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.
Well put, TSO. I theorize, perhaps wrongly, that if this comes to trial and the jury turns in a verdict of guilty/1st deg non-capital/recommended 30 years without parole, the prosecutor could broker with the judge a sentence reduction to 20 years without parole on condition that Hacking shows them a body. That would tie things up as neatly as circumstances permit. Closure for the family, decent burial for Lori, freedom for Hacking when he's pushing 50 instead of 60, no lingering juror remorse, less chance of expensive appeals. IOW, nobody gets everything, everybody gets something and justice is done (more or less).
Alternate option is, of course, pre-trial plea arrangement. That would be better for everybody, but if Hacking is stubborn and unrealistic and/or his lawyer is egotistical, it might not be in the cards.