In 1981, Hofmann presented the LDS Church with a document which supposedly provided evidence that Smith had designated his son Joseph Smith III, rather than Brigham Young, as his successor. [And in a blog about deadly crime in the USA, a proportion of the perps of which are black, it could get very silly]. Hofmann wrote that some of his earliest memories are of doing card tricks and magic. The facility uses the direct supervision management model, which allows direct interaction between officers and inmates. The updates include a new intake area and transportation building, plus a facility to house up to 12 K-9s. Olds' life, too, had exploded with her husband's bombs, shattered like shards of glass. [5]:95,98, In addition to documents from Mormon history, Hofmann also forged and sold signatures of many famous non-Mormons, including George Washington, John Adams, John Quincy Adams, Daniel Boone, John Brown, Andrew Jackson, Mark Twain, Nathan Hale, John Hancock, Francis Scott Key, Abraham Lincoln, John Milton, Paul Revere, Myles Standish, and Button Gwinnett, whose signature was the rarest, and therefore the most valuable, of any signer of the Declaration of Independence. Hofmann, now 66, is incarcerated at the Central Utah Correctional Facility, CUCF Monroe, according to his prison records. The bomb that killed Christensen was to take the pressure off two fraud schemes he had involved Christensen in, he wrote. As the news unfolded on the nation's television screens, reporters camped out on her lawn in Millcreek, peering in the windows at the distraught woman, trying desperately to care for her young children. By then he had already appeared in Time magazine as the young document dealer who had discovered a long-lost document of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, the Anthon Transcript, on which LDS Church founder Joseph Smith had copied Egyptian characters from the gold plates that were later translated into the Book of Mormon. Utah Department of CorrectionsMark Hofmanns prison record. Only his listed aliases point to his criminal past. Without a college degree or means of supporting herself and her four children, Olds had to give up the house they lived in and eventually farmed out the youngest kids to relatives, when she felt the children no longer respected or listened to her. 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. Powered by WordPress.com VIP. In 1979, he married Doralee "Dorie" Olds, and the couple eventually had four children. Hofmann wrote a letter to the Utah Board of Pardons and Parole in 1988 saying childish games intending to trick people fueled the fire for what became the master forgery of Mormon documents. Attorney Ron Yengich, left, and Mark Hofmann attend a preliminary trial in April 1986. 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. [8]:42 He expected the church to "buy the blessing on the spot and bury it. .Officers and a dog check a parking lot during the Tuesday, Oct. 18, 1985, funeral of Kathy Sheets, who died in bomb blast. Mark and Doralee Hofmann attend board of pardons hearing in this undated photo. 6. Required fields are marked *. [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". Ive only watched it three times, so far. Subsequently, while Dorie dropped out of school to support her husband, Mark left his pre-med education to become a full-time rare documents dealer. The second bomb intended for Gary Sheets that his wife, Kathleen Sheets, picked up instead was a pure diversion.. Explosions echoed across the Ukrainian capital, Kyiv, on Monday as Ukrainian officials warned of a large-scale Russian missile attack. Flimflam nonfiction. Until next time, cheers. The first two bombs killed two people on October 15, 1985. Hofmann graduated 573 in a class of 700. Netflix Solemnly Dishes on the Con Man and Bomber(Murder Among the Mormons, Netflix). Bringing in two people who have nothing to do with a man who murdered people to shit on them says more about you than them. [n] Those to whom Hofmann had promised documents or repayments of debts began to hound him, and the sale of the Oath of a Freeman was delayed by questions about its authenticity. In the next eight years, they welcomed four children into their lives; one son and three daughters. He also used the names Bill Edwards and Mike Hansen, his prison record shows. The two murders Mark Hofmann committed that bright October day were cold-blooded, clumsy attempts to divert attention from his lifes work hundreds of forgeries and lies that tampered with Latter-day Saint and American history. Good luck to you RR. Ships from and sold by Amazon.com. He grew up with many hobbies, including magic, chemistry, and coin collecting, and that's when his need to deceive others in order to impress them began. 