Posted on Wed, Aug. 04, 2004

Hacking volunteers alias to jailers

By PAUL FOY

Associated Press

SALT LAKE CITY - A man jailed on suspicion of murdering his pregnant wife told authorities he used an alias - the latest in a number of discrepancies he has offered since reporting his wife missing after a morning jog, police said Wednesday.

Mark Hacking volunteered the alias "Jonathan Long" when a jailer asked him, "Have you ever used another name - that could be for anything?" He did not say why he adopted the name or how he used it and authorities did not ask, Salt Lake County Sgt. Rosie Rivera said.

Three days before Hacking reported his wife Lori Hacking missing July 19, police believe she discovered her husband had lied to her about being enrolled in a North Carolina medical school.

Police arrested Hacking on Monday on evidence including a bloody knife found in his bedroom, a discarded mattress and a reported psychiatric ward confession.

Hacking also allegedly told a "reliable" witness July 24 he had killed his wife as she slept and dumped her body in a trash bin, a court filing revealed Tuesday.

That tip, coupled with another from a neighbor and other evidence, are leading officers to believe they will eventually find the remains of Lori Hacking in a county landfill.

Their search through 3,000 tons of trash was to resume Wednesday night with the help of cadaver dogs.

It would not be unusual for a defendant to volunteer an alias during a jail booking, Rivera said. Hacking was booked Monday in a mental health wing of the Salt Lake County jail.

The jail has booked other Jonathan Longs in the past, but none are believed to have been Mark Hacking, she said. "We book 30,000 people a year, so the odds of people having the same name are pretty good," she said.

She said the other Jonathan Longs used various middle initials and had different dates of birth than Mark Hacking's, who was born April 24, 1976, the fifth of seven children to a respected Mormon family in Orem, Utah. His father, Douglas Hacking, is a pediatrician.

Jailers determined there was no criminal record under the name Jonathan Long and Hacking's date of birth, Rivera said. Hacking has no criminal history in Salt Lake County, she added.

A judge set Hacking's bail Tuesday at $500,000, Salt Lake County District Attorney David Yocom said. Hacking's attorney, D. Gilbert Athay, did not return a phone message.

Yocom said he still is reviewing the case and asked police to conduct more witness interviews.

The prosecutor said he was uncertain he could file charges in the 72 hours required by law after Hacking's arrest and may ask the court for an extension.

Yocom declined to say whether he would seek the death penalty.

Lori Hacking had told friends she was five weeks' pregnant, based on a home pregnancy test. If her body is found and the pregnancy is confirmed, prosecutors could add an additional murder charge.

Fact Sheet: Lori Hacking Case

LORI HACKING

27 years old when she went missing on Monday, July 19.
Lori worked as a trading assistant at Wells Fargo Securities in Salt Lake City.
She was married to Mark Hacking. (see below)
Friends say Lori and Mark discovered she was five weeks pregnant on Thursday, July 15.
Her body has not been found, though police are searching a landfill. (see below)
Mark and Lori Hacking had been planning to move to North Carolina in order for him to attend medical school. Lori Hacking disappeared just days before the couple was set to move.
Police say Mark lied to Lori about medical school, among other things (see below).
The Friday before she disappeared, co-workers say Lori had been trying to arrange housing for the couple at medical school.
The co-workers say Lori received a call that left her stunned and sobbing -- a call that may have been from the school saying that Mark Hacking was not enrolled there.

ARREST

Salt Lake City Police arrested Mark Hacking on Monday, August 2.
He was taken into police custody at a psychiatric hospital and was moved to a Salt Lake County jail.
He had been due to be released from the hospital Monday.
Mark Hacking had been in the ward since police found him naked outside a hotel the night after his wife's reported disappearance.
Authorities say they plan to formally charge Mark Hacking with one count of aggravated murder in connection with Lori's alleged death.
Police say another murder charge could be added if physical evidence confirms Lori's pregnancy.
A prosecutor say he is uncertain he can file charges in the 72 hours required by law after Hacking's arrest and may ask the court for an extension.
The prosecutor declined to say whether he'll seek the death penalty, but says the wishes of the victim's family are given great weight in such decisions.
Police say Mark Hacking has been placed under suicide watch.
A judge set Hacking's bail Tuesday at $500,000.

