New evidence?: U. video may show Mark Hacking dumping body

Mark Hacking made an initial court appearance Tuesday, facing a murder charge in the death of his wife, whose body he allegedly placed in a Dumpster at the U. — action that may have been captured on video now in the possession of investigators.

Hacking, 28, is accused of shooting and killing his wife Lori, 27, as she slept and then dropping her body and the murder weapon in separate Dumpsters.

On Monday, prosecutors charged Mark Hacking with one count of murder, a first-degree felony, and three second-degree felony counts of obstruction of justice for allegedly scattering evidence of his crime.

If convicted, Hacking could spend the rest of his life in prison.

Dressed in a yellow jumpsuit with his arms handcuffed behind him, Hacking appeared in court on television through a video feed from the Salt Lake County Jail Tuesday. He exhibited no emotion as 3rd District Court Judge L.A. Dever read the charges into the court record. Hacking said just three words during the 1 1/2-minute hearing, responding "Yeah, yes, sir," when Dever asked for confirmation of Hacking's identity.

Hacking was not required to enter a plea on Tuesday. He is being held at the Salt Lake County Jail with bail set at $1 million cash.

Defense attorney Gil Athay appeared before the judge in court but made no remarks to news reporters.

"Nothing today," Athay responded when asked if he had any comment as he left the courtroom.

Lori Hacking was first reported missing on July 19. Mark Hacking said his wife had not returned from a predawn run in Memory Grove, but police now say she was never in the park but was killed by her husband either late July 18 or early July 19.

Police are still trying to find Lori Hacking's body, which they believe is in a landfill west of downtown. In the alleged confession Mark Hacking made July 24 to his brothers Lance and Scott Hacking, Mark said he dumped Lori's body, the .22-caliber rifle used to kill her and the couple's mattress in separate Dumpsters — one behind the Hackings' apartment, 127 S. Lincoln St. (945 East), one behind a church meetinghouse about one block north of the residence and one at the University of Utah's Neuropsychiatric Unit (UNI), where Mark Hacking was employed.

Sources told the Deseret Morning News that police seized digital images from UNI surveillance cameras from July 19 that show a man carrying what appears to be a body wrapped in a sheet.