'I shot Lori': Mark Hacking pleads guilty in brutal slaying of his wife

Mark Douglas Hacking, the Salt Lake husband who acted grief-stricken last summer over his missing wife while a huge manhunt was under way, admitted Friday to killing his wife, 27-year-old Lori Soares Hacking.

"Never in my wildest nightmares I thought I'd hear her husband say he intentionally shot her like he did today," a tearful Thelma Soares, Lori's mother, told members of the media after the hearing.

Eraldo Soares, Lori's father, said hearing Hacking admit that he killed his daughter was "like a knife going right through my heart."

Hacking, 28, handcuffed and in a tan jail jumpsuit, appeared amid heavy security before 3rd District Judge Denise Lindberg. He pleaded guilty to first-degree felony murder in exchange for the dismissal of three counts of second-degree felony obstruction of justice.

Speaking in a subdued voice in a courtroom packed with relatives and reporters, an impassive Hacking answered, "Yes, your honor" and "No, your honor" to the judge's questions.

Lindberg, at one point, called on Hacking to state the facts in his own words.

Hacking responded in a flat voice: "Your honor, I intentionally shot Lori Hacking in the head with a .22 rifle on July 19, 2004."

'A lot of questions'

Lori's brother, Paul Soares, said seeing Hacking in court Friday was "horrible."

"It's not fair one person can impact so many lives," he said.

But members of Lori's family said Friday that they were relieved Hacking had finally taken responsibility for his actions.

"I personally did not want to go through a trial," Thelma Soares said.

Still, Soares said the case wasn't completely over yet for her.

Holding a picture of Lori and a package of tissues, Soares tearfully told members of the media that she still needed to talk face-to-face with Hacking.

"A lot of questions have never been addressed I need to ask Mark about," she said. "I have way more questions than any of you do."

Soares said the top question on her list was simply, "Why?"

"I want to know why he did this. He will have to tell me that," she said. "I need to know the answers to a lot of questions."