Lori Hacking's Mom Asks Son-in-Law for Answers
Sept. 16, 2004 -- As Thelma Soares waits for the day when she can truly put her daughter to rest, she keeps her memory close by wearing the wedding ring Lori Hacking received from her husband, Mark, the man now charged with her murder.
"I have a hard time coping, intellectually and emotionally, trying to reconcile the two Marks. I've known that kid for 10 years and loved him and he's been part of my family," Soares said on ABC News' Good Morning America. "Lori loved him and he loved her. He treated her like a precious thing in his life."
Police arrested Mark Hacking, 28, in the slaying of his wife two weeks after the Salt Lake City man reported her missing. Authorities allege he shot his wife of five years in her sleep and threw her body in a trash bin, which was later dumped at the Salt Lake County landfill.
Police say Lori, 27, who was said to be five weeks pregnant when she disappeared, was killed after she apparently discovered her husband had lied about graduating from the University of Utah and being accepted at a North Carolina medical school.
Soares says she was floored when she learned of Mark's lies, but she says she wanted to believe him when he told her, days before he allegedly confessed to his brothers, that he had nothing to do with Lori's death.
"I desperately wanted to believe him," Soares said. "But way down deep I thought, this is another lie, because just the previous day the police informed us all of the North Carolina hoax and, you know, the University of Utah. We were so stunned. We were just speechless. You could have knocked us all over with a feather," Soares said.
Through it all, Soares says she has found solace from an unlikely source — Mark's own family.
"It's very easy to stay close to them," Soares said. "I love that family. One of his [Mark's] brothers came to me during the memorial service and put his hands around me and said, 'Thelma, I hope you know you've just got six more children," Soares said while fighting back tears.
As volunteers continue the search for Lori's body, Soares continues to search for answers. But Mark has provided little help.
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