[a][5]:41[6] He was a below-average high school student, but had many hobbies including stage magic, electronics, chemistry, and stamp and coin collecting. It left her feeling confused, unloved and suicidal but she had no words. The most important thing to him was to keep from being exposed as a fraud in front of his family and friends. Hofmann also traded in many legitimate historical documents acquired from rare book sellers and collectors. He notably published the saga "the kingdom of fire" from 2013 to 2018, as well as several science. He was almost successful; and he was successful in undermining the church prophets and leaders by convincing them his forgery was truthful. My name is Mark Hoffmann, but some folks know me as "Hoffmann" or "Hoffy". She found the going rocky as a single mother. Mark Hofmann survived injuries from a suicide attempt and went on to face trial in the 1985 Salt Lake City bombings that killed two people. "It was possible, George thought, that Hofmann could have destroyed Mormonism. Under the microscope they noticed that the ink was cracked. Two Mormon wives sat on opposite sides of the Salt Lake City courtroom, staring intently at images on a screen as a . Mark Hofmann was born in 1954 in Salt Lake City, Utah, to Lucille (ne Sears) and William Hofmann (19281993). Well look at it on a continual basis, Gehrke said in 2016. I like Harry and Meghan, but Im American and dont have complicated feelings toward the royal family. With the white salamander letter, he hoped to dismantle the LDS Church by changing its history. 30 years after Mormon bombings, Mark Hofmann's ex-wife finds peace and I believe this is what led to my forging activities.. He was sentenced to a five-years-to-life prison term, but after a lengthy interview in 1988 the year he wrote the letter the parole board told him hell never get out of prison. The victims, Steve Christensen and housewife Kathy Sheets, were killed October 15, 1985, with separate pipe bombs. The body of Steven Christensen is removed from the Judge Building in Salt Lake City in October 1986. Mark Hoffman, PhD Research Chief Research Information Officer Professor of Pediatrics, University of Missouri-Kansas City School of Medicine; Research Professor of Pediatrics, University of Kansas School of Medicine View My Researcher Network Profile Areas of Interest Research Where is Mark Hofmann's Ex-Wife Now? - The Cinemaholic I've never seen anything like this in a homicide investigation. 30 years after Mormon bombings, Mark Hofmann's ex-wife finds peace and Hofmann spends his days behind bars in the state-of-the-art Ironwood unit, a facility remodeled with new safety features unveiled in 2017. Sep 1, 2016 - Jan 31, 2019. Explosions echoed across the Ukrainian capital, Kyiv, on Monday as Ukrainian officials warned of a large-scale Russian missile attack. [5]:10006 Hofmann then leaked its existence to the press, after which the church was virtually forced to release the letter to scholars for study, despite previously denying it had it in its possession. Immediately after the third bombing, Hofmann became a suspect in the Oct. 15 pipe bomb murders. "[5]:75 When the archivist balked at the price, Hofmann offered it to the Reorganized Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints (RLDS Church; now known as the Community of Christ), which had always claimed that the line of succession had been bestowed on Smith's descendants but had never had written proof. Hofmann, for a while, shared a cell with another infamous Utah killer, Dan Lafferty, a religious zealot convicted of murdering his sister-in-law and her infant daughter in 1984. This second letter, known informally as the Salamander Letter, had called into question the origins of the church, because no mention of anything that fantastical had ever appeared in church writings. [o][5]:24954, In an effort to buy more time, Hofmann began constructing bombs. Obviously, alot (sic) more was involved., Editors note: Excerpts in italics were taken from former Deseret News reporter Elaine Jarviks 2005 story Tales of Hofmann: Forgeries, deceit continue to intrigue 20 years later., Copyright 2023 Deseret News Publishing Company. Myriad reports alleged secrecy and cover-up on the part of LDS general authorities, and not a few writers referred to the way in which a culture that rests on a found scripture is particularly vulnerable to the offerings of con-artists. Olds, meanwhile, was the dutiful wife, caring for their home and growing family at that time a son and two daughters. One of his forgeries involved a vacuum cleaner used to suck paint to the back side of a document to mimic what happens naturally over time. He estimated that he forged hundreds of documents with at least 86 signatures. She feels accepted and welcomed into an LDS congregation in Holladay, where she recently was asked to give a short talk. Green copperas, said the front of the box one of the inks listed in an old book police had taken from Hofmanns basement. However, in 2016, he was transferred to Central Utah Correctional Facility in Gunnison. McLellin described Joseph Smith "as