Gene Hackman and his wife Betsy Arakawa’s cause of death remains a mystery to authorities

Gene Hackman and his wife Betsy Arakawa died under mysterious circumstances, leading to increasingly desperate theories to explain their deaths, but the star’s nephew has dismissed them as “negative.”

The 95-year-old and his wife, 63, were found dead in their Santa Fe, New Mexico, home, alongside their 12-year-old dog, Zinna, though their other two German Shepherd’s were found alive.

Authorities are still waiting on their autopsy and toxicology reports, and in the intervening period, theories have cropped up in an attempt to explain the couple’s death.

Read more: New Gene Hackman theory explains wife Betsy Arakawa’s cause of death

The actor’s nephew, Tim Hackman, has broken his silence on the matter, refusing to give these “negative theories” any credence.

In a conversation with US Weekly, he explained: “We’re waiting on toxicology. That will tell us everything. It’s hard to theorise. There are lots of theories out there, and I don’t want to speculate.

“It’s easy to speculate negative theories.” Expand article logo Continue reading Tim added: “The family wants to keep it positive for now and when we know the truth, we will deal with it.”

The leading theory at the time of writing is carbon monoxide poisoning, though this has been thoroughly dismissed by investigators.

They have determined that a “minuscule leak” found in their Santa Fe home was “not lethal”.

Now a new theory has emerged in an effort to explain the situation, positing that Betsy may have died of a broken heart.

In a conversation with People, James Gill, Chief Medical Examiner for the Connecticut Office of the Chief Medical Examiner, saying that her seeing Gene may have “triggered a natural death in her”.

He explained: “He’s got a history of heart disease. He’s got a pacemaker. So that would not be unusual. But the unusual part is that why then did she also collapse?

“Then you start wondering about: There is this thing where the stress of seeing someone die that could have triggered a natural death in her.”

Gene and his wife were found dead in separate rooms, with Betsy on the bathroom floor beside a space heater and a bottle of prescription bills that had been spilled over.