Mark Hacking Pleads Guilty to Murdering Wife

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[History] [Commands]

[September 03, 2010, 02:47:30 PM] monkeymom: lmao run Peppy Peppy run

[September 03, 2010, 02:57:14 PM] moolah: LOL

[September 03, 2010, 04:00:04 PM] bombshell: I need someone like Peppy in my life

[September 03, 2010, 04:00:14 PM] bombshell: My dog is a bit like that but he's a dog

[September 03, 2010, 04:00:22 PM] bombshell: a goat is much more original

[September 03, 2010, 06:55:42 PM] moolah: take some time out in your busy life bombs and you can come play with the goat

[September 05, 2010, 02:38:59 PM] TearyThunder: I'm so proud I'm not the one with the goat troubles. lol

[Today at 10:39:10 AM] monkeymom: Morning Moo its cold and raining here 

[Today at 10:42:47 AM] moolah: here too

[Today at 10:49:09 AM] moolah: did you have a nice weekend?  The mountains got snow already!

[Today at 11:00:56 AM] monkeymom: it was ok slept alot.  Wow thats cool I love snowcapped mtns

[Today at 03:31:21 PM] moolah: ok I made the death defying trip with mom driving to town and I made it back in one piece.. That lady drives like a maniac!  85mph in a 55

[Deuce]

If I offended anyone with my post above, I am really sorry. It was not my intention at all. Just my day to be sarcastic I guess.

You did not offend me in the least bit Terry! No worries!  grph

[jennifer]

I will never understand why Lorri had to die, she wasn't the one telling all the bullshit, why didn't he just kill himself . I've often thought I wonder if he was going , shoot himself but chickened out, I guess only he knows that.I really thought he would have had more chance of getting the death penalty than Scott .

[Deuce]

Like I said earlier jennifer.  nothing surprises me anymore when it comes to the justice system.

[Karen]

Hacking family statement
 

 
 
Mark Hacking's family released the following statement today after he was sentenced for killing his wife. Hacking's father, Douglas Hacking, read the statement to reporters and later the family distributed copies of it.
   
