by  Seamus McGraw

June 15, 2006

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RENO, Nev. (Crime Library) — As authorities from two states scour Northern California for Darren Roy Mack, the man accused of stabbing his estranged wife to death Monday and thought to have used a sniper rifle to wound a family court judge whom he reportedly blamed for his troubles, conflicting images are emerging of the millionaire pawnbroker.

To some, the 45-year-old father and sometime-sportsman is a good man who just snapped under the relentless pressure of a contentious divorce and a bitter custody battle over his 8-year-old daughter. To others, he is a man who fancies himself a player in the grand Nevada tradition, a man who bristled under authority, who was unable or unwilling to control his passion for women, and who, when called to account, became enraged.

For the moment, Mack, who carries a student pilot's license and a high-powered rifle similar to the one used by John Lee Malvo and John Allen Mohammed in the 2002 sniper shootings that terrorized Washington, D.C., and its environs, remains a fugitive. Authorities are reportedly focusing their search in the area between San Francisco and Sacramento where a credit card belonging to Mack's company was used on Monday night, hours after his wife, Charla, was found stabbed to death in her home, and after Family Court Judge Chuck Weller was shot at long range in the chest as he stood near the window of his third-floor office.

So far, authorities have only charged Mack in connection with his estranged wife's slaying. But he remains a person of interest in the wounding of the judge.

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Contact Seamus McGraw at seamusm@ptd.net

Seamus McGraw

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