Gene Hackman’s Mother-in-Law Speaks Out

A month after their shocking deaths, Gene Hackman’s mother-in-law, Yoshie Feaster, is breaking her silence.

Though some bodycam footage has already been released, Feaster is opposing the release of more footage and pictures that might show Gene and her daughter Betsy Arakawa’s dead bodies.

In court papers obtained by People magazine, she explained, “The significant media coverage surrounding the circumstances of her passing have forced me to relive the experience of her untimely death, repeatedly."

According to Feaster, the media has been trying to get access to photos and videos of Betsy’s body from the New Mexico's Office of the Medical Investigator.

She wrote, “I humbly come before this court to request that this court respect my right to grieve in peace and find that I have a constitutional right to avoid seeing images of my daughter's home, her dead body, her husband's dead body, and their dog's corpse. The public spectacle surrounding my daughter's death is one that no parent should have to live through.”

“I believe a parent's right to choose how to care for a child during their life should reasonably extend to a parent's decision in dealing with a child's death," Feaster emphasized. "This right should extend to protect against the release of the autopsy photos and autopsy reports of my daughter. This right should extend to permit me to control the physical remains of my daughter, her memory, and images of her deceased body; including, but not limited to, images demonstrating how my daughter was residing during her final days."

Feaster expressed concern for how the photos could possibly spread online, saying, “No reasonable person could avoid seeing or hearing these images and videos. Undoubtedly, I would be forced to relive and face my daughter's last few days, a countless number of times. Society should respect not only its dead, but the family who are left behind to grieve their lost loved one."

She pointed out that she couldn’t “imagine the magnitude of trauma” that she’d face if the images were released.

Feaster’s court papers come just a day after New Mexico judge Matthew Wilson made the decision to allow video, audio, and photos that are part of the New Mexico public records to be released in connection to the deaths. 

However, photos of the bodies are not allowed to be released, or must be blurred or edited.

Hackman and Arakawa’s bodies were found at their home in Santa Fe, New Mexico, on February 26.

Last week, Gene and Betsy’s bodies were claimed. The New Mexico’s Office of the Medical Investigator website removed their names from a list of “unclaimed decedents,” which were described as “people who have been identified, where Next-of-Kin has not been located."

A rep for the medical examiner’s office noted that “in many cases, OMI is in contact with legal next of kin, and plans are underway to transport the body to a funeral home or place of burial."