Murder of Lori Hacking

At 10:49 a.m. on July 19, 2004, Mark Hacking called 9-1-1 to report his wife Lori missing. She was 27 years old at the time. Mark told police she had left home early for a customary jog in the Memory Grove and City Creek Canyon area northeast of downtown Salt Lake, but had not returned home or arrived at work. A woman who said she had seen Lori near the grove that day later withdrew her claim.[1]

According to some family members, Hacking had told them she was about five weeks pregnant when she vanished. She was planning a move to North Carolina, where her husband had said he was about to start medical school at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. However, police say Mark had never completed his undergraduate degree at the University of Utah as he led family and friends to believe, and that the medical school had no record of him having ever applied.[2]

Shortly after his wife's disappearance, Mark was reportedly found running naked through the streets, and was admitted to hospital for mental evaluation. While in the hospital, Mark engaged a locally prominent defense attorney, D. Gilbert Athay.[3]

On August 2, 2004, Mark was arrested on suspicion of the aggravated murder of his wife. Police believed that he acted alone, killing Lori in their apartment with a .22-caliber rifle while she was asleep and disposing of her body in a dumpster. They found blood in several places in the couple's apartment, including on a knife located in the bedroom and on the headboard of the bed, as well as in Lori's car. In addition, Scott and Lance Hacking, Mark's brothers, claimed that Mark confessed to murdering his wife after they confronted him on July 24, 2004.[4][5] First-degree murder charges were filed against Mark Hacking on August 9, 2004.

On October 1, 2004 at approximately 8:20 a.m. (Mountain Daylight Time) searchers found human remains in the Salt Lake County landfill. By that afternoon, police had confirmed that the remains were those of Lori Hacking.

According to an interview with the CSI division in Salt Lake City, the sum total of Lori's remains were two teeth and a piece of bone the size of a quarter, which is believed to have come from her shoulder blade. Searchers also found the carpet that Mark admitted to rolling her body into, before placing it in the dumpster.

On October 29, 2004, Mark pleaded not guilty to first-degree murder, despite pleas from the victim's brother, Paul Soares, to "save your family the grief and cost [and] plead guilty to murder."[6]

According to investigators, on the night of July 18, Lori discovered that virtually everything Mark had told her about his background was false, learning that he had never graduated from the U of U, and had never applied to medical school. She wrote him a note telling him that she planned to leave him. Rather than risk a divorce, Hacking killed her.[5]

On April 15, 2005, Hacking pleaded guilty to first-degree murder in exchange for prosecutors dropping other charges. On June 6, 2005, Hacking was sentenced six years to life in prison, the maximum possible sentence under Utah law at the time. Under Utah's system of indeterminate criminal sentences, first-degree felony murder brings a mandatory five years to life, but because Hacking had used a firearm, the minimum was increased by a year.

In July 2005, the Utah Board of Pardons declared that Mark Hacking would not receive a parole hearing until 2035, meaning that Hacking will have to serve a minimum of 30 years in prison. Board chairman Mike Sibbett stressed that a hearing was not a guarantee of a release date. He stated that there were a number of aggravating factors in Hacking's case, including the fact he covered up Lori's murder by disposing of her body and falsely claiming she was missing.[7] Upon hearing this news, Lori's mother Thelma Soares issued this statement: "While it is a terrible waste of his life, [the decision] lifts a great burden from my mind and heart. The six-year minimum imposed by law is an insult not only to Lori and the baby, but to me and my family as well. I thank the members of the State Board of Pardons and Parole for their diligence and sense of justice in dealing with this tragic case. My faith in our justice system has been upheld."

The Soares family removed the name "Hacking" from Lori's headstone. "We just felt that Mark obviously didn't want her anymore", said her mother. Lori's married name was replaced with the Portuguese word "Filhinha", which translates to "little daughter."[8]

The initial sentence caused a widespread public outcry, with many believing six years to life was far too lenient. Paul Boyden, the executive director of the Utah Statewide Association of Prosecutors, urged the Utah Sentencing Commission to raise the minimum sentence for first-degree murder to 15 years. In Utah, prison sentences are indeterminate, with a minimum and maximum time frame. The offender must serve the entire sentence unless the Board of Pardons releases him sooner. Boyden said most people didn't understand this scheme, and added that it caused "a public perception problem" for the state. Sibbett noted that most inmates convicted of murder have to wait between 18 and 35 years to be even considered for parole, and Hacking's actions pushed it to "the higher level" of the spectrum.[7] On March 20, 2006, Utah House Bill 102, also known as "Lori's Law", was signed into law. It stipulates that people convicted of first-degree murder in Utah must serve at least 15 years before they can even be considered for a parole hearing.

In June 2006, prison officials in Utah discovered that Hacking was selling personal items, including autographs, a hand tracing, various prison forms, and magazines, on an online site called "Murder Auction". Officials later announced that Hacking had agreed to discontinue selling anything online.[9]

On June 6, 2005, Mark Hacking's father read a statement from his family that he said would be their final statement to the press about the murder. The statement clarified several events leading up to Mark's confession and conviction. The statement ended by quoting Mark:

"I know prison is where I need to be. I will spend my time there doing all I can to right the many wrongs I have done, though I realize complete atonement is impossible in this life. I have a lot of healing and changing to do, but I hope that some day I can become the man Lori always thought I was. To the many people I have hurt, I am more sorry than you could ever know. Every day my soul burns in torment when I think of what you must be going through. I wish I could take away your pain. I wish I could take back all the lies I have told and replace them with the truth. I wish I could put Lori back into your arms. My pain is deserved; yours is not. From the bottom of my heart, I beg for your forgiveness. There is no such thing as a harmless lie no matter how small it is. You may think a lie only hurts the liar, but this is far from the truth. If you are traveling a path of lies, please stop now and face the consequences. Whatever those consequences, they will be better than the pain you are causing yourself and others." [10]