Hollywood icon Gene Hackman and his wife Betsy Arakawa were found dead at their home in Santa Fe last month. The pair had been married for 34 years. Despite their cause of death being revealed, there are many unanswered questions that remain

The mystery surrounding the deaths of Gene Hackman and his wife Betsy Arakawa continues to deepen after the pair were tragically found dead in their Santa Fe home last month.

The bodies of Gene, 95, and his wife Betsy were found at their multi-million pound home after neighbourhood security conducted a welfare check.

And last week it was confirmed that the two-time Oscar winner died of heart disease a week after his wife Betsy died of a rare infectious disease at their home. Hackman, 95, was likely at home alone with the body of his wife for a week before he passed away himself , the sheriff of Santa Fe in New Mexico, US, told a press conference.

Since the tragic details came to light, further bombshell claims have emerged as many unanswered questions remain...

Phone call bombshell

In a new twist, Betsy's doctor claimed she called his clinic 24 hours after the date police claimed she'd died. A Santa Fe medical examiner claimed a post-mortem examination showed Betsy died on February 11. But Dr Josiah Child, who runs Cloudberry Health in Santa Fe, New Mexico, told The Mail on Sunday : "Mrs Hackman didn't die on February 11 because she called my clinic on February 12."

He added: "She'd called me a couple of weeks before her death to ask about getting an echocardiogram [heart scan] for her husband. She was not a patient of mine, but one of my patients recommended Cloudberry to her. She made an appointment for herself for February 12. It was for something unrelated to anything respiratory."

According to Dr Child, Betsy rang him two days before her appointment to cancel it. He continued: "She called back on the morning of February 12 and spoke to one of our doctors who told her to come in that afternoon. We made her an appointment but she never showed up."

'Shocking' state of home

Prior to their deaths, Gene and Betsy lived a quiet life in Santa Fe. Their $3.5 million ranch home was located in a secluded gated community and the pair " didn't want to be bothered", according to neighbours .

Speaking to the New York Times , one neighbour said: "They have a gate, and we have a gate, and we just have never even seen each other." Another resident added: "He wanted to be quiet, he didn't want to be bothered, and I don't blame him."

According to reports, Gene and Besty didn't have a housekeeper to look after the property and it had allegedly become "a mess ", with one source claiming that the inside "was shocking" as they opened up on the situation.

"They didn't have a housekeeper or a maid, so it had beautiful things - furniture and paintings - but there was dog poop on the floor," a source told MailOnline . "The inside of the house was bad. Nothing had been dusted. There was nothing in the fridge."

Huge will twist

Following the couple's tragic deaths, it has been revealed Gene left a staggering £40million fortune to his wife Betsy. His children are not included in his will , which could result in a huge battle over the breathtaking sum.

Gene and Betsy had no children together, though the actor had three children from a previous relationship, son Christopher and daughtrers Leslie and Elizabeth. The actor's wife was the successor trustee to his trust.

Should both Gene and Besty have passed within 90 days of each other, the entirety of Betsy's assets will go to charitable organisations.

According to US reports, Gene's son has already hired a top lawyer who specialises in wills which could mean the state of affairs could be challenged. The children could still potentially inherit as direct living heirs. Hackman and his wife didn't have a pre-nup.

Dog's heartbreaking cause of death

One of the couple's beloved dogs , a kelpie mix named Zinna, was sadly also found deceased. Zinna was discovered dead in a crate located near Betsy's body, with a Santa Fe County animal control agency report stating there had been "partial mummification" of the pet. The official report confirmed Zinna had died of dehydration and starvation after noting that only small amounts of hair and bile were found in its stomach.

Zinna had been "an incredible companion" to Betsy, Joey Padilla, the owner of the Santa Fe Tails pet care facility, said. The couple's two other dogs, Bear and Nikita, are being cared for at the facility, and helped authorities find the bodies of their owners after maintenance workers raised the alarm.