Hacking May Have Learned Of Husband's Lies

Missing: The family hires a criminal defense attorney to represent Mark Hacking, who remains hospitalized

By Ashley Broughton
and Matthew D. LaPlante
The Salt Lake Tribune

Salt Lake Tribune

Three days before she disappeared, Lori Hacking may have uncovered her husband's deceptions.
   She received a phone call at her work, started crying and went home early, said a colleague at Wells Fargo Institutional Brokerage and Sales.
   "I could hear her say things such as, 'But he's already been accepted. He's already applied. This can't be correct,' said Darren Openshaw, a Wells Fargo employee who overheard the phone call about 2:15 p.m. on July 16.
   Openshaw said he believes the caller was from the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill.
   "I don't know for sure it was the school," he said. "I can only assume."
   Lori Hacking and her husband, Mark Hacking, were preparing to move to Chapel Hill, where he said he had been accepted to medical school.
   But last week, shortly after Mark Hacking reported his wife missing, police learned he had never applied at North Carolina and had lied to his family about graduating from the University of Utah.
   His family members, meanwhile, said Monday that they have retained Salt Lake City criminal defense attorney Gilbert Athay to represent him. Family spokesman Scott Dunaway said the move was necessary because of news media reports regarding Mark Hacking.
   Monday marked one week since Lori Hacking, 27, dis- appeared.
   The Salt Lake City woman, who reportedly was five weeks pregnant, failed to return from an early-morning jog in City Creek Canyon, according to her husband.
   Friends have said that Mark Hacking contacted them about his wife's disappearance about 10 a.m., claiming he had twice run his wife's usual jogging route three miles each way, looking for her before he called police.
   But police said last week that before Mark Hacking reported his wife missing, he was purchasing a new queen-sized mattress at a South Salt Lake furniture store.
   Authorities have been unable to confirm Lori Hacking was in the canyon that morning and consider her husband, Mark Hacking, the only "person of interest" in the case.
   Dunaway said relatives were not aware of the phone call Lori Hacking apparently received at work July 16.
   The last time Lori Hacking contacted her mother was by e-mail July 14 or 15, he said, making arrangements for her to take care of the couple's cat while they were preparing for their move to North Carolina.
   Before Lori Hacking received the phone call on Friday, Openshaw said, he had seen her looking at UNC-Chapel Hill's Web site.
   Afterward, "she hung up the phone and sort of sat there crying," he said. "We asked her if she was OK and if she wanted to leave a little early."
   She did. But by the time she arrived at her going-away party held that evening, she seemed fine, Openshaw said. Co-workers were so relieved at her elevated mood that they didn't bother to inquire about the phone call.
   "We didn't think of it," he said. "We assumed everything had been worked out, that there may have been a misunderstanding. Whatever it was that upset her seemed to have been resolved."
   Pictures from the party, held at a supervisor's cabin in the Uinta Mountains, show Lori Hacking in a baggy gray University of Utah sweatshirt, smiling widely with her husband's arm wrapped around her shoulder.
   Another shot depicts her standing next to her supervisor, Randy Church, and a cake that reads: "We'll miss you, Lori."
   But those present didn't intend the party to be the last time they saw Lori Hacking. Her last day at Wells Fargo was to be Aug. 5, according to a company spokesman.
   Those at the party said the guest of honor didn't speak in detail about her future plans, but seemed optimistic about the impending move.
   Openshaw said he asked Mark Hacking at the party whether he was planning on rooting for UNC or rival Duke. "He said he didn't really get into stuff like that."
   A close friend of Lori Hacking, who saw the couple at a housewarming party the night before she disappeared, said she made no mention of an upsetting phone call.
   "Lori was just acting totally normal," said Erin Galbraith, a former college roommate of Lori Hacking. "I would have sensed something weird. I was in their apartment. I was looking at boxes."
   Mark Hacking remained hospitalized Monday, Dunaway said, after suffering what relatives have called a "breakdown" the evening of June 19.
   Police last questioned Mark Hacking on Wednesday. "To go back and re-question him on the same issues when we don't feel he's been truthful the first time - I don't think that would do us any good," said Detective Dwayne Baird, a police spokesman.
   Baird said Mark Hacking has been cooperative with authorities, however.
   Police are still awaiting test results from the state crime lab. "They have a lot of material," he said.
   Athay said he was retained to represent Mark Hacking late Thursday and has met with him several times. He would not describe the meetings or discuss his conversations with his client.
   Asked why Mark Hacking needs an attorney, Athay said, "Everybody needs a lawyer when they're under investigation or suspicion."
   He said he was returning calls to reporters Monday because of curiosity regarding his role in the case, but said he will not be saying much in the future.
   "You know me," he said. "I'm pretty closed-mouthed and tight-lipped."
   Mark Hacking called his wife's office about 10 a.m. on July 19, speaking first to Brandon Hodge, another trading assistant she was training. He didn't ask where his wife was, but instead how she was doing, Hodge told The Associated Press.
   ''By the way, how is Lori?'' Hacking reportedly asked. Hodge said he replied, ''Well, she's not made it into work yet.''
   Church then took the phone and recalls Hacking saying she hadn't returned from a sunrise jog at Memory Grove, a downtown park near the office. Hacking made it seem he was calling from his apartment, Church told the AP.
   ''Oh, my God, her [work] clothes are still here,'' Hacking reportedly said to Church, who had been expecting Lori Hacking at 7 a.m. and says she was never late to work.
   ''I said, 'You need to call police immediately. Just get off the phone,' Church said.
   Police said Mark Hacking's call came in at 10:49 a.m. Monday - about 25 minutes after he used his credit card to buy the mattress at Bradley's Sleep Etc.
   In other developments Monday:
   l Salt Lake City Police officers used dogs to search the city landfill Monday night. Baird said they were finishing up a search of the area that had started last week. High temperatures and the availability of the dogs were the reason for the night search, he said.
   l Police said they are looking into a lead that Mark Hacking may have visited an R.C. Willey Home Furnishings store nearby before going into Bradley's.
   l Authorities have asked anyone who was in Memory Grove Park or City Creek Canyon between 5 a.m. and 11 a.m. on July 19 to call 799-3000 or 799-INFO (4636).
   l Police continued to decline comment on reports of blood and a bloody knife found at the Hackings' apartment, saying the information is evidentiary in value.
   l Police rejected a Salt lake Tribune open-records request for initial police reports in the Lori Hacking case, as is routine in most disappearance cases. In a letter to the newspaper, Capt. Mark Peck said releasing the information might interfere with a law-enforcement investigation, disclose investigative techniques or deprive a person of a right to a fair trial.
   l A BFI Waste Services driver who picked up the Hackings' garbage at about 3:30 p.m. on July 19 said he saw nothing unusual and wasn't asked by police to inspect his collections, as is often the case in drug investigations and other crimes.
   l The Salt Lake City office of the FBI said it has not been involved in Lori Hacking's case. The FBI has offered its help through agents and profilers but police have so far has not accepted, said spokesman Bob Wright.
    aebroughton@sltrib.com
   mlaplante@sltrib.com
    ---
    Tribune reporters Stephen Hunt and Michael Westley contributed to this story.

