Posted on 07/27/2004 10:15:01 AM PDT by Bonaparte
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
2004-07-27 00:39:09.532
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.
I suspect this is more a matter of laying groundwork for his defense, although it must also be said that anyone who lies as much as he has over the years--and thinks he can get away with it forever--can't be quite "all there."
http://deseretnews.com/dn/view/0,1249,595079881,00.html
Thomas said that she last heard from Lori the Saturday before she disappeared, when she received an e-mail with her new address in North Carolina.
"I'm still kind of numb," Thomas said. "It's starting to sink in."
Strike that. But the question remains - why would the school call her to tell her that her husband hadn't been accepted?
Hah! Yes, it's wise to use the remote during those!
She called the school about housing, they were returning her call at her job.
Mark lies were so good nobody doubted for an instant everything he told them. And he had lies to back up lies. Professional liar. He's been doing this for years. I seriously doubt he's going to lie his way out of this.
The man is a sociopath, and I believe he is guilty. Those weren't just lies he was telling, but damn lies. This would explain why Lori was upset friday afternoon, but was okay at the party. He lied to her again, obviously. The one thing a sociopath or narcissist cannot handle is being unmasked. They become very dangerous.
This is my take on what happened. Lori goes home and tells her husband about the conversation she had. He tells her it is just a computer glitch, or whatever, and he'll straighten it out Monday. Now he knows that the game is over, and he has to take care of her before he is exposed. Sociopaths prey on innocent, trusting people. Lori and both families seem to fall into that category. He is such a good liar that he even pulled off the sham of graduating from the University of Utah.
What else has he lied about? Someone from the Church needs to contact the people who accompanied him on his mission. Did something happen while he was doing missionary work? I think if people wake up and start doing some digging, they might find more things. He didn't just have a nervous breakdown because this has been going on for a long time.
Thanks Bonapart...The mystery remains...Why did he buy a mattress shortly before informing police his wife is missing and take the time to take it home..
Where is Lori and are the " blood evidence in apartment" reports accurate?..A criminal attorney, is hired and none too soon, it would appear.
The "slam" was against the "news" media to begin with - there is NO national interest in this minor local only murder - how many hundreds of murders occur daily?
This is publicized only to cover up the sleaze that would otherwise be on peoples minds! like the dnc!
Thank you for your ping, Bonaparte. Evidence is gathering, indeed, implicating Mark Hacking. I just really wish at least her body, or she, alive, were known. So the families can get beyond this "fugue" state of not knowing. That's just gotta be the worst.
Well we don't know. She could have called for information, and they were trying to find her husband in their files regarding enrollment. Then they called her back with the news that he had never enrolled.
Or the phone call she was upset over, could have been the only phone call. A coworker said she had the UNC's website up on her computer. That suggests she was looking up phone numbers.
The police will track all of this down.
This isn't the first time Lori has caught him in lies. When you are married to a liar, it takes a while, but you begin to figure it out. I am hoping against hope for the following scenario: Lori finds out he has lied to her. She has a miscarriage from the stress. She gets so hopping mad at him that she sprinkles her own blood in the apartment and runs off - leaving him to implode!
I think the police are interviewing quite a few people. I also believe they are finding out a lot about this suspect. They and the DA know the defense is going to be temporary insanity, so at least two things they likely will want to establish are suspect's character and evidence of premeditation. They need time to flesh out his personal history and get all their ducks in a row. Even if the jury doesn't buy the insanity claim, if defense can convince them this crime resulted from a moment of panic or rage, he won't get the death penalty, not without the necessary elements. In fact, he won't even serve a life sentence.
Oh... I heard on Fox she was adopted and this will delay the DNA results. Did you hear this also?
I'm sure there is an apartment with that address. MH wouldn't have to make up a phony one. You're pretty good at putting pieces together, so how about this? He was supposed to leave first, with Lori following at a later date. We know he wasn't enrolled, so we can assume that his trip back there was for backround information. He scouted likely places that rented reasonably priced apartments, and gave the info to Lori.
I'm contradicting my last theory, but after reading everyone else's replies, I'm going to guess that he was planning on killing her before the supposed move. The pregnancy was just a fluke. Her questions just moved the timetable up a few days. Her disappearance would of course prevent him from moving or starting school. This would also explain why he was able to hide the body so well. He planned it carefully.
Of course he wasn't completely clever, because phone calls are logged and so are credit card purchases. Right down to the last second.
Is this plausible?
A lot will depend on his diagnosis. If he's diagnosed as nuts, he will still be arrested but may be held in a secure psyc facility under police watch or held in solitary confinement with suicide precautions at the county lock-up. My guess is that the DA doesn't want him charged/arrested before they know what these psychiatrists are likely to be testifying to later. That impacts on planning of the investigation, timing of arrest and trial strategy.
True. I wonder when Lori's family and friends are going to stop "loving him and supporting him."?
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