Beauty School Dropout
Deadly Deception: The Mark Hacking Story (2004): 5 out of 10: Mark and Lori Hacking were a loving Morman couple. Lori was on her way to being a successful businesswoman and her husband, Mark, was studying to be a doctor. There were High School sweethearts. So When Lori disappeared on her morning jog, all eyes looked for the killer. Could it be her loving husband?
Well, it turns out the husband . been faking going to college and getting into medical school. His wife understandably was upset about this deception. I mean, her entire worldview was basically destroyed by this deceit. Mark, in an attempt to protect his lie, killed his loving wife.
Really, Candice DeLong. That is your professional opinion?
Former FBI profiler Candice DeLong who has had a movie about her (Killer Instinct: From the Files of Agent Candice DeLong with Jean Smart as Candice DeLong) as well as having appeared with the lovely Erin Burnett, on JonBenét Ramsey themed episodes of Dr Phil and contributed to Satan’s Succubus Nancy Grace’s show manages to give the lamest profiling claim I have ever heard.
Mark Hacking (who has a shaved head) is wearing a bandanna on camera to cover his bald head, so he knows his wife is dead and is trying to appeal to other females. Where the hell did that come from????
First of all, people who shave their heads do so because they like the look. Hacking is a Louis CK style ginger, so shaving is definitely an improvement. No one looks at that bandanna and thinks he is rocking it. And last but not least, he is at a noontime press conference in the park and is a redhead. He is probably used to wearing a hat or bandanna under such circumstances, so random former FBI profilers don’t think he is guilty due to his bright red head or excessive skin cancer.
Some observations and random thoughts
Once again, with these A and E shows, mystery is nowhere to be found. Man kills his wife and leaves enough physical evidence that Mr. Magoo could crack the case. (See also Beyond the Headlines: The Watts Family Tragedy (2020)
Pacing in the beginning seems a bit off with the show seeming to step over itself with the obvious solution to get to the genuine mystery rather than letting the case build up a bit.
Deadly Deception: The Mark Hacking Story repeats a lot of its footage, so it is clear they have twenty minutes of show for forty-four minutes of run time
Bill Kurtis’ soothing voice is always worth an extra point or two
Mark’s deception about going to college was clearly more work than actually going to college would have been. (Especially since mom was picking up the tab) I like the idea of late onset deception. It is a fancy way of saying you are too old to be telling such lies… In reality; it is a habit that if you get into at all in the first place, one usually grows out of in their late teens.
However, I have known people who were incapable of telling the truth, even about the simplest things, so this is a real thing for adults. (I believe we recently had a President with this issue.) This, however, was something different.
Deadly Deception: The Mark Hacking Story says he committed murder to cover a lie. Though the point of the lie was to placate his wife, whom he killed. So I am not sure he thought this one all the way through.
ProTip: If your wife goes missing, do not go mattress shopping before calling the police. (Seriously, we are talking that level of dumbass here,)
Videos
True Crime Brewery is my go to for follow up cases on A and E specials and it can certainly be my jam. They can run a little long (They have some two and half-hour episodes) but they have plenty of juicy details and keen observations often left out of the TV coverage.
Screenshots
I have some fun with Bill Kurtis’s crime headquarters below, but outside of that, not much to report. Mark and Lori Hacking were an attractive couple with attractive friends. Deadly Deception: The Mark Hacking Story itself repeats footage so much there really wasn’t much to capture.