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. That was how she could testify that he was home that day and pass several lie-detector tests. I don't believe in an afterlife. "He was acting the same. 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. Hofmann agreed to confess his forgeries in open court, in return for which prosecutors in Utah and New York dropped additional charges against him. Dirt Cheap. For example, for the first time in my life I took an interest in reading the obituaries. "He set me up. American murderer who forged Mormon documents, For other people with this name or with similar spellings, see, That his grandmother "was the product of a, Hofmann decided that if experts said the coin was genuine, then it, Hofmann was a "hands-on father who pushed strollers, changed diapers, and attended local, "At seventy-two, Hinckley had begun filling the role that would increasingly dominate his life: His role as, Some LDS apologists dispute the fact that the church was deceived by Hofmann's forgeries. A trip to Manchester, England, first got Mark interested in Mormon documents. [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. In the end, of course, Hofmann did get caught because of the murders, but also because of his mistakes. When I read this article I did not expect to find this in the comments, quite interesting to read. [5]:243, After Hofmann returned from his mission, he enrolled as a pre-med major at Utah State University. Hofmanns forgeries were intended to embarrass The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in hopes of extorting the church for money to keep the fake documents private. 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. I had decided the night before after seeing the news that the jig was up and that the only way to keep my family from the certain knowledge of my guilt (this time not only of fraud but murder) would be to kill myself, he wrote. She divorced Hofmann in 1988 and took back her maiden name. But actually it was because I knew from the news reports that I was a suspect and anticipated the police knocking on the door at any minute, he wrote. "She didn't speak her truth but would waffle all over the place when she spoke.". He was almost successful; and he was successful in undermining the church prophets and leaders by convincing them his forgery was truthful. (And while youre on Netflix, you can also stream American Murder: The Family Next Door. Yet, she says it was for their own good. Youve chased off other people from this blog cause you want to argue everything you dont agree with (to death) and I a black woman am saying you a white man are racist. In late 2015, the prison moved Hofmann out of maximum security in Draper to the Central Utah Correctional Facility in Gunnison. The hardest mystery to crack was the ink. You also called a woman who has called herself a black woman a dual race which isnt a thing. 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. "But I never felt she had much interest in what Mark was doing and not aware of a lot of his work.". If youre here curious about the same, weve got you covered. As I look back on the decisions made during this time of panic, I can see many forms of rationalization. Mark Hofmann was the mastermind behind deadly bombings that served as the focal point of the new Netflix docuseries, Murder Among the Mormons. Hofmann constructed his version to fit Anthon's description of the document, and its discovery made Hofmann's reputation. [u], A three-part documentary series about Hofmann's illegal activities, entitled Murder Among the Mormons, premiered on Netflix on March 3, 2021. Boy you are embarrassing yourself here. The reach of his forgeries from Emily Dickinson to Mark Twain, George Washington to Joseph Smith and the cunning with which he tricked a nations document collectors continue to intrigue authors and investigators. Hofmann attempted suicide in his cell by taking an overdose of antidepressants. He served as a historical researcher for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. I felt like that was the end, Hofmann wrote. I was the witness and entangled in it," Olds says. Police were on the lookout for a serial bomber when . Mark Hofmann Today: Where Is the Murder Among the Mormons Subject Now in 2021? Dr. Hoffman serves as the Chief Research Information officer for Children's Mercy Hospital (CMH) and the Children's Research Institute. During the investigations, many of the prosecution team became convinced that they were being stonewalled by leaders of the LDS Church. For a time, she grew her own food and tried her hand at selling magnetic beds. She found healing for herself through hypnosis, she says, and has channeled her. She does recall, however, a chilling moment when his sister asked: "Why do you want to marry him? According to the Mormon scripture Joseph SmithHistory, the transcript and its unusual reformed Egyptian characters were copied by Smith from the golden plates from which he translated the Book of Mormon. 