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.After his arrest, Soares wrote Mark a letter asking why he never asked for help.

"Well, I said a lot of things, but mainly I said, you know, I don't know why you thought you had to begin this elaborate web of lies and we were all so caught up in it," Soares said. "We lived it with you. If you had told us, we would have helped you. But instead, you chose to kill Lori and your child. Why?"

She says she never received a response.

Soares, who wears Lori's jewelry and perfume in an effort to feel close to her daughter, says she wants Lori to be remembered forever. She has set up a scholarship fund in her name.

"Lori was not a deprived child, but in the end, she was terribly violated and terribly abused," Soares said. "This scholarship will help young women who have come from difficult life circumstances, maybe have been abused, maybe they're single mothers who are struggling who can possibly go to school."

While cadaver dogs have spent seven weeks searching for Lori's body in the landfill, they've turned up nothing. The search began July 20, one day after Mark Hacking reported his wife missing.

Police, firefighters and volunteers began going back over the garbage by hand Tuesday.

Before Lori was reported missing, the couple had been preparing to move to North Carolina, where Mark Hacking claimed to have been accepted to medical school. Authorities said Lori discovered he'd lied about his plans on the Friday before her disappearance, when she called the medical school to inquire about financial aid and learned they had no record of her husband.

Mark Hacking is charged with first-degree felony murder, punishable by five years to life in prison, and with three counts of obstructing justice, which carries a maximum penalty of one to 15 years in prison. His preliminary hearing is set for Sept. 23.

A memorial scholarship fund has been set up in Lori Hacking's memory. Proceeds from the Lori Hacking Memorial Fund go to the University of Utah. For more information, go to www.lori.utah.edu