"He planted her car in the usual place where she'd park it to go jogging."

Now this still puzzles me a bit, tdj. Hacking's account, as I remember it, was that he went to where Lori usually parked her car at Memory Grove, did the 6-mile round-trip jog to search for her, then brought her car home. If that was the case, and if he drove it back home, he would have had to actually walk or run or bicycle downtown to do all this -- unless he brought Lori's car back by hitching it to his Durango.

This is worth looking into considering its effect on the plausibility of Hacking's account within the known timeline.

Considering all the bone-head moves Hacking has made, it seems possible to me that he wasn't anywhere near Memory Grove that morning and didn't park her car there. Considering all he would have had to do to cover up his crime, I don't see how he would have had the time.

Let me know if you discover what time he and Lori left that Sunday night housewarming party on the 18th and how far it was from their apartment. I'm going to have to ping some of our Salt Lake freepers to see if they can fill us in on these various driving distances and times (stoplights, traffic, speed limits, freeway on/off ramps, etc.).

You know what amazes me? It's that there are no reports of witnesses (apartment neighbors) who heard him start his car up that night and no witnesses who saw him leaving/arriving (such as the paper delivery boy or early morning dog walkers/joggers). I have a hunch that he probably timed the night's "activities" so that transport/disposal of body and gross evidence commenced around 1:00 or 1:30 AM, Monday, when people were most likely to be sound asleep, including early risers like bakers. Assuming the "disposal run" took about 2 hours round-trip, he would return around 3:00 or 3:30 AM.

What's the situation in SLC with drinking establishments like bars, tdj? Are there any? Is that a dry town that doesn't have wee hours bar creepers driving home at 2 and 3 in the morning?

So what? Is it more likely that she was confused about what her husband was watching in another room or that she was confused about seeing her eight-month pregnant neighbor walking by? And, why couldn't she have glanced in on her husband while he was watching a recap or a preview of a football game or whatever? It was in the middle of the college bowl season, after all. And how many women actually pay much attention to their husbands' sports programs. LOL

Another thing that's annoyed me about the prosecution case is this whole deal about the hairs on the pliers, or whatever. I know when my sister comes to visit for a week I find her #$%& hairs in the oddest of places for weeks afterward. I've even pulled one out of my mouth while sitting in the car before and she's never even been in my car. =) And, what the heck is he supposed to have done with the pliers to "crush" a hair into them anyhow? Oh, and where's the blood to go along with the strands of hair?

