Darren Mack Murdered His Wife During Their Divorce, Then Took a Sniper Rifle and Shot the Judge Handling Their Case.

 

Darren Mack Murdered His Wife, Then Shot at the Judge Handling Their Divorce

On June 12, 2006, Darren Roy Mack was in the middle of a bitter divorce and custody battle with his wife, Charla Mack.

That morning, Mack stabbed 39-year-old Charla to death in the garage of his Reno, Nevada, townhouse.

Then he went after the judge.

Hours after murdering his wife, Mack drove to a downtown parking garage armed with a sniper rifle. From roughly 170 yards away, he fired through the third-floor window of the chambers of Family Court Judge Chuck Weller, who was presiding over the couple's divorce.

The bullet struck Weller in the chest.

He survived.

Mack fled, triggering an international manhunt. Eleven days later, authorities located him in Puerto Vallarta, Mexico, where he surrendered.

In 2007, just as his murder trial was about to begin, Mack entered an Alford plea to first-degree murder for Charla's killing and pleaded guilty to attempted murder for shooting Judge Weller.

He was sentenced to life in prison with the possibility of parole after 20 years for murdering Charla, plus a consecutive sentence for the attempted murder of Weller. Under the sentence described here, he must serve at least 36 years before becoming eligible for parole.

A civil jury later awarded $590 million in a wrongful-death case against Mack, including $30 million to Charla's estate and the remainder for their young daughter.

Mack has spent years trying to withdraw his plea and obtain a new trial. Those efforts have repeatedly been rejected.

The courtroom shooting made national headlines.

But this story started with a woman murdered during a divorce.

Charla Mack was trying to end a marriage. Darren Mack made sure she never got to finish leaving.