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. Within the hour the board, citing Hofmann's "callous disregard for human life", decided that he would indeed spend the remainder of his "natural life in prison". They also found the engraving plant where the forged plate for Oath of a Freeman was made. Meantime, a deal with the Library of Congress to buy his rarest find the early 17th century Oath of a Freeman for $1.5 million didnt pan out. I exuded in impressing other collectors and dealers with my rare coins, he wrote. The discovery helped solve the case. He promised investors high returns on their investments in rare documents but took their money to repay earlier investors. Trent Nelson | The Salt Lake Tribune "During our nine-year marriage, he created historical documents and signatures, coins, antique Mormon money and much more selling them for millions of dollars.". Underneath, though, Olds felt something amiss. Hofmann's crimes are fictionalized in the episode "The Saint", Law & Order: Criminal Intent (2004). 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. "If I had awakened earlier, I might have ended up dead.". "She seemed to fill traditional if not stereotypical familial roles: primary caregiver to the children, made most meals [cleaned up afterward] overall errand runner," says Mormon researcher and Hofmann friend Brent Metcalfe. Some former friends in her Mormon congregation shunned her, she says, believing she had been an accomplice to his crimes an accusation she adamantly denies. Mark Hofmann, left, and wife Doralee attend a Board of Pardons hearing in January 1988, before their divorce. Supposedly written by Martin Harris to W. W. Phelps, the letter presented a version of the recovery of the gold plates that contrasted markedly with the church-sanctioned version of events. I am only interested in a persons character, not their colour, and your being black is of no significance whatsoever to the matter in question, which YOU turned into an identity issue, thus self-victimising. Thanks again for writing I appreciate anything that heightens my awareness. He had recently broken his engagement, and the two became friends. She hasn't spoken to him since the split was final (though they have exchanged letters about the children and other issues). As far back as I can remember I have liked to impress people through my deceptions, he wrote. She spoke for 25 minutes without notes, telling her story to many who didn't know anything about it. Devout grandparents. 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. [5]:298 Salt Lake County District Attorney's investigator Michael George believed that, after Hofmann had successfully forged the blessing, his ultimate goal was to create the lost 116 pages of the Book of Mormon, which he could have filled with inconsistencies and errors, sell them "to the church to be hidden away" and then as he had done often with embarrassing documents "make sure its contents were made public. It is not the first time the Church has found itself in such a position. McLellin described Joseph Smith "as a corrupt, even murderous, Hofmann had made two significant errors in his. The model is shown to reduce violence in prison, the DOC said. A trip to Manchester, England, first got Mark interested in Mormon documents. My philosophy is that they're dead. Since the 1980s the church has published extensively on its early history, helping to foster a greater understanding of some of the obscure historical episodes that Hofmann exploited in his forgeries to shed a negative light on the church.. Olds quit school to support her husband, who claimed he was a pre-med student. Thanks, Rebecca: An interesting story, this. [5]:37374 Hofmann also told investigator Michael George that he was bewildered by the attention paid to his murder victims: "I don't feel anything for them. I don't believe in God. "[38][39], According to the Ostlings, the Hofmann forgeries could only have been perpetrated "in connection with the curious mixture of paranoia and obsessiveness with which Mormons approach church history. Within a short time of the find, Hofmann was photographed gave the document later determined to be a forgery to The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints for $20,000 worth of items. Youre so perpetually awful that I avoid reading comments on this very well written blog because I know you will always be at the top. And there, in the science aisle, was a chemistry set. [9]:7778 A former girlfriend believed Hofmann performed his mission only because of social pressure and the desire not to disappoint his parents. We bought those documents only after the assurance that they were genuine. He called that bomb a pure diversion in the letter. Also go through your whole vomit word cloud and pick out the dog whistles. What the examiners noticed first, after putting his documents under ultraviolet light, was a blue hazing effect and ink that ran in one direction. Hes made racist comments on here before and you dont seem to care. "It was possible, George thought, that Hofmann could have destroyed Mormonism. Widely regarded as one of the most accomplished forgers in history, Hofmann is especially noted for his creation of documents related to the history of the Latter Day Saint movement. 