a corrupt, even murderous, Hofmann had made two significant errors in his. The Mormon world was rocked by Hofmann's double-dealing and deceit, but even more horrified by the deaths of Christensen and Kathleen Sheets, wife of Christensen's business partner, Gary Sheets. Trent Nelson | The Salt Lake Tribune Hofmann agreed to confess his forgeries in open court, in return for which prosecutors in Utah and New York dropped additional charges against him. Investigators also began constructing a timeline, posting pieces of information on the blank walls of a war room. At first they couldnt figure out how the stuff on one wall related to stuff on another wall, remembers prosecutor Bob Stott. False assumptions inspired by Hofmann documents or citations that eventually lead back to his fabricated evidence still distort some depictions of Latter-day Saint history, according to the church. [5]:21, During the bombing investigation, police discovered evidence of the forgeries in Hofmann's basement. Tales of Hofmann: Forgeries, deceit continue to intrigue 20 years later, Murder Among the Mormons: Jared Hess explains his turn to true crime for Netflix series, Looking back at the Mark Hofmann bombings and his life of deceit, in the letter, he traces his interest in deception, the prison moved Hofmann out of maximum security in Draper. They don't know they're dead. Whether it be within the obituaries of their grandparents or the various interviews their mother gives to news outlets, their identities have always remained protected. It recites Hofmanns story and the adverse impact his forgeries have had on the church. I think life is basically worthless. Mark Hofmann, a reputed trader of documents and artifacts within the church, turned out to be the one whod planted the bombs in an attempt to hide his forgeries. Mark Hofmann: Forger and Killer - Forensic Files Now Hofmann was a happily married father of three small children with another one on the way. I don't believe in an afterlife. What if Olds had questioned her husband about his suspicious dealings? "He set me up. [e][f] According to Richard and Joan Ostling, Hofmann was by this time a "closet apostate" motivated not only by greed but also by "the desire to embarrass the church by undermining church history". Assuming the document to be genuine, prominent Mormon academic Hugh Nibley predicted that the discovery promised "as good a test as we'll ever get of the authenticity of the Book of Mormon" because he thought the paper might be translated. Fooling people gave me a sense of power and superiority. I thought about the Nazi Holocaust, the earthquake in Mexico, and other disasters, Hofmann wrote in a 1988 letter to the Utah Board of Pardons and Parole. Across the aisle was a pregnant Dorie Olds, then-wife of Mark Hofmann, the LDS forger who was accused of the heinous act. Hofmann had no such collection, nor the time to produce one. Find Dr. Hoffman's address, insurance information, hospital affiliations and more. "During our nine-year marriage, he created historical documents and signatures, coins, antique Mormon money and much more selling them for millions of dollars.". Hofmann attempted suicide in his cell by taking an overdose of antidepressants. "I was asleep all those years," she says. When Olds awoke that morning, she says, her husband was already dressed and, strangely, in the backyard, wearing his green Olympus High letter jacket. The letter recounted how the church prophet had encountered a white salamander that transformed itself into a spirit guarding the gold plates. After all, Dorie still supported him, unable to believe that he was a cold-blooded killer. [11] The hardest mystery to crack was the ink. (And while youre on Netflix, you can also stream American Murder: The Family Next Door. "Unknown to me, Mark had forged his first coin at age 14, long before we were married," Olds told a recent gathering of women. Dirt Cheap: Hoffmann, Mark: 9781524719944: Amazon.com: Books Her children visited their father from early on and continue to do so regularly. Hofmann constructed his version to fit Anthon's description of the document, and its discovery made Hofmann's reputation. "[5]:378, After Hofmann was imprisoned, he was excommunicated by the LDS Church and his wife filed for divorce. Thanks again for writing I appreciate anything that heightens my awareness. [42], The murders were also covered by a 1997 episode of Forensic Files, "Postal Mortem",[43] and a 2010 episode of Who the (Bleep) Did I Marry?, An Explosive Love.[44]. [s], Hofmann, Utah Department of Corrections offender number 41235, was originally incarcerated at Utah State Prison in Draper. As far back as I can remember I have liked to impress people through my deceptions, he wrote. The model is shown to reduce violence in prison, the DOC said. [m] In an effort to clear his debts, he attempted to broker a sale of the "McLellin collection" a supposedly extensive group of documents written by William E. McLellin, an early Mormon apostle who eventually broke with the LDS Church. So he devised a scheme to kill two people as a "diversion," which he hoped would throw at least the LDS Church's attention off of him. Who is Mark Hofmann? The first bomb exploded a few minutes after 8 a.m. on Oct. 15, 1985, killing Steve Christensen when he reached down to pick up a package in front of his office in the Judge Building. Normal.". The youngest was born after Mark had been charged and arrested with fraud, theft, and murder. 