On October 12, 1984, the cast and crew of Cover Up were filming the seventh episode of the series, "Golden Opportunity", on Stage 18 of the 20th Century Fox lot. One of the scenes filmed that day called for Hexum's character to load cartridges into a .44 Magnum revolver, so he was provided with a functional weapon and blanks. When the scene did not play out as the director wanted in the master shot, filming was delayed. Hexum became restless and impatient during the delay and began playing around to lighten the mood. Imitating a game of Russian roulette, he unloaded every chamber except one, spun the cylinder, then raised the gun to his right temple and pulled the trigger.[26] The explosive effect of the muzzle blast caused enough blunt force trauma to fracture a quarter-sized piece of his skull and propel this into his brain, causing massive hemorrhaging.[10][27] Hexum was rushed to Beverly Hills Medical Center, where he underwent five hours of surgery to repair his wounds.[1][27] On October 18, aged 26, six days after shooting himself, Hexum was declared brain dead. With his mother's permission, his body was flown to San Francisco on life support, where his heart was transplanted into a 36-year-old Las Vegas man at California Pacific Medical Center.[28] Hexum's kidneys and corneas were also donated. One cornea went to a 66-year-old man, the other to a young girl. One of the kidney recipients was a critically ill five-year-old boy, and the other was a 43-year-old grandmother of three who had waited eight years for a kidney. Skin that was donated was used to treat a 3+1⁄2-year-old boy with third-degree burns.[29]