    It is difficult to talk about our son, Mark Hacking, without sounding like we are making excuses for his involvement in the senseless and tragic death of our daughter-in-law Lori on the night of July 18, 2004. We are doing so to clear up some misconceptions about this case and to provide a clearer understanding of what occurred and why.
    As has already been reported by the media, in 1996 mark was sent home from an LDS mission for failing to live up to the high standards expected from the missionaries called to represent the church. He was also having some health problems and returned ashamed and in spiritual, emotional, and physical pain.
    Within a few weeks, Mark suffered a series of additional health problems that resulted in three surgeries. The most serious of these issues was a concussion, seizure and broken back from falling off the roof of a house. Following months of incapacitating back pain, Mark tried to go back to college but found it almost impossible to sit in class for long due to the pain and resulting inability to concentrate.His ability to
sit improved over the years, but his inability to concentrate or learn continued to hinder him.
    Although we were unaware of Mark's learning disability, we have recently come to know how agonizing it was for him to fail one class after another to the point that he could no longer attend college. These failures were terribly hard on his self-esteem and created constant anxiety for him. Rather than admit to himself and others that he could not succeed in college, he began to create the illusion that he was going to school and doing well. He pretended to graduate from the University of Utah and carried his deception to the point of actually visiting several medical schools to "interview." We now know that he lied about graduating from college and applying to medical schools. Mark told everyone that he had been accepted to four schools and deliberated which to attend. Last summer, Mark and Lori traveled to North Carolina to look for a place to live and signed a rental agreement. They then quit their jobs in Utah and packed to move.
    Mark sensed that the house of cards he had been building for years was beginning to sway, and he became even more anxious. Lori found out that he had never applied to any medical schools, and Mark finally admitted everything to her on the night of July 18, 2004. As you can imagine, Lori was deeply hurt.
    To clear up some misconceptions about Mark's confession, it was reported Mark's brothers, Lance and Scott, were the ones who told authorities Mark had killed Lori. The reality is that on July 24, Lance confronted Mark with the evidence police had gathered and urged him to reveal where Lori's body was. He and Scott met with Mark that evening, at which time Mark confessed everything to them. His attorney was notified and instructed, by Mark, to provide information regarding Lori's whereabouts to the district attorney, an act which took place the following day. From that point on, it was never a matter of whether Mark would plead guilty but when he would do it based on the processes of the legal system. Mark resolved in August that he would never let his case be tried and informed his attorney of that decision.
    As for Mark's character, until this chain of events, he had never been in trouble with the law nor did he ever develop bad habits such as the use of illegal drugs. Mark always had good friends. He has always been an obedient, hard working, and thoughtful individual who treated us with respect.
    More than anything, we know that Mark loved Lori. We never heard them argue. We never heard him say a negative word about her. When they were not working, they were inseparable.
   Mark suffers continually for his choices. Anyone who could have shared in our conversations with him or read his letters and life history would know the depth of his sorrow and remorse for having taken the life of the one person he cherished most and for having caused pain to so many others especially Lori's family. Mark was close to Thelma and has expressed particular concern for her suffering in almost every letter and conversation we have had with him.
    We are not sure any of us will ever understand why Mark did what he did, nor are we sure he will ever fully understand it either. What we are sure about is that he is willing to pay any price for what he has done. He has a desire to continue to serve others but realizes his opportunities to do so in prison will be limited. As a family, we hope that someday he can be released from prison so that he can be in a better position to contribute to the lives of others. As for when Mark should be released, we will leave that up to the parole board as they consider how he conducts his life while incarcerated. And for the eternal consequences of his actions we will leave that to the savior, who will judge him with perfect justice but also perfect mercy, having a full knowledge of the state of his mind at the time he ended Lori's life.
    Our family continues to feel deep sorrow and regret for Thelma, Eraldo, Paul, and Lori's other family members and friends for the emptiness that has filled their lives since losing Lori. As parents, we wish we could have prevented this tragic event. We also loved her and will continue to miss her presence in our lives as well.
    Although we abhor what Mark did, we are proud of him for taking responsibility for his actions and for his desire to repent. As hard as it may seem to believe, we love him more now than before.
    We wish to express a final thanks to our own family, friends, neighbors, and community members that have extended unconditional, Christ-like love to our family during this devastating time. Thank you also to Mr. Gil Athay for his help and professionalism in providing services to Mark.
    We are grateful that the media has respected our wishes for privacy over the past year. This will be our final statement to the press, as we request that we be permitted to move on with our lives.
    Finally, in the hope that someone else might learn from Mark's mistakes, permit us to quote Mark:
    "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, though I realize complete atonement is impossible in this life. I have a lot of healing and changing to do, but I hope that some day I can become the man Lori always thought I was.
    "To the many people I have hurt, I am more sorry than you could ever know. Every day my soul burns in torment when I think of what you must be going through. I wish I could take away your pain. I wish I could take back all the lies I have told and replace them with the truth. I wish I could put Lori back into your arms. My pain is deserved; yours is not. From the bottom of my heart, I beg for your forgiveness.
    "There is no such thing as a harmless lie no matter how small it is. You may think a lie only hurts the liar, but this is far from the truth. If you are traveling a path of lies, please stop now and face the consequences. Whatever those consequences, they will be better than the pain you are causing yourself and others." 
   
http://www.sltrib.com/ci_2786244

[Karen]

Hacking: Quotes from the trial
 
    Thelma Soares
    LORI'S MOTHER
   "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."
   
 
   Mark Hacking
   CONVICTED KILLER
   "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."
   
   
   The Hackings
   MARK'S PARENTS, JANET AND DOUGLAS
   "Although we abhor what Mark did, we are proud of him for taking responsibility for his actions and for his desire to repent . . . [We] love him more now than before."
   
     
 

[Karen]

Statement by Thelma Soares
 


    It has been a grueling and painful year for me since Mark killed Lori and their unborn child last July, and there are days when I still can't believe it's true.
    Everything about this bizarre tragedy has devastated me; I loved that young man as if he were my own son so his betrayal is profound. 
 
