By Sara Israelsen
Mark Hacking, the man accused of shooting his wife and dumping her body in a large trash bin, waived his preliminary hearing Thursday morning in Salt Lake City.
Deputy Salt Lake County District Attorney Robert Stott said if Hacking had proceeded with the preliminary hearing, the prosecution would have been required to show enough evidence to try Hacking for murder - a charge with penalties of five years to life in prison. But in yesterday''s waived hearing, Hacking basically acknowledged he understood the state already had sufficient evidence for a murder trial.
Stott said it''s not uncommon for preliminary hearings to be waived and is an option taken for many different types of cases.
Hacking, 28, is charged with first-degree murder, as well as three accounts of obstructing justice, in connection with the July 19 murder of his 27-year-old wife.
The next court appearance for Hacking is a conference hearing on Oct. 29, to determine a trial date. However, Stott said the actual trial date will depend on court calendars and other scheduling logistics.
Some of the Hacking family was in court today and was aware of what went on, Stott said.
' are just waiting for the rest of the case to proceed,' he said.
Another step in this case is the volunteer hand search through thousands of tons of trash at the Salt Lake County landfill to find Lori Hacking''s body.
Salt Lake City Police Detective Dwayne Baird said the morale of searchers is still high, and they are properly equipped with rain gear to see them through the colder days of searching. He said the search wouldn''t stop until her body is found, but couldn''t give any potential time frame.
'It''s hard to say; we don''t know where she is,' he said. 'I can''t say we expect to find her soon. We expect that if she is in that portion of the landfill, we will find her.'
As far as increasing the charges after the discovery of a body, Stott said that decision would have to be made later.
'We''ve already charged him with murder,' he said. 'It''s going to be impossible to tell if she is pregnant. look at whatever we have when that time comes.'
- Brian Rust contributed to this report.