Deadly Deception: The Mark Hacking Story is an American documentary special produced by CBS News Productions which unravels the events that led to the brutal murder of Lori Hacking in 2004, by her husband Mark Hacking.
The documentary originally aired in the USA on 30 August, 2004. It is an hour long.
Deadly Deception: The Mark Hacking Story aired for the first time in South Africa on DStv's Crime and Investigation Network channel on Wednesday 7 May 2008, at 20h30.
Repeats
Thursday 8 May: 02h30, 14h30
Sunday 11 May: 22h10
Monday 12 May: 04h20, 16h20
Synopsis
On a hot July day in Utah, Mark Hacking told police that his pregnant wife Lori had disappeared while jogging. The tight-knit Mormon community they were a part of mobilized a frantic search for the woman.
Soon the story took a dark, yet familiar turn - Hacking became a "person of interest" in the investigation. The people who knew him and his wife best watched in bewilderment as suspicion fell on the outwardly normal and loving husband who everyone thought was on his way to medical school.
As Hacking's elaborate story collapsed, he suffered what his family described as a "breakdown." Based on an anonymous tip, police searched the couple's apartment.
Six days after his wife's disappearance, Mark confessed privately to two of his brothers. A week later, they notified the police.
At the centre of this story is a web of lies so tangled, so breathtaking that it's hard to imagine how Hacking fooled so many people for so long.
For years, he lied to his family and friends about his education and career plans, conning everyone, including his trusting wife. But when Lori uncovered his most extraordinary lie, Hacking turned from deceiver to stone-cold killer.
He shot Lori while she was sleeping and discarded her body in a dumpster.
How well did his friends and family really know Mark? How well do any of us really know our friends and family?
This program looks into the unraveling of Hacking's life - his background, his family, and the web of lies that may have led him to murder.