This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2005, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.
Had life gone the way it was supposed to, Mark Hacking and his wife might have been celebrating the completion of his first year in medical school, and the birth of their first child. Instead, Mark Hacking is on his way to the Utah State Prison for up to life, and two families are still trying to come to terms with a brutal slaying - one spawned from a web of lies.
On Monday, the saga that began last July when Hacking falsely reported Lori Hacking failed to return from a jog, culminated with tearful words from both sides of the ill-fated marriage.
During a two-hour sentencing hearing, Hacking for the first time showed emotion as he delivered a lengthy apology punctuated by sobs and heavy sighs.
At the end of it all, 3rd District Judge Denise Lindberg ordered that Hacking serve six years to life in prison for killing the 27-year-old woman.
Hacking, 29, pleaded guilty in April to murdering Lori, who was reportedly pregnant when he shot her in the head as she slept in their Salt Lake City apartment.
Hacking wrapped her body in trash bags and put it in a Dumpster. Her remains were found at the Salt Lake County landfill on Oct. 1.
One of the most dramatic moments of the emotionally charged sentencing hearing came when Lori's mother, Thelma Soares, lashed out at Hacking for killing her daughter and unborn grandchild and disposing of them like garbage.
"How could you do that, Mark? How could you do that to me?" she said, turning toward the killer.
"I'm sorry," Hacking replied, choking back tears.
Soares then told Lindberg it would be a "travesty" for Hacking to serve less than life without parole.
"I loved that young man as if he were my own son. He now tells me he's sorry, but those words come easy and ring hollow in the face of his selfish actions."
Hacking had earlier told the judge, "I know words are cheap, especially from me, but from the bottom of my heart, I'm so sorry for the pain I've caused. I deserve to be in prison . . . for the rest of my life."
Lindberg told Hacking she would recommend to the Utah Board of Pardons and Parole - which will determine his exact sentence - "that it be a very, very long time before you are ever considered for parole."
Lindberg called Hacking "the poster child for dishonesty in its most extreme form."
The slaying occurred after Lori discovered her husband had been living a lie. Hacking had not graduated from the University of Utah and he had not been accepted at a North Carolina medical school, even though the couple had quit their jobs and were packing for the cross-country move.
Hacking said he could not explain why he killed Lori. "She did nothing but love me unconditionally."
But after the sentencing, defense attorney Gilbert Athay offered an explanation.
"This was a killing, in Mark's words, of love," Athay told reporters.
Lori's discovery of her husband's lies was painful for them both, Athay said. Following a two-hour "discussion," Lori went to bed and Hacking continued packing - until he came across his .22-caliber rifle.
"He loved Lori so much, he wanted to relieve her of the pain she was feeling," Athay explained, and the rifle appeared to be the solution.
Family members said Mark suffered from depression and a learning disability that stemmed from his falling off a roof, which caused a concussion and broken back.
When Hacking returned to college after the injury, he was unable to concentrate. He failed one class after another until he dropped out, according to a Hacking family statement. Unable to admit his failure - especially to his father and brothers, who are doctors - Hacking began to create the illusion that he was doing well in school.
Athay said all of that "came together at a time of unusual stress" that had left Hacking in a "state that was somewhat fantasy land" when he shot her.
Hacking did not truly believe Lori was dead until he went back to the bedroom to check on her, Athay said.
But Soares family members were not buying Athay's story.
"As far as I've read in the dictionary, 'love' never says killing somebody," said Lori's brother, Paul Soares. "That was the most preposterous thing I've ever heard. . . . He killed her out of love?"
Soares also criticized the Hacking family for saying they love Mark Hacking more now than before the slaying.
"How do you love a killer more than you do a good, honest person?" asked Soares. "It makes no sense at all."
During the hearing, Thelma Soares expressed outrage that her daughter was killed by "the man she loved and trusted."
She said that if Hacking had simply admitted his troubles, "we'd have helped him through."
Thelma Soares recalled that on Hacking's graduation day, he threw up in the bathroom and appeared to be so ill that she insisted driving him to the pharmacy for medicine. A week later, because he had missed the ceremony, she took pictures of Hacking in his cap and gown.
"He stored medical books in my garage," she said. "He pulled the wool over my eyes so well, I don't know what was real and what wasn't. I feel like a supporting actress in a third-class horror movie."
Lori's father, Eraldo Soares, pounded on the podium as he told the judge, "I want him to rot in a cell every day."
Eight Hacking family members spoke at the hearing. They condemned the crime but expressed hope he would one day be freed.
Douglas Hacking said his son "started down the road of repentance" just two days after Lori was killed when he tried to commit suicide by mixing medications and alcohol.
The father said Hacking - who was taken to a psychiatric unit after being found naked in a hotel parking lot - had left a suicide note on his Palm Pilot that read: "This is justice."
On July 24, as Hacking's brothers asked him to reveal the location of Lori's body, Hacking confessed everything and instructed Athay to provide information to prosecutors, Douglas Hacking said.
The Hackings' statement ends with words from Mark, who warns against the perils of deceit.
Hacking also states, "I know prison is where I need to be. I will spend my time there doing all I can to right the many wrongs I have done. . . . I hope that someday I can become the man Lori always thought I was."
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Tribune reporters Matthew LaPlante and Nate Carlisle contributed to this report.