ALLEGED MURDER

Police say they believe Lori Hacking was killed in the couple's apartment.
A court document filed by prosecutors says Mark Hacking told a "reliable citizen" witness at a psychiatric ward that he killed his wife as she slept and dumped her body in a trash bin.
The witness told investigators Hacking confided to him July 24 during a community-wide search for his wife that drew thousands of volunteers.

POSSIBLE EVIDENCE

A bloody knife was allegedly recovered from the Hackings' apartment.
An affidavit states that investigators found human blood on a knife in the bedroom of the Hackings' apartment and on the couple's headboard and bed rail.
Blood found in the bedroom matched traces of blood found in Lori Hacking's car, according to court papers.
Police took a box spring and several boxes full of items from the Hacking's apartment.
They also impounded a mattress recovered from a nearby trash bin. An affidavit says the mattress matches the serial numbers of the box spring recovered from inside the apartment.
A neighbor says someone might have used his trash bin to dispose of a body. The neighbor based that conclusion on a foul-smelling liquid in the bottom of the bin after the trash was collected the day the woman was reported missing.

MARK HACKING PROFILE

Mark Hacking is 28 years old.
He had been working as a hospital orderly on the nightshift.
He attended the University of Utah, majoring in psychology, though he didn't graduate. (see below)
Hacking has two older brothers, whom their father describes as "high achievers." One is a doctor and the other an electrical engineer.
Mark's brother Lance said that Mark's manner toward Lori had been ideal from the moment they met.
Police found Mark running naked early on the morning of Tuesday, July 20th -- one day after Lori's disappearance. He was wearing only sandals and was found about a half-mile from the couple's apartment.
Officers then took Mark to the psychiatric hospital where he had been until his arrest.

MARK HACKING'S ALIBI

Mark said because he works the night shift he is usually sleeping when Lori leaves to go running in the morning. He said she usually wakes him so he can drive her to work.
Mark said that the day Lori disappeared he woke up late and realized she hadn't returned.

THE DAY OF THE DISAPPEARANCE

Police say from 9:45 am to 10:23 am Mark was at a store buying a new mattress.
Around 10:00 am, Lori's co-workers say Mark called them and said Lori hadn't returned from her jog. Mark implied he was at the couple's apartment at the time, contrary to police reports.
Several of the co-workers then went to Memory Grove -- where Lori often jogged -- to search for her.
The co-workers say Mark Hacking arrived after they did. They say Mark hadn't yet called police. The co-workers told Mark they had notified officials themselves.
At 10:49 am, investigators say Mark called authorities to report his wife's disappearance.

MARK HACKING'S ALLEGED DECEPTIONS

Police say Hacking misled his wife and other family members about his future plans.
Hacking's father, Doug, says his son told the family that he had graduated from the University of Utah recently and had been accepted to the University of North Carolina medical school.
The University of Utah says Mark Hacking was enrolled from 1999-2002, but he never graduated.
The University of North Carolina says Hacking never applied.
Mark and Lori Hacking had been planning to move to North Carolina in order for him to attend school. Lori Hacking disappeared just days before the couple was set to move.

THE SEARCH FOR LORI

Police say they believe they'll eventually find the remains of Lori Hacking in a county landfill.
Investigators have been sifting through 3,000 tons of garbage (6 million pounds) hoping to find the remains.
The digging started within days after Mark Hacking told police July 19 that his wife had disappeared.
Authorities stress the search is incredibly difficult and requires cadaver dogs and their handlers to take breaks and get enough rest.
Officers say they are bothered by the thought that Lori Hacking's final resting place may be a landfill and they want to do anything they can to find her.
After Lori was reported missing, at one point 1,200 volunteers were combing the woods and other areas around Salt Lake City for signs of Lori.
Her family called off the search this past weekend, citing new information from Mark Hacking but giving no details.

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