The dark cloud that hangs over my head never dissipates because the consequences of Mark's decision to kill his wife and baby are fixed and permanent. Although he had the power to terminate two lives, it is beyond his power to restore them. Justice demands that his life remain as irrevocably altered as Lori's, his child's and mine are.
    I'm relieved that Mark finally entered a guilty plea and that all court proceedings are now complete. I do not wish for bad things to happen to him. I hope he uses his life in prison to accomplish something redemptive for himself and all the good he can for others; he certainly ought to finish college if he is able to.
    Regardless of how exemplary a prisoner he may be or become, however, it doesn't alter the chilling fact that he killed my daughter and grandchild and then threw them in the trash with the intent that they never be found and I never know what happened to them. Those acts constitute the very epitome of depraved indifference.
    Again, I thank the media and people everywhere for their love, their support, their prayers offered on my behalf, and their generosity to Lori's scholarship fund; and I especially extend my heartfelt gratitude to all those who helped in the search for Lori. 
   
http://www.sltrib.com/ci_2786232

[Karen]

Breaking: Mark Hacking gets 6 to life for killing his wife
By Stephen Hunt
The Salt Lake Tribune 

 
 

    Mark Hacking -- who shot and killed his wife, Lori Hacking, last July -- was sentenced Monday to serve six years to life in Utah State Prison.
    Hacking, 29, stood before a 3rd District Court bench as Judge Denise Lindberg handed down the sentence: five years to life for first-degree felony murder plus a one-year sentencing "enhancement" for using a firearm in the commission of a felony.
    His exact sentence will be determined by Utah's Board of Pardons and Parole.
    "I don't envy the job of the parole board but my recommendation will be that it be a very, very long time before you are ever considered for parole," Lindberg told Hacking.
    The judge's sentence followed more than 90 minutes of statements from members of Lori Hacking's family, who asked that Hacking never be released, and relatives 
of Mark Hacking, who expressed hope that someday he could be paroled.
    The most emotional moment came when Lori's mother, Thelma Soares, lashed out at Hacking for killing her daughter and unborn grandchild and disposing of them like trash.
    "How could you do that, Mark? How could you do that to me?" she said, facing the killer.
    "I'm sorry," Hacking replied, dabbing his eyes.
    Soares then told the judge, "I can't think of one good reason Mark should ever walk free again. 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. It would be a travesty for him to be given any sentence other than life without parole."
    In his statement to the judge, an oft-sobbing Mark Hacking said, "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. I don't know if I'll ever feel I've done enough time."
    In addition to the prison time, Hacking must pay fines totaling $18,500 and restitition of $120,000 to cover police search and recovery efforts and victim reparations.
    Hacking pleaded guilty April 15 to killing his wife, admitting that he shot her in the head as she lay sleeping in their apartment at 127 S. Lincoln St. (945 East) in the early morning hours of Monday, July 19.
    The murder came days after the Lori Hacking discovered that Hacking had lied about being accepted to medical school at the University of North Carolina.
    Mark Hacking called police at 10:49 a.m. to report his wife, who was reportedly a few weeks pregnant, had failed to return from a jog in City Creek Canyon and that he had found her car parked in Memory Grove.
    Though police organized a search that was joined in the next few days by thousands of volunteers, detectives almost immediately turned their sights on Hacking. Shortly before calling police, Hacking had purchased a new mattress.
    Officers also found trace amounts of blood in Lori's car, blood and fibers on a knife in the apartment and a mattress in a Dumpster near their apartment. The mattress' pillow top had been cut off.
    In the early morning hours of the following day, July 20, a naked Mark Hacking was observed running around naked outside a hotel near 700 East and 400 South. Police took him to the psychiatric unit at University Hospital.
    On July 24, while still in the hospital, Hacking confessed to his brothers, Scott and Lance Hacking, that he had murdered his wife.
    Police booked Mark Hacking into jail upon his release from the hospital on Aug. 2.
    Based on information he had provided to his brothers, police began an intensive probe of the Salt Lake County landfill. Dozens of firefighters and police officers, often with the help of specially trained cadaver dogs, searched the dump for weeks, eventually finding her remains in a garbage bag on Oct. 1. An autopsy failed to establish a cause of death or determine whether she was pregnant but the state medical examiner ruled her death an intentional homicide.
    Hacking later admitted that after killing his wife, he wrapped her body in garbage bags and disposed of her in a Dumpster. He also disposed of the murder weapon, a .22-caliber rifle.
    The gun has not been recovered. 
   

http://www.sltrib.com/ci_2786234

[Karen]

Eraldo Soares comments to the press after the Mark Hacking was sentenced. - Hacking trial at the Matheson Courthouse.

