist financing.
Oghenochuko ‘Ochuko’ Ojiri, 53, is accused of eight counts of “failing to make a disclosure during the course of business within the regulated sector”, the Met Police said.
The force said he was the first person to be charged with that specific offence under the Terrorism Act 2000.
Mr Ojiri, from west London, is due to appear at Westminster Magistrates’ Court on Friday.
It comes “following an investigation into terrorist financing” and relates to the period from October 2020 to December 2021, a police spokesperson said.
They added that the probe had been carried out in partnership with Treasury officials, HMRC and the Met’s Arts & Antiques Unit.
Mr Ojiri, who police described as an “art dealer”, has been on Bargain Hunt since 2019.
He has also appeared on the BBC‘s Antiques Road Trip programme.
In a statement, the BBC said: “It would not be appropriate to comment on ongoing legal proceedings.”
A man has been charged after allegedly harassing Hollywood actress Jennifer Aniston for two years before crashing his car through the front gate of her home, prosecutors have said.
Jimmy Wayne Carwyle, of New Albany, Mississippi, is accused of having repeatedly sent the Friends star unwanted voicemail, email and social media messages since 2023.
The 48-year-old is then alleged to have crashed his grey Chrysler PT Cruiser through the front gate of Aniston’s home in the wealthy Bel Air neighbourhood of Los Angeles early on Monday afternoon.
Prosecutors said the collision caused major damage.
Police have said Aniston was at home at the time.
A security guard stopped Carwyle on her driveway before police arrived and arrested him.
There were no reports of anyone being injured.
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Carwyle has been charged with felony stalking and vandalism, prosecutors said on Thursday.
He also faces an aggravating circumstance of the threat of great bodily harm, Los Angeles County district attorney Nathan Hochman said.
Carwyle, who has been held in jail since his arrest on Monday, is set to appear in court on Thursday.
His bail has been set at $150,000 dollars (£112,742).
He is facing up to three years in prison if he is convicted as charged.
“My office is committed to aggressively prosecuting those who stalk and terrorise others, ensuring they are held accountable,” Mr Hochman said in a statement.
Aniston bought her mid-century mansion in Bel Air on a 3.4-acre site for about 21 million dollars (£15.78m) in 2012, according to reporting by Architectural Digest.
She became one of the biggest stars on television in her 10 years on NBC’s Friends.
Aniston won an Emmy Award for best lead actress in a comedy for the role, and she has been nominated for nine more.
She has appeared in several Hollywood films and currently stars in The Morning Show on Apple TV+.