Are you aware that there was testimony this week that those were two separate hairs?

Are you aware that your "witness to Laci at the warehouse" never SAW Laci in Scott's warehouse? Laci came into HER warehouse, in another building, to use the restroom.

If the witness actually saw Laci, you're sure to see her on defense; so far, Mark Geragos hasn't put her name up as a witness, so that tells me that he doesn't even put much credence in her statement, and he's so desperate he wants us to believe that homeless gynecologistg kidnapped Laci and delivered the baby by casearan and, even though they have no home, had cars and a boat and were able to drop the bodies in the bay right where Scott was.

You don't need to be worried about the hairs on those pliers. Be worried about the 12 that were found on the tape on her body.

Not too many are focusing on the car. Albeit, LE is going through it with forensics. And because Mark's not cooperating too much, there's much mystery with the car, among other things. One thing's for certain, Mark had a very busy night.

LE (like me) are certain Lori was killed inside the apt. no one else could have/would have done this except Mark. All evidence points to him. No outsider would kill them in the home and then take the body away. It just isn't done.

I was hoping to find a daily archive at deseret news online to help put the pieces together but haven't found one. Nor have I heard any of Lori's friends mention what time she left the party. LE has said so far, none of the neighbors heard anything.

So, if that's the case, I think Mark may have killed her while she was dozing off/asleep? He could have hit her on the head with something like a baseball bat. Then stabbed her, and perhaps cut her body up to get it out of the apt. easier, in bags, etc. This guy is psycho, no doubt.

I don't know about drinking establishments in UT. I'm sure they have them. I don't live there. I live next door to UT. Nevada.

Yes, I am aware of that. And, are you aware that the presence of two hairs in the envelope actually raises a significant question about the investigation, since they had claimed only one strand was found? And, are you aware that the prosecution's witness refuted the detective testimony that only one was collected and the DA's claim that it was originally one hair that must've broken in half?

Now, were you aware that of the eight hairs found on the tape and the four hairs on her body, that 10 of them turned out to be animal hairs and that none of them came from Scott Peterson?

Did you also know that the prosecution witness testified that the two hairs on the pliers "could have" come from Laci Peterson but that there was not 100% certainty they are hers?

"...will probably only take fifteen or twenty years to execute him."

Did you see my post at 163-4, gc? If my impression is correct, his crime may not be a capital offense. As I said, my impression so far is that aggravated murder is the only death-penalty-eligible type of homicide in Utah. Also, scroll down to the bottom of post 164 and take a gander at sections (3)(b)(i-ii) in which it is stated that emotional distress arising from mental illness or from the defendant's own conduct does not mitigate the offense.

Lady lawyer, any commentary you can make here concerning implications for insanity plea, likely bill of charges, or any corrections/additions to Utah homicide law would be welcomed and most appreciated -- as would any light you can shed on local info such as driving distances/routes/times from Bountiful to Hacking address, Memory Grove to Hacking address, Maverick Country Store hours, etc.

Thanks for the ping! This is excellent. If Lori had actually disappeared while jogging, and her husband had gotten up and realized that her clothes etc were still there, he would have first called work, then the police. Then he would have driven over to the park and started looking for her with the police, calling friends on the way over there.

But, he bought a mattress, called her work, then friends. Only then did he call the cops....after he disposed of the old mattress and replaced it with the new one.

Questions 1, 2, and 3 have the same answer. He murdered her. It's just a matter of finding where he disposed of her body.

"If you can recall or, better yet, find the news account that gave that info, would you buzz me, Spunky?

Bonaparte, I haven't yet been able to find the article I read where the Hackings were at the party on Sunday night until 8:30-9:30. I know I read that and some Freepers were talking about the fact that he had to work the night shift.

According to the second article below the clerk says Mark and Lori came into the store between six and nine p.m. Sunday. I would say it was more like 9 p.m. if what I remember about the time they left the party is correct.

But I am really confused with these two stories. One says Mark came in alone the other said they both came in.

Portion of article from My posting at #166
From Deseret News • An employee at a Maverik store near the Hackings' apartment said Mark Hacking entered the store by himself the night of July 18, the day before Lori was reported missing. That's the night the Hackings attended a housewarming party in Bountiful, the last time anyone confirmed seeing Lori alive."

Now according to this article.
According to reports in the Deseret Morning News and from KSL NewsRadio, a clerk at a convenience store near Mark and Lori Hacking's apartment says the couple came in between six and nine p.m. Sunday night, the day before she was reported missing.

Convenience Clerk May Have Been Last to See Lori Hacking

• The Winnipeg Sun reported Tuesday that when Mark Hacking served a mission for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Winnipeg from 1995 to 1997, his mission president described him as a "good missionary." Lorin Mendenhall dismissed claims by an ex-Mormon Web site that Hacking was sent home from his mission early.