[Karen]

Janet Hacking leans on her husband, Douglas, as he reads a statement after the sentencing of their son Mark during the Hacking trial at the Matheson Courthouse.

[Karen]

With the luggage, stroller and diaper bag in tow, and pushing midnight, Paul Soares waits for the elevator at the Salt Lake International Airport his wife Valeria and new baby Bradley after flying from Los Angeles to Salt Lake City to see the sentencing of Mark Hacking in a Salt Lake City court. Soares is the brother of Lori Hacking.
 

[Karen]

Mark Hacking reacts as the judge gives judgment during his sentencing Monday, June 6, 2005, in Salt Lake City. Hacking was given six years to life for killing his wife, Lori, in July 2004.

[Karen]

Mark Hacking wipes tears from his face during his sentencing Monday, June 6, 2005, in Salt Lake City. Hacking was given six years to life for killing his wife, Lori, in July 2004.

[Karen]

Thelma Soares, mother of Lori Hacking, addresses the judge during Mark Hacking's sentencing Monday, June 6, 2005, in Salt Lake City

[Karen]

Mark Hacking, left, and his attorney, Gil Athay stand before Judge Denise Lindberg, right, for his sentencing Monday, June 6, 2005, in Salt Lake City.
 

[Karen]

Prison orientation on deck for Hacking
Processing: Fingerprints, photographs, cell assignment and physical, dental and psychiatric evaluations are due to come up over the next several weeks
By Pamela Manson
The Salt Lake Tribune
 

 
 
In less than a year, Mark Hacking went from grieving husband to murder suspect to convicted wife killer.
    The next phase of his life - perhaps the remainder of his life - will be spent as a Utah State Prison inmate.
    Now that Hacking has been sentenced, the next step in the process is getting him from the Salt Lake County jail to the Utah Department of Corrections prison in Draper.
    The county is responsible for transporting Hacking to the prison. But with the prison open 24 hours   
a day every day, the exact time of arrival is seldom known in advance. Even prison officials usually don't know when a new inmate will show up, said Corrections spokesman Jack Ford.
    Once Hacking arrives in prison, Corrections officers will fingerprint and photograph him. He then will be assigned a cell - maybe 8 feet by 10 feet or 7 feet by 12 feet - equipped with a stainless steel toilet and an upper and lower bunk. He will be given bedding and three changes of clothes.
    For the first five or six weeks, Hacking will be in orientation, dressed in an orange jumpsuit that signifies his status as a newcomer. He will undergo a physical, dental and psychiatric evaluation to identify any problems and determine where in the prison system he should be placed.
   Officials will also evaluate whether he could be suicidal or in danger from other prisoners.
    During this period, Corrections will set up an "offender management plan" that outlines what kind of treatment or training Hacking should receive. If he agrees to the plan, Hacking can apply for a treatment program and a job.
    Sometime during his first few weeks in prison, Hacking will be assigned a cellmate unless the evaluations show he needs to be housed alone. Once he is part of the general population, his uniform will be a white shirt and pants.
    Jobs cleaning cells and dishing out food in the cafeteria pay about 60 cents an hour. Making licence plates or working on the printing press pay $1.20 to $1.30 an hour.
    A job with a private company that uses inmate labor by law pays $8 an hour. Prisoners clear approximately $2.50 an hour from the private jobs, with the rest going to pay their room, board and other expenses.
    Another option for Hacking is to do nothing while in prison. However, such inmates lose privileges, such as out-of-cell time, phone calls and family visits, Ford said.
    The prison will send an annual report on Hacking to the Utah Board of Pardons and Parole, which will weigh his actions and adherence to his offender plan as part of its decision in how long Hacking will remain in prison.
    pmanson@sltrib.com 
http://www.sltrib.com/hacking/ci_2787174

[Karen]

Hacking: Under a killer's thumb?
Nearly a year after Lori Hacking died, brother Paul Soares resents the influence Mark Hacking has on his life
By Matthew D. LaPlante
The Salt Lake Tribune     
 
