Mrs Ms mother is black, her father white, hence she is dual heritage, which is not a term of abuse nor incorrect, regardless of whether the subject describes themselves as black or white (or biracial). While there, she heard that her husband was wounded and rushed to the hospital after a bomb went off in his car. 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. A police officer searches Mark Hofmanns car after a bomb exploded, injuring Hofmann on Oct. 16, 1985. NU47OE000105 (HOFFMAN, MARK A.) Although its stopped offering free trial subscriptions, the service has a deal for $8.99 a month with no contract or cancellation fee. For the time being, of course. Hofmann excitedly identified it as a copy of the so-called "Anthon Transcript," with hieroglyphic markings that LDS Church founder Joseph Smith said he copied from gold plates in the 1820s. A visibly shaken Hofmann paid the Tanners a personal visit. She divorced Hofmann in 1988 and took back her maiden name. Brendan Hoffman for The New York Times. Stay-at-home mom, who baked bread and quilted. The suicide of Mark Madoff made news because he is the son of convicted Ponzi schemer Bernard Madoff. Find Dr. Hoffman's phone number, address, insurance information, hospital affiliations and more. After Mark Hofmann married Doralee Dorie Olds on September 14, 1979, whom he first met while attending the Utah State University, they began a life together. Document examiner George Throckmorton analyzed several Hofmann documents that had previously been deemed authentic and determined they were forgeries. They began a relationship in April 1979, got engaged in July, and by the time it was September, they had tied the knot. 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. New York prosecutors also sought an indictment for the fraudulent sale of Oath of a Freeman. 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. 5. She believed he was, indeed, a liar and a cheat. In 1985, Mark Hofmann became one of Utah's most prolific killers after spending years committing fraud that might have landed him a jail sentence, but wouldn't have put him in prison for the rest of his life. "During our nine-year marriage, he created historical documents and signatures, coins, antique Mormon money and much more selling them for millions of dollars.". She was very friendly when we did things socially [as couples] sometimes," Bench recalls. Forged documents related to the church include letters by church founder Joseph Smith, his mother, Lucy Mack Smith, David Whitmer and others. In October 1985, three bomb blasts in Salt Lake City, Utah, shook the local authorities and the residents to their very core, primarily because of its connection to the Latter-day Saints Church. [7][8]:20506,316 He had learned that his maternal grandparents had continued to secretly practice polygamy for more than a decade after the church publicly ended the practice (it was not fully renounced until 1904). 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. Not only did the letter intimate that Smith had been practicing "money digging" through magical practices, but it also replaced the angel that Smith said had appeared to him with a white salamander. Rebecca: I should think so! Here you have a nice plea bargain. Utah Department of CorrectionsMark Hofmanns prison record. All she knows is that she wants a new soccer ball that costs $24.95. The updates include a new intake area and transportation building, plus a facility to house up to 12 K-9s. In August1987, the sensationalist aspects of the Hofmann case led apostle Dallin H. Oaks to believe that Mormons had witnessed "some of the most intense LDS Church-bashing since the turn of the [20th] century. Hofmann concluded the letter writing, This is only a simplified summary of some of my crimes and feelings. [5]:6669 Zoology professor Barry Fell soon after claimed to have decoded the text. Get it as soon as Wednesday, Apr 12. But considering how they even refuse to acknowledge him publicly, it doesnt seem like it bothers them much. My name is Mark Hoffmann, but some folks know me as "Hoffmann" or "Hoffy". [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". Since 1988, they havent communicated except in letters talking about the welfare of their children. I have enjoyed the ongoing transition of this site but finally said something because Ive just come to dislike Marcus ongoing commentary and urge to mansplain to everyone. The dual heritage status of one is entirely incidental to my ascription of it. In Stock. Even though it would have solved all the money problems Mark had left their family in, she refused to put her children through it again. The victims, Steve Christensen and housewife Kathy Sheets, were killed October 15, 1985, with separate pipe bombs. The Savior was victimized. However, in 2016, he was transferred to Central Utah Correctional Facility in Gunnison. the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, Reorganized Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, a mythical being thought to be able to live