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. All four of Mark Hofmanns children prefer to stay away from the media and the spotlight. 30 years after fatal bombings, Dorie Olds manages to leave the past behind. Joseph Smith was victimized again and again. You also called a woman who has called herself a black woman a dual race which isnt a thing., Dual heritage: the fact of having parents from different ethnic or cultural backgrounds. Repeatedly when he was asked about the document, Hinckley answered: ", "Gordon B. Hinckley, the second counselor in the First Presidency, largely handled policy in these matters and directed the. I am currently working as a children's book author/illustrator, editorial illustrator, and fine artist. Netflixs Murder Among the Mormons is a limited docuseries that chronicles the life and actions of the criminal mastermind behind one of the most shocking crimes to have transpired in the Mormon community. On its website, the church recently added an entry titled Hofmann Forgeries in its section on church history topics. Mark Hofmann was born in 1954 in Salt Lake City, Utah, to Lucille (ne Sears) and William Hofmann (19281993). [14]:253[10]:104, During the early 1980s, a significant number of new Mormon documents came into the marketplace. [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]. I told myself that my survival and that of my family was the most important thing. For a while, Dorie did feel like her children no longer respected or listened to her, which is why she had to separate and ship them away. The next day, a New York Times headline read, "Mormon Document Raises Doubts on Succession of Church's Leaders,"[16] and the LDS Church was forced to confirm the discovery and publicly present the document to the RLDS Church. [5]:6669 Zoology professor Barry Fell soon after claimed to have decoded the text. If the dictionary definition of racisms not what racism is, what is it? The fact that Hofmann got off with a plea bargain instead of going to trial, where he would likely have faced the death penalty if found guilty, was quite puzzling to a reporter from the Los Angeles Times, who wrote, "In any other state, you'd see this thing go on trial, because that's how prosecutors reputations are made. Though she occasionally felt a vague unease about her husband's work, she acknowledges she asked few questions about his business. [5]:377 Hofmann also forged a previously unknown poem in the hand of Emily Dickinson. After all, Dorie still supported him, unable to believe that he was a cold-blooded killer. Proper disagreement is through proper that is, substantive argument, not epithet (racist; mansplaining; vomit work cloud (whatever that is), etc. And ffffft, Shannon Flynn said, that thing just aged 100 years in 10 minutes. Hofmann also aged his documents by ironing them and letting weevils munch on them. The forearm is withered almost to the bone. Dorie Olds is the ex-wife of Mormon bomber Mark Hofmann, who killed two people on Oct. 15. I felt like I would rather take human life or even my own life rather than to be exposed, Hofmann wrote. Olds, too, has regained and even deepened her Mormon faith. The body of Kathleen Webb Sheets is taken from her home. A controversial plea bargain kept Hofmann off death row. The next day, Olds planned to clean her house, she says, when she got a call from Hofmann, telling her that she and the kids were in danger and that she should take them to her mom's house. RR, Watch theForensic Filesepisode onYouTubeorAmazon Prime. As the witness detailed her experience of finding Steve Christensen,. The Savior was victimized. As the witness detailed her experience of finding Steve Christensen, lying in the hallway, emitting moaning sounds like a little child crying, his wife began to weep quietly. Hofmann would also age his papers by putting them in a fish tank, along with a little toy train transformer. 