It wasn't so long ago that Paul Soares looked forward to visiting Utah. His mother was there, as was the sister he adored.
   But life has changed in hurried and horrible ways. The past year has all but vanished in a blur of cars and planes, hotels and roadside restaurants.
   Back and forth and back he goes. As the Southern California man lumbers off the airplane and into the concourse of Salt Lake City International Airport, it is not as visitor but as victim.
   Eleven months ago, Soares' sister, Lori Hacking, was shot in the head by her husband. Three days after the murder - a time when it was still unclear what had happened to the young, possibly pregnant woman - Soares began the first of eight trips he has since made to Utah on his dead sister's behalf.
   The latest, and what Soares prays will be the last, such trip began Friday.
    A killer at the strings: There are beads of sweat on Soares' forehead as he plods through Los Angeles International's endless parade of passengers. He steps out from the procession at Gate 6, wife and infant son in tow.
    This after an hour and 15 minutes in L.A. traffic and an eight-hour day at work. The large man slumps into a chair in the waiting area, propping his 7-month-old son on his knee.
   "We usually drive," he laments, noting that traffic, airport security and the difficulties of traveling with a baby make the 12-hour road trip an attractive alternative to the plane. "This time, we just didn't have enough time."
   Mark Hacking is scheduled to be sentenced Monday for murdering his wife, who was just a few weeks pregnant with the couple's first child. Soares must return to the northern Orange County suburb where he lives and works the next day.
   A woman in the casual polo-and-slacks outfit of a Southwest flight attendant invites families traveling with children to board. Soares leans forward and rises from his chair, turning to place the baby in his wife's arms.
   They take seats in the front row of the plane, settling in as a stream of men in dark business suits, families in matching Disneyland sweatshirts and college-age women in soccer warmups files past.
   The plane rumbles as it gains speed on the runway, lifting sharply into the air as the last of rays of sunlight disappear over the Pacific Ocean. Soares reaches up and presses the overhead light button. The lamp paints long dark shadows over his already tired face.
   "I don't want to be doing this," he says, arms folded across his broad chest. "I'd rather be doing anything but this. But it's an obligation."
    And not one that Soares believes he has accepted on his own accord. Increasingly - and resentfully - he feels Mark has control of his life.
   "I feel like a puppet with him at the strings," he says, lifting his arms, wrists limp and hands stiff in the manner of a marionette. "One string makes us go to Utah, the other turns us back here. One string and we're at a court hearing. The next and we're at the sentencing.
   "He has the control."
   
   A voice of his own: Discontent with permitting Mark's actions to have ascendancy over his life, Soares has steered his own course through the high-profile tragedy.
   In the first days of the search for Lori - before it became known that Mark had been lying about graduating from college, his supposed acceptance to a North Carolina medical school and, most of all, the details of the day Lori disappeared - family members spoke 

to as many reporters as possible, hoping news media attention would help garner clues leading to her location.
   Since Mark's implication and subsequent guilty plea, most of the family has chosen to be more selective with their time and opinions. Soares, meanwhile, has gone on the offensive, accepting interviews and sharing information as his time and capacity permits.
    He has even spoken to The National Enquirer, giving the supermarket tabloid a copy of a recent letter of apology that Hacking addressed to him and Lori's parents, Thelma Soares and Eraldo Soares.
   At times, the demand for Soares' time has been overwhelming. Interviews at 3 a.m. with New York City-based morning talk shows have been frequent. His mobile phone only stops ringing when he shuts it off. Soares says he doesn't enjoy the limelight - but he does relish having one string that Mark cannot pull.
   
   Reclaiming control: The airplane turns over the Salt Lake Valley and touches down hard on the runway.
   With the landing, Soares hopes he is one moment closer to regaining yet another measure of control.
   After Monday's sentencing, Soares and his family will no longer be beholden to constant court hearings. And though the shadow of his sister's murder will always hang over visits here, he is excited about the prospect of coming to Utah without having to pack a suit for court.
   Hacking is expected to receive a sentence of five years to life in prison, though the exact term ultimately will be determined by Utah's parole board.
   And that, Soares notes, means the days of traveling from California to confront his sister's killer are not over.
   While the sentencing hearing should end a chapter, the story is still being written, he says.
   "To some extent, we will live under his control for the rest of our lives," he says.
   Soares glances over to the seat beside him where, despite the bumpy landing, his son remains asleep in his mother's arms.
   "I look at Bradley and I think: How could you kill your own child?" he asks.
   If Lori were still alive, her baby could be just a few months younger than Paul's. As such, Bradley is a constant reminder of what has been lost.
   "We have this wonderful boy and in the first year of his life there have been so many joys, and yet this will always be the year that Lori was killed," Soares says.
   His face flushes with anger.
   "I may not be around to be at a parole hearing many years down the road, but Bradley will be," he says. "That's what part of his life will be. Going to hearings, writing letters, arguing to keep Mark in prison."
   The puppet show goes on.
   But on Monday, Soares and his family will get their first chance to directly confront Lori's killer.
    The murderer may hold some of the strings. But he cannot control his victims' voices.
 