'Murder Among the Mormons' review: Forgery scandal turns fatal on During the investigations, many of the prosecution team became convinced that they were being stonewalled by leaders of the LDS Church. Mark's parents, Lucille Sears Hofmann and William Hofmann, were horrified that his kids had a storybook with dinosaurs, which they considered too evolution-friendly Book available in stores and online 3. ", She had no idea, she says, that her husband had been forging documents and counterfeiting coins since he was a teen, maybe younger. Hofmann took his family to stay with his parents that night, telling them it was for their safety because a business associate of his had been killed. At first it seemed that someone was targeting employees of the beleaguered CFS Financial Corp., because Sheets husband, Gary, was CFSs president, and Christensen was formerly one of the companys vice presidents. When McLellin was visited by this same Joseph Smith III, McLellin asserted: Emma Smith told him [McLellin] that Joseph was both a polygamist and an adulterer. And now, with the three-part documentary series highlighting all aspects of his life, especially his relationship with his wife, it made us wonder more about his family. Across the aisle was a pregnant Dorie Olds, then-wife of Mark Hofmann, the LDS forger who was accused of the heinous act. The LDS Church announced the discovery of the Anthon Transcript in April and purchased it from Hofmann for more than US$20,000. Language links are at the top of the page across from the title. In True Crime Series 'Murder Among the Mormons,' LDS Church Reckons [t][32][33][34][35][36] But it is Hofmann's forgeries of Mormon documents that have had the greatest historical significance. Now, 30 years of tortuous living later, Olds is finally at peace with herself and all that happened. A few months later, he came home with a 17th-century Bible and urged her to look through it something he had never done before. And there, in the science aisle, was a chemistry set. When she arrived, his parents were already there. Proper disagreement is through proper that is, substantive argument, not epithet (racist; mansplaining; vomit work cloud (whatever that is), etc. Dates 1984 Creator Hofmann, Mark (Person) Conditions Governing Access Bomber Mark Hofmann no longer a max-security inmate at Utah State He was transferred there in 2016 after state Department of Corrections officials evaluated his history and determined a maximum security facility was no longer the best place for him. Hofmann pleaded guilty to two counts of aggravated murder in January 1987, avoiding the death penalty in exchange for revealing information on his forgery techniques and knowledge of Mormon history. Dirt Cheap. For example, for the first time in my life I took an interest in reading the obituaries. He killed two people in the bombings and injured himself in the third, later writing a letter to say he planned the bombings because he was in too deep on a forgery scheme of early Mormon documents. Mark Hofmann. you want to argue everything you dont agree with Like a lawyer in court? "If I had awakened earlier, I might have ended up dead.". The first two bombs killed two people on October 15, 1985. She was very friendly when we did things socially [as couples] sometimes," Bench recalls. But in the letter, Hofmann wrote that he intended to kill himself. [21], To make this sudden flood of important Mormon documents seem plausible, Hofmann explained that he relied on a network of tipsters, had methodically tracked down modern descendants of early Mormons, and had mined collections of 19th-century letters that had been saved by collectors for their postmarks rather than for their contents. [5]:8081, During the race by the Utah and Missouri churches to acquire the blessing document, Hofmann discovered "a lever to exercise enormous power over his church", a power to "menace and manipulate its leaders with nothing more sinister than a sheet of paper". After Hofmann returned from his mission, he enrolled as a pre-med major at Utah State University. It was long believed that the third explosion was an accident. Dr. Mark C. Hoffman, MD | Poulsbo, WA | Family Medicine Doctor | US Mark Hofmann had both a Jekyll and a Hyde inside him, but outwardly he had only one persona: polite young man. Detective Lieutenant Mark Hoffman is a fictional character and the secondary antagonist of the Saw franchise.He is portrayed by Australian actor Costas Mandylor.While the character was first shown as a police officer in Saw III, later films in the series have expanded his role and revealed him to be an apprentice, and subsequently the successor of the Jigsaw Killer.
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