Part two of the investigation into the murder of Charla Mack and attempted murder of Judge Chuck Weller. Darren Mack was charged with killing his wife, Charla, and shooting Judge Weller, the family court judge who ordered Darren to pay Charla ten thousand dollars a month until the divorce was settled. At trial, Darren's defense team claimed he was the real victim – a man so persecuted by the divorce industry, he grew delusional and deadly. “48 Hours" Correspondent Troy Roberts reports. This classic "48 Hours" episode last aired on 8/8/2009. Watch all-new episodes of “48 Hours” on Saturdays, and stream on demand on Paramount+. To learn more about listener data and our privacy practices visit: https://www.audacyinc.com/privacy-policy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Chapter 1: What events led to Darren Mack's criminal charges?
Multimillionaire Darren Mack is facing life in prison for the murder of his beautiful, sexy wife, Charla. There is a mountain of incriminating evidence against Darren. Is this the end of the story? Not by a long shot. When a sniper opened fire on the morning of June 12th at 11.05 in downtown Reno,
the judge was rushed to the hospital in critical condition no one could have imagined the horror that had taken place only a few miles away two hours earlier in an upscale condominium complex. A woman had been brutally stabbed to death in a garage. Nobody knew what was going on and nobody had put the two events together.
Chapter 2: How did Darren Mack and Charla's relationship escalate to violence?
Nobody disputes that Charla was there that morning in Darren's garage to drop off her daughter. Charla was so afraid of Darren, so most people think he must have made some sort of promise that he was going to end the fight over their divorce if she would just come in and talk to him. That is the only reason most people think she would have gone into that garage.
When I first heard that Charla had been killed, it was like somebody punched me in the chest. And you're thinking, it just happened, maybe. Maybe somehow if you can get to her and turn back time real fast, you can save her.
At one point, I think the Macs were a happily married couple. They did enjoy an alternative sort of lifestyle. They were swingers. They went to sex clubs and sex parties. They enjoyed swapping partners. They led a wild life, and by most accounts, they both enjoyed it. But there was absolutely no love in that garage that morning. There was bitter, bitter hate.
She obviously died a very slow, painful, and tortured death. It was absolutely premeditated, and we know that from the note that was left. Well, ending the problem was eliminating her, was killing her.
We've heard the official version about what happened that morning. Now we're going to hear Darren's story.
It's time to take a stand. We're not going to take this anymore. Where do we draw the line?
Darren's defense attorneys say that Charla was the aggressor. Charla attacked Darren.
He was very scared of her. I was with him a couple of times when she called and threatened him.
The Charla and Darren Mack story is far from over.
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Chapter 3: What was Darren Mack's defense strategy?
Did you fall in love with him?
I love him, and I do.
They knew each other just three months before the family man was accused of murdering his wife, Charla. You're the person that was closest to him in the days leading up to the murder of Charla Mack. What was going through his mind? What was his mental state?
I can't begin to assess what Darren Mack's mental state was. I can tell you that my experience with him was that of a normal relationship. Yes, he was frustrated.
Alicia says that morning it never occurred to her that Darren could have been involved.
Nothing about anything about Darren conveyed that there was anything being planned.
A first responder told us a shot hit Judge Chuck Weller in the upper chest.
What came into my mind was, I've got to call Darren and tell him this. This is unbelievable. I mean, we knew lots of people didn't like Judge Weller, and rightly so. There was a lot of people out there who really didn't like this judge.
So you're at work and you hear that Judge Weller had been shot. And what was your reaction? What did you do?
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Chapter 4: How did Darren Mack's actions affect those around him?
So there was a decision made to call a friend of mine who was a sheriff, a local sheriff, and ask him, well, what do I do? Am I a suspect? Do I go home?
It was only then she heard the most shocking news of all.
It is a homicide investigation.
Charla Mack was found murdered on the floor of Darren's garage.
And I said, what? What are you talking about? And I said, I don't know. You know, I just, I couldn't believe any of it. This can't be happening.
The next time Darren and Alicia saw each other was for a jailhouse visit several weeks after his return from Mexico.
It was a very emotional kind of reunion, I guess you would call it. Having, you know, seeing him again for the first time and realizing the full gravity of what had happened. how life was never going to be the same again.