http://www.sltrib.com/hacking/ci_2780352

[Karen]

Family's struggle: Memories of Lori
Erasing Mark: How do they remember her without recalling him?
By Matthew D. LaPlante
The Salt Lake Tribune 
 
She still struggles with the good memories.
   The bad ones - Thelma Soares knows what to do with those. Cry and pray. Meditate and move forward.
   But with the good memories: It's not so simple.
   Lori Kay Soares Hacking was only 27 when she was killed in July. At that point, Mark Hacking had been part of her life for more than a decade.
   So, for the slain woman's mother, remembering Lori as an adult means having to think of her killer as well.
   "This is what is so difficult," she says. "It is just an impossible thing to do."
   Thelma smiles gingerly at the thought of the first time she saw Mark. Lori had met him on a Labor Day weekend camping trip when the two were in high school. When the big, young redheaded boy accidentally fell into the camp fire, burning his hands, Lori had cared for him.
   He arrived at Thelma's home the next day.
   "I knew who he was just as soon as he came to the door," Thelma recalls. "His hands were all bandaged up and I knew it was Mark, the boy my daughter had been talking about."
   It's not a bitter memory. But now it has a bitter element.
   There are others: Mark was the boy whose knock at her door - an incessant thumping - was instantly recognizable. He was the boy who needed two, three, sometimes four reminders that 10 p.m. was the latest he was allowed to be at the Soares home.
   Thelma chuckles softly.
   "These were good memories, you know," she says.
   But her eyes are sad.
   These days, when Paul Soares wants to visit his sister in his mind, he tries to choose moments in which they were alone.
   "Just the times we had individual interactions," he says. "Just moments when it was just me and her."
   It's less painful that way.
   But not easy. He hasn't yet figured out how to only remember the times when he and Lori were alone.
   He can't forget the family gatherings, dinners and conversations that he shared with Lori and Mark together.
   "You can't just deny that he existed," Paul says. "Definitely you want to. I wish he never would have happened. I'd love to wipe out that chapter altogether."
   Some have tried to.
   When Eraldo Soares returned from his daughter's funeral, he found that his teenage son, Braz, had gone around the house blacking Mark's face out of pictures and cutting him completely out of others.
   "He once told me, 'If I ever was able to catch Mark, I want to bash his head,' " Eraldo recalls. "And I told him, 'Then we would be like Mark, and that is not what we do.' "
   But Eraldo also finds it difficult to reflect upon his adult 
daughter's life without bitterness and anger.
   In the time that has passed since her death, he has begun to revisit some of those memories. And often, he doesn't like what he sees.
   Lori adored Braz and her sister, Eli. But Mark didn't like it when she would go to California to visit them for more than a day.
   "It has dawned on me: Why?" Eraldo asks. "Why couldn't she stay overnight? I think of these things and I start to get angry."
   There is a haven, of sorts, in the years that came before Mark entered their lives.
   It begins with the memory of a Friday morning in the spring of 1977 - the bright and beautiful day that Thelma, Eraldo and Paul became the adoptive family of a hazel-eyed, 3-month-old girl.
   "We were so excited," Thelma says of the day they arrived at the adoption agency on Riverside Drive in Los Angeles - just a few blocks away from Dodger Stadium.
   The infant they would affectionately call Filhinha - "little daughter" in Portuguese - was wearing a pink dress and matching shoes.
   "There was a stuffed rabbit in the crib and a plastic bottle," Thelma remembers. "And there was Lori. And she was so beautiful. That was a wonderful day."
   There were more wonderful days. Birthdays and adoption anniversaries. Trips to amusement parks and large family gatherings. And many commonplace memories some might never bother to revisit - if they didn't need to.
   As memories tend to do, one image leads to another. And suddenly, often without warning, he is there, too.
   How to remember the bride without recalling the groom? How to remember the day she graduated college without recalling the proud man by her side?
   Paul is uncertain of how it will all play out for his family - whether they will sacrifice so many fond memories of Lori so that they do not have to confront Mark as well.
   But for now, he struggles.
   "Just because of what happened later, that doesn't necessarily invalidate the good times we had," he says. "By the same token, it puts a filter on those memories. And it is one we'd rather not have."
   mlaplante@sltrib.com
   
