SALT LAKE CITY – The husband of a missing woman told a “reliable citizen” witness at a psychiatric ward that he killed his wife as she slept and then threw her body in a trash bin, according to a court filing released Tuesday by prosecutors.
The police affidavit also says investigators found human blood on a knife in the bedroom of the couples’ apartment and on the headboard and rail of their bed.
Blood found in the bedroom matched traces of blood found in Lori Hacking’s car, according to the probable-cause statement filed to keep Hacking in jail until he can be formally charged with murder. Mark Hacking, 28, has yet to be charged with a crime.
Mark Hacking was arrested Monday on suspicion of murder even though his wife’s body has not been found. Lori Hacking has not been seen since late July 18. Her husband reported her missing the following day, saying she failed to return from a morning jog.
Lori Hacking had told friends she was five weeks’ pregnant. If her body is found and the pregnancy is confirmed, prosecutors could add an additional murder charge.
Investigators believe the 27-year-old woman was killed in the couple’s apartment and that her body is buried somewhere among 3,000 tons of trash at the county landfill. Searches using dogs were to resume tonight.
Police also said they have a receipt that showed Mark Hacking was buying a mattress less than 20 minutes after he first called police to report his wife missing. He had told her co-workers that he found her car in a park and was there looking for her.
Days later, news organizations discovered that Hacking had lied about graduating from the University of Utah and lied about being accepted at a medical school in North Carolina, where the couple was to have moved within days.
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