Mark Hofmann

Mark Hofmann (born December 7 1954), a disaffected member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, was a prolific counterfeiter who murdered two people in Salt Lake City, Utah. He is currently serving a prison sentence at the Utah State Prison in Draper, Utah. Hoffman is widely regarded as one of the most skilled forgers in history.

Hofmann's murders

Despite the often considerable amounts of money he was making from document sales, Hofmann became embroiled in financial difficulties. In an effort to clear his debts, he attempted to put together a deal involving the sale of "the McLellin collection": an extensive and previously unknown collection of documents purportedly written by William McLellin, an early Mormon apostle who became disaffected with the LDS church. Hofmann was unable to forge the entire collection quickly enough to meet his promises to his intended buyers. In a desperate effort to buy time he began planting bombs in Salt Lake City. On October 15, 1985, the first bomb killed document collector Steven Christensen. Christensen was known as the son of Mac Christiansen who founded the Utah-area Mr Mac clothing stores. Later that same day a second bomb killed Kathy Sheets, the wife of Christensen's employer.

Related Topics:
William McLellin - Apostle - October 15 - 1985

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The following day Hofmann became the victim of one of his own bombs. He was severely wounded when it exploded in his car. During the bombing investigation the police discovered incriminating evidence of the forgeries in the basement studio where Hofmann had created them.

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Hofmann was arrested for the murders and forgery the following February. He later pled guilty to lesser charges to avoid the death penalty, and was sentenced to life in prison. He has twice attempted suicide in prison.

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There has been speculation about the intended target of the third bomb that injured Hofmann, but he has never revealed who it was.

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