Salt Lake man arrested in wife’s disappearance

SALT LAKE CITY – A man whose credibility began crumbling the day he first reported his pregnant wife missing was arrested Monday in her death, just before his scheduled release from a psychiatric ward.

Investigators believe Lori Hacking, 27, was killed in the couple’s apartment and that her body is buried somewhere below 3,000 tons of trash at the county landfill. The landfill was expected to be searched again Wednesday.

Her husband, Mark Hacking, reported her missing July 19. He was hospitalized when he was seen running around naked outside a motel where he had taken a room, hours after making an emotional appeal on television that day for help in searching for her.

Although Lori Hacking’s body has not been found, police said they had gathered enough evidence – including the murder weapon – to bring charges against her husband.

“The evidence gathered strongly indicated Lori was the victim of a homicide and that Mark Hacking is the individual responsible,” said Salt Lake City Police Chief Rick Dinse.

Mark Hacking, 28, has not been formally charged. Prosecutors have 72 hours to file charges, but they could ask for an extension if necessary.

Detectives identified a motive and have found the weapon that killed Lori Hacking, Dinse said. He declined to elaborate.

Since the day his wife was reported missing, Mark Hacking’s credibility has eroded amid revelations that he lied to his family about enrolling at medical school in North Carolina and about graduating from the University of Utah.

Lori Hacking, an assistant stockbroker, has not been seen since late July 18. Mark Hacking reported her missing the following day, telling family, friends and police that she failed to return from a morning jog at a park near downtown.