The contractor who discovered the decomposing bodies of Gene Hackman and his wife Betsy Arakawa has now spoken out. This comes a week after authorities revealed that 95-year-old Hackman and 65-year-old Awakawa died of different causes.
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Contractor Calls Day He Found Gene Hackman Dead "Worst" Day Of His Life
The actor passed away due to Alzheimer's and heart disease, and he died a week after his wife passed away from Hantavirus. Jesse Kesler, age 52, was the one to find their bodies, describing it as "one of the worst" days of his life.
Kesler was Hackman's handyman and contractor for 16 years. On February 26, he unfortunately stumbled upon the couple's decomposing bodies in their New Mexico home. On top of that, he found the body of their beloved dog.
Now, Kesler has regrets and wishes he could've done something to save them, as he told the Daily Mail. "I wish I'd gone in quicker...I might have been able to save Gene or the dog," revealed Kesler.
He was initially concerned for the couple after not hearing from them for weeks. Not acting sooner, although he could've never known what was happening, has haunted the contractor. "To be honest, it was awful. It was one of the worst days of my life, and I've had some bad days. To see someone like that..." Kesler trailed off with a quiver in his voice.
"I was hoping for a better outcome, that maybe they were out of town and they just didn't tell anyone, or they got locked in the wine cellar by accident." The deaths shocked him the most because he had no clue Hackman had dementia.
How Kesler Found Hackman And Arakawa's Bodies
Since he was almost always in contact with the couple through emails, the sudden drop in contact was suspicious. After around two weeks of no communication, Kesler finally decided to go to the house himself.
Kesler and security guard Roland Lowe Begay didn't even have to enter the mansion to find the bodies. They spotted Arakawa's corpse on the bathroom floor through a window. "It was very obvious she was gone," said Kesler. "I was hysterical. I pretty much lost it."
The tragedy of the couple's deaths stems from his wife's role in their relationship. At the time, Hackman "was in a very poor state of health," said New Mexico's chief medical examiner to USA Today. Since his younger wife was his caretaker for his debilitating Alzheimer's, he likely had no idea that she died around February 11.
Hantavirus can become a deadly disease and is typically spread between rodents, not humans. So when she passed away, Hackman was confused and left without a caretaker for a week until he later died. The same goes for their dog, who tragically passed away without someone caring for them. The illustrious actor later died around February 18 due to natural causes that stemmed from his health complications.
Kesler hopes that the public knows just how great these people were. "I just want people to know that they were good people and I think we should focus on who they were, what they did for the community," he said.