4. NU47OE000105 (HOFFMAN, MARK A.) "I didn't feel loved, but I did think he would be my savior," Olds says now. When Olds awoke that morning, she says, her husband was already dressed and, strangely, in the backyard, wearing his green Olympus High letter jacket. Pioneer ancestors. Since then, McNeil has seen Olds reach more deeply into her own psyche, past and needs, and come out in a better emotional and spiritual place. The ascription of (nauseating) foolishness is not racist: anyone and everyone could be a fool. He started collecting coins when he was 12 and soon figured out ways to fool other collectors by altering coins to make them appear more desirable. 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. 2. A life sentence After Hofmann pleaded guilty to the crimes in January 1987, Olds was left with four children ages 5 and under a third daughter was born between the bombings and sentencing and a million dollars of debt. Two years ago, ForensicFilesNow.com published a recap and update on the episode. These deceived not only members of the First Presidency notably Gordon B. Hinckley, then the de facto president of the church due to the poor health of more senior leaders[d] but also document experts and distinguished historians. To add more books, click here . A fifth indictment, containing an additional five counts of theft by deception, was added later in January. Dorie Olds Now: Where Is Mark Hofmanns Ex-Wife Today in 2021. Furthermore, to use Fs argument, that if a black person alleges a white person is racist it must be so (because only black people are entitled to make that claim), is itself nonsense cos profoundly racist and a caricature of black rights. sltrib.com 1996-2023 The Salt Lake Tribune. Hofmann was a happily married father of three small children with another one on the way. I think life is basically worthless. Marks parents, Lucille Sears Hofmann and William Hofmann, were horrified that his kids had a storybook with dinosaurs, which they considered too evolution-friendly. . Copyright 2023 Heavy, Inc. All rights reserved. Dr. Mark C. Hoffman is a Family Medicine Doctor in Poulsbo, WA. [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". "I always liked Dorie. Jane Dorotik: Trotting in and out of Prison, MaryAnn Clibbery and George Hansen: Unsalvageable, Movies&Tv: Murder Among the Mormons, Netflix Think it aloud, 7 Unnerving Facts About the Lindberghs and the Kidnapping, The Lindbergh Kidnapping: Forensic Files Lost Episode, Dawn Fehring: A Missionary Dies Too Young, Daniel and Cynthia McDonnell: Good Cop, Bad Wife. Marc Hoffmann was born on August 18, 1983 in Paris. Mark Hofmann. In February 1981, Hofmann tried to sell the letter to the chief archivist of the LDS Church. Once Dorie had divorced her husband and reclaimed her maiden name, she received a lucrative deal to write a book about her ordeal, but she couldnt go through with it on her own. He estimated that he forged hundreds of documents with at least 86 signatures. Across the aisle was a pregnant Dorie Olds, then-wife of Mark Hofmann, the LDS forger who was accused of the heinous act. "I see their pain, their stuckness. . She blamed herself. Mark Hoffman told himself what he was about to do was for their good. The one-page Oath had been printed in 1639, the first document to be printed in Britain's American colonies, but only about fifty copies had been made, and none of them were extant. They began a relationship in April 1979, got engaged in July, and by the time it was September, they had tied the knot. They don't know they're dead. [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. Murder Among the Mormons, a true crime docuseries about the Hofmann forgeries and bombings, was released on Netflix March 3. [29][9]:491,52123 Utah has an indeterminate sentencing scheme. I felt I would rather take human life or even my own life rather than to be exposed.. He soon fabricated other historically significant documents and became noted among LDS Church history buffs for his "discoveries" of previously unknown materials pertaining to the Latter Day Saint movement. Hofmann hinted that the McLellin collection would provide revelations unfavorable to the LDS Church. "Unknown to me, Mark had forged his first coin at age 14, long before we were married," Olds told a recent gathering of women. Now, Netflix is getting in on the act. Within a few years, he had a booming business, "finding" little-known and remarkable documents with surprising frequency. As far back as I can remember I have liked to impress people through my deceptions, he wrote. Twice a week, she went to see her husband in prison once alone and once with their kids. His forging hand was thereby permanently disabled. You dont need to justify why you didnt cancel me (for thats what you mean, and she wants, by censoring); on the contrary, she needs to argue her case, which she hasnt. ), Thats all for this week. Police then began investigating Hofmann himself as a suspect, and, in one moment at the hospital, she looked up to see detectives on the TV screen going through "my messy house.".
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