Darren Mack plans to testify at his trial about what drove him to kill Charla.
I loved her as deeply as a man can love a woman. And when it wasn't that way, it was as painful as anything I've ever experienced. Mr. Mack, I'll remind you that you're still on the road, okay? He will tell a jury as he told TruTV. I went to even the battered woman's thing to get a temporary restraining order.
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Chapter 5: What was the role of Judge Weller in the case?
Like a lot of couples, they grew apart and 10 years after the marriage, Charla and the defendant decided to get a divorce. What made this case somewhat unusual was that Darren Mack also tried to kill a judge. Things became fairly contentious very early in the divorce proceedings before Judge Charles Weller.
A big part of the state's case would be these recordings from Judge Weller's courtroom showing the bitterness of the Mack's divorce. Over and over, they lie, lie, lie. This courtroom battle went on for over a year and a half, mostly about money.
Charla needs some money immediately. I don't have any money.
What do you want me to do? At one point, Judge Weller even threatened to throw Darren in jail when he violated a court order.
My inclination now is to require you, sir, to give her $10,000 by Friday at 5 o'clock, or if you don't do that, to report to 911 Parr Boulevard at that time for incarceration.
Darren Mack is essentially, you know, he's a spoiled brat. I mean, the kid was raised with a lot of money, he got everything he ever wanted, and now he found himself in family court. Things weren't going his way, he wasn't getting what he wanted, and he took matters into his own hands.
Prosecutors believe the idea to kill Charla may have been planted a couple of weeks earlier when Darren sat for this cable access interview with a father's rights advocate. Mack railed against Weller.
That is the family court system, my experience of it under Judge Weller. It reminds me much more about what I've studied in school about Nazi Germany.
And then there was this chilling remark from host William Wagner to Darren.
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Chapter 6: How did personal testimonies influence the trial?
Kind of almost as though a light went off.
At some point following this interview, prosecutors say, Darren took this advice a step further and actually wrote a to-do list for his crime spree.
It's not every day that you have a script basically laying out what's going to happen in a murder case.
Friends Anne and Christine say that morning began like so many others.
When she got in her car, with Erica that morning and the dog, her intention was to drive Erica and do the exchange. And never in a million years did she leave her house that day and think, I should be worried about this.
Charlie was murdered in a very brutal way. She clearly suffered defensive wounds on her arms and on her legs. She was clearly drug from one area to another. We see blood spatter on the walls of the garage and on the floor of the garage.
Although we don't know exactly what happened, we know she put up quite a fight. Ultimately, she lost that fight. Charlo Mack was 5'4", 120 pounds. Darren Mack was close to 6'2", 200 pounds. Charlo Mack didn't stand a chance.
Less than two hours later, Darren Mack could check one more thing off that to-do list. As Judge Chuck Weller lay bleeding on the floor of his chambers.
The next question was, who fired the bullet? Well, if there's a common denominator between Charlo Mack and Judge Weller, it's the defendant, Darren Mack. Certainly that doesn't prove he fired the shot. Several other things will.
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Chapter 7: What was the outcome of the Darren Mack trial?
Darren says as Charla stumbled backwards, she stepped on the gun. He claims she picked it up and aimed it right at him.
Charla, give me the gun, Darren says with his left hand. It's loaded. Charla looks at the gun, pulls the hammer back, smiles, and fires. Just like that, the rubber band breaks.
Darren claimed the gun had misfired, which may or may not explain why there was no evidence of gunplay. And this is the first time, by the way, that prosecutors heard anything about a gun in the garage.
Darren's worst fears were realized at that moment. Charla was really going to kill him.
According to Darren, Charla tried to pull the trigger again, but this time... He was ready for her with his knife.
They are both struggling on the ground. Darren plunges the knife into her neck once. Charla's violence has stopped.
Defense attorney David Chesnoff picks up Darren's story from that morning's crime spree.
He's like a soldier. He's a soldier for a just cause. That's how he sees this. Everything is happening basically on automatic pilot, which is consistent with somebody suffering from the delusions that Darren Mack was suffering from at the time that he went and shot Judge Weller.
The defense says Darren went into that delusional state of mind after Charla allegedly put the gun in his face.
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