I'd like to track down that website. Just because Lorin Mendenhall dismissed the claims doesn't make them not true. I mentioned investigating his fellow missionaries for signs that there was a problem with MH in an earlier post.

Nice work, Spunky!

Short as it is, the link you provided has some terrific new info.

So if the Maverick clerk's recollection as to time frame is correct, their 8:30 PM departure from the housewarming party would probably be more accurate than 9:00 or 9:30.

Not surprising that he would deceive her about his smoking habit (another thing he was doing during his days of non-attendance at school while she was slaving away for Wells Fargo). Did he really think she wouldn't smell the smoke on his clothes? In my experience, women have hellacious sense of smell. You just can't get anything by them in that department. If we didn't have bloodhounds, we'd use women to track down our prison farm escapees. I suppose he had a plausible excuse prepared for her re the smoky-smelling clothes.

Clerk remembers she appeared "unhappy," so maybe something was already brewing between them that night. Maybe the re-assuring story he gave her on Friday broke down when somebody else at the housewarming clued her in and stirred up her doubts again. Or perhaps he made a conversational slip in her presence, possibly under the influence of libations, and that re-kindled her suspicions. The police have probably interviewed everybody at that party.

Re your understandable confusion between the two accounts of the Maverick visit -- the simplest explanation is that after parking in the lot, MH was the first to exit the car and enter the store, while Lori was maybe fussing with something in her purse, exiting the car and entering the store a little after he did. Again, given the clerk's description of her as not-so-happy, she may have delayed getting out of the car because she was upset and, for the moment, lost in her thoughts. I can well imagine her sitting there watching her husband ruefully or pensively as he walked into the store ahead of her, then thinking of some little item she needed and going in there herself.

If this were the case, it's easy to see how the discrepant accounts could both be accurate enough.

I don't know much about criminal law, but I think you're right about aggravated murder being the only capital felony. However, it seems to me that if he killed her to perpetuate or cover up his lies, or to avoid supporting a child that is "pecuniary or other personal gain."

Also, you'll be interested to know that criminal homicide includes the killing "an unborn child at any stage of its development." So, if they can confirm the pregnancy, he'll be facing two counts.

Maverik is open very late -- maybe all night long. I'm not sure. They're all over the place. I have no idea where the one is that he stopped at. The local news is reporting that the clerk told police that Mark came in all the time to buy cigarettes, and he told the clerk not to let his wife know that when they stopped in Sunday evening to buy sodas.

Mormons don't smoke. He might have lied about that at some time to participate in some of the things that require complete observance. Not a big thing compared to murder, of course, but says something about basic character.

I can look out my office window and see the entrance to Memory Grove, and the Hacking apartment is about five blocks from here. I'm sure it took less than five minutes to get from the apartment to Memory Grove. Bountiful takes about 15 minutes, with probably another 5 or 10 minutes to get up into the hills above Bountiful.

One interesting new thing I learned today. I talked to my daughter in Portland for the first time since all this happened. She is the closest in age to Mark and Lori.

I've said before that one of my daughters knows Mark's sister Sarah, and another knows his sister, Julie. Both of them were, according to my girls, the nicest people imaginable, and complete straight arrow. My daughter in Portland was one year younger than Lori, and two years younger than Mark. She used to go out socially in a group that included Mark's younger brother, Chad. Again, Chad was an incredibly nice young man.

But she said that Mark used to hang out with boys that had a little bit of a reputation for misbehavior, and seemed quite impressed with himself. She had the sense that Mark was different than the rest of his family. It's very possible that he wasn't living up to the requirements to go on a mission, and lied about it in order to go. Again, just speculation. But this is the first time I have heard anything other than that Mark was just like the rest of his siblings.

"One thing's for certain, Mark had a very busy night."

To put it mildly, IMO. Even if he'd completed all his required tasks in record time -- let's say between 10 PM Monday and 4 AM Tuesday -- he would have been far too keyed up to sleep, not without some strong sedative such as Chloral Hydrate or something. He may well have been awake continuously from when he arose Sunday morning until, say, noon when he was probably settled in and sedated at the hospital psyc ward. Roughly 2 full days."No outsider would kill them in the home and then take the body away. It just isn't done."

Nor would a "bushy-haired stranger" have cleaned the place up afterward.

Reason I asked about bars, is because I know Utah is more restrictive about drinking but I just don't know how restrictive. In my California town, even on a Sunday, if you're out driving at 2 or 3 AM, you'll see people driving home from the bars. Had that been the case where Hacking lives, it seems more likely somebody saw a guy fitting his description driving a Durango like his. (Remember the witness who saw Simpson in the white Bronco shortly after he murdered Nicole/Ron?)

Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.