 http://www.sltrib.com/hacking/ci_2666265

[Karen]

Lori's father tries to find voice for his anger
Coping: His dream of spending his golden years with his family have been replaced by despair and a sense of loss
By Matthew D. LaPlante
The Salt Lake Tribune
 
He shakes when he speaks. With age and anger. And most of all, with sadness.
   This is not the man who friends, family, fellow teachers and former students knew just one year ago. And while Eraldo Soares may still look a decade younger than his 71 years, he no longer feels that way.
   His life and his pain - comprehensible only to parents who have lost a child in similarly horrific circumstances - have left the once lighthearted teacher awash in despair.
   Having just recently retired from his career teaching high school students, Soares had expected to spend his golden years enjoying life with his family. Instead, he is mourning the death of a daughter.
   "That is my life now," Soares says shortly after attending the sentencing of the man who killed his child.
   At least once a month since her marker was placed at the Orem City Cemetery, the slightly built man from Fullerton, Calif., has come to visit. He usually arrives at night, a tiny flashlight in hand, sits beside the grave and strokes his fingers against the picture etched into the cold stone.
   In the first months, visits to the cemetery meant for healing were instead choked with rage. In those times, the grave identified Soares' slain daughter as Lori Kay Soares Hacking.
    "I wanted to see my daughter," Soares says of his push to have the headstone changed. "I didn't want to see the name of the man who killed my daughter."
   The name "Hacking" has since been replaced with the word "Filhinha," Portuguese for "little daughter."
   But Soares' anger cannot be etched away. He expects few will understand - but still he tries to help them.
   Imagine, he says, that your daughter grows up, strong and smart and successful as you had always dreamed. She falls in love and marries a man who seems 
to love her back.
   And then, one night, she discovers she is being lied to. Controlled. Abused. Soon after, she is shot in the head as she sleeps. Her body is dumped in a trash bag and set out for collection.
   "Can you picture this?" Soares asks. "Every time I see a garbage truck go by, I wonder about my daughter. Was she still alive? Perhaps just a little bit? And was she crying for me to save her?"
   He cannot save her. But perhaps, Soares says, he can help save others.
   These days, the only thing that disgusts Soares more than the details of his daughter's murder is the possibility that a lenient parole board could allow the killer out as early as 2010. While such a move is unlikely, Soares laments that its mere possibility sends an entirely wrong message.
   "I want him to serve a sentence worth what he took from me," the slight man says. "He needs to serve life."
   So do others who kill their spouses, "to prevent future Marks and to save future Loris." He says he would fight for such a statute - a "Lori's Law" - if given the opportunity to do so.
    Although age, anger and sadness has left Soares shaken, it also has renewed in him a very familiar purpose. For he is a teacher, and there is a great lesson left ahead.
   mlaplante@sltrib.com
   
     http://www.sltrib.com/hacking/ci_2787170
   

[Connie]

I pray her family finds peace and joy again.  They cannot lose their lives because of their grief.  Hopefully Mark behind prison bars will help some. 

On another note. . . the inmates in Utah make more money than those in California.   ROTF

[SENGOLD1]

It also says give him the other cheek.  So quote as you like, IMO, he's remorseful for what he did and if Thelma can forgive him then I have no reason to judge him.  We will just have to agree to disagree. grph

I would also like to apologize if I offended any one with my post.  I was just being my religious fanatic self again.

Also, I don't think that Mark should have gotten away with it, I don't condone what he did at all, he commited a crime and now he has to pay for it.