Mark Hacking

Mark Douglas Hacking was born in 1976 and grew up in Utah in a family active in The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Friends and relatives described him as intelligent and personable, and he married Lori Kay Soares in 2000 after the couple met while attending church.

The Hackings settled in Salt Lake City, where Lori worked successfully in the medical field while supporting what she believed was Mark's academic progress. For years, Mark falsely claimed he had graduated from the University of Utah, held steady employment and had been accepted into the University of North Carolina School of Medicine. In reality, he had not completed his degree, had lost jobs and fabricated documents and stories to conceal the truth.

By mid-2004, Lori had become increasingly involved in preparations for their planned move to North Carolina. As she began verifying details of Mark's supposed medical school acceptance, his extensive deception was on the verge of being exposed.

On July 19, 2004, Lori Hacking disappeared from the couple's apartment in Salt Lake City. Mark told police that Lori had failed to return home after leaving for an early morning jog in Memory Grove Park.

The disappearance generated enormous public attention throughout Utah. Hundreds of volunteers, family members and law enforcement officers searched parks, neighbourhoods and surrounding areas while Mark made public appeals for information about his missing wife.

Investigators soon discovered that Mark had fabricated nearly every aspect of his educational and employment history. Detectives concluded that Lori had learned the truth shortly before her disappearance and believed she intended to confront him and inform family members.

Prosecutors later established that Mark shot Lori in the head while she slept in their apartment. He then transported her body to a commercial dumpster, where it was ultimately taken to the Salt Lake Valley Landfill. Despite extensive searches, Lori's body has never been recovered.

Hacking used a .22-calibre rifle to kill Lori while she was asleep in bed, eliminating any opportunity for her to defend herself. Prosecutors argued the murder was motivated by his desire to prevent his years of deception from being exposed after Lori discovered he had lied about virtually every aspect of his professional and academic life.

After the shooting, Hacking cleaned the apartment, disposed of evidence and transported Lori's body in his vehicle before placing it in a commercial dumpster. He then created the false story that Lori had disappeared while jogging, allowing him to participate publicly in search efforts during the early stages of the investigation.

The concealment of Lori's body prevented investigators from recovering her remains, although forensic evidence inside the apartment supported the prosecution's reconstruction of the murder.

As investigators examined Hacking's account, numerous inconsistencies emerged. Detectives confirmed that he had never been accepted into medical school, had not graduated from university and had fabricated employment records. Family members also learned that many of the stories Mark had repeated for years were entirely false.

Forensic investigators recovered blood evidence from the apartment despite extensive cleaning efforts. As the investigation progressed, Mark was admitted to a psychiatric hospital after displaying signs of severe emotional distress.

In October 2004, prosecutors charged Hacking with first-degree murder. Several months later, while receiving psychiatric treatment, he confessed to his brothers and later admitted responsibility to investigators, acknowledging that he had killed Lori and disposed of her body in a dumpster.

Rather than proceeding to trial, Mark Hacking entered a guilty plea in April 2005 to one count of first-degree murder.

During court proceedings, prosecutors outlined evidence demonstrating that Hacking had spent years deceiving his wife, family and friends regarding his education, employment and future career. They argued that the murder occurred after Lori discovered the truth and realised the couple would not be moving to North Carolina as planned.

In June 2005, the court sentenced Hacking to an indeterminate term of five years to life imprisonment, the sentence then required under Utah law for first-degree murder following his plea agreement.

Hacking remains incarcerated within the Utah Department of Corrections and has appeared before the Utah Board of Pardons and Parole as part of the state's indeterminate sentencing system.

The disappearance and murder of Lori Hacking became one of Utah's most widely publicised criminal cases. The extensive volunteer search effort and Mark Hacking's public participation in appeals for information drew national attention before investigators uncovered his long-running pattern of deception.

Psychological experts who later evaluated Hacking described longstanding compulsive lying and elaborate fabrications concerning his achievements. Although these issues became part of the broader discussion surrounding the case, they did not diminish his criminal responsibility for Lori's murder.

Lori was approximately five weeks pregnant when she was killed. Because her body has never been recovered, the case continues to be remembered as both a homicide and one of Utah's most significant unresolved missing-person recoveries. Her family has remained active in promoting victim advocacy and supporting families affected by violent crime.

• Salt Lake City Police Department
• Salt Lake County District Attorney's Office
• Utah Board of Pardons and Parole
• Associated Press
• Deseret News
• The Salt Lake Tribune
• Court TV