in fire, "Dealer in Mormon fraud called a master forger", "Early years: Mark Hofmann, the Salamander Letter, and the bombings", "30 Years After Mormon Bombings, Mark Hofmann's Ex-Wife Finds Peace and Herself", "Mark Hofmann tape-recorded RLDS scam while it was in progress", "Mormon document raises doubts on succession of church's leaders", "1985 CES Doctrine and Covenants Symposium", "Recent events involving church history and forged documents", "The Truth is the Most Important Thing: A look at Mark W. Hofmann, the Mormon salamander man", "Introduction to the Signature Books edition of the McLellin Papers", "Mormon leaders suppress 'key' item in murder case", "Mac Christensen, founder of Utah-based Mr. Mac men's clothing chain, dead at 85", "Notorious bomber Mark Hofmann moved to Gunnison prison", Foundation for Apologetic Information & Research, "Recent Events Involving Church History and Forged Documents", "Netflix Sets 'Murder Among the Mormons' Docuseries on 1985 Utah Bombings (Exclusive)", "Fraudulent documents from Forger Mark Hofmann noted", "Mark Hofmann letter to the Board of Pardons", https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Mark_Hofmann&oldid=1147137236, American prisoners sentenced to life imprisonment, History of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, Improvised explosive device bombings in the United States, People excommunicated by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, Prisoners sentenced to life imprisonment by Utah, Articles with unsourced statements from October 2021, Articles with incomplete citations from May 2020, Short description is different from Wikidata, Pages using infobox criminal with motive parameter, Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License 3.0, This page was last edited on 29 March 2023, at 02:14. Olds, too, has regained and even deepened her Mormon faith. She had four children to rear and needed to re-establish her life. Hofmann also piled up more than $1 million dollars in debt. Ive only watched it three times, so far. Dirt Cheap. The bomb that killed Christensen was to take the pressure off two fraud schemes he had involved Christensen in, he wrote. Mark W. Hofmann and his family are pictured in this undated family photo. McLellin described Joseph Smith "as a corrupt, even murderous, Hofmann had made two significant errors in his. Thanks again for writing I appreciate anything that heightens my awareness. But in the letter, Hofmann wrote that he intended to kill himself. he asked. [29][9]:491,52123 Utah has an indeterminate sentencing scheme. [o][5]:24954, In an effort to buy more time, Hofmann began constructing bombs. He violated his religions ban on alcohol at least once drinking hard liquor with a pal and promptly throwing up. .Officers and a dog check a parking lot during the Tuesday, Oct. 18, 1985, funeral of Kathy Sheets, who died in bomb blast. 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. Dr. Hoffman's role is to accelerate and improve all types of research at the Children's Mercy Research Institute through resources such as data, applications and technology. Hofmann is imprisoned at the Central Utah Correctional Facility in Gunnison, Utah, in the Monroe unit, according to his inmate records. Since then, Olds has had to rebuild her identity brick by brick. C: Its super embarrassing isnt an argument but a prejudicial claim. Born in Salt Lake City, Utah, on December 7, 1954, Mark William Hofmann was the second of three children and the only son in a strict and religious household. [8]:42 He expected the church to "buy the blessing on the spot and bury it. Hofmann had the signature authenticated by Charles Hamilton, the contemporary "dean of American autograph dealers", sold the letter to the church for $15,000, and gave his word that no one else had a copy. Sep 1, 2016 - Jan 31, 2019. She continued to visit him twice a week in prison, once alone and once with her children. As I look back on the decisions made during this time of panic, I can see many forms of rationalization. Hofmann spends his days behind bars in the state-of-the-art Ironwood unit, a facility remodeled with new safety features unveiled in 2017. Within a few years, he had a booming business, "finding" little-known and remarkable documents with surprising frequency. The Monroe unit, which includes the 192-bed Ironwood housing unit, adds a new intake and transportation building and a dog kennel for up to 12 K9s, the DOC wrote. One of Utah's most infamous criminals kissed his children while they slept in their bedrooms the night before he donned a letterman's jacket and carried a package into the Judge Building in downtown Salt Lake City and took the elevator to the sixth floor. [c][5]:58 Dorie Olds Hofmann filed for divorce in 1987, two years after Hofmann's crimes came to light, and became co-founder of a holistic medicine company.[11]. A scene from "Murder Among the Mormons" re-enacts when Mark Hoffman tested a homemade explosive. by Mark Hoffmann Hardcover. Their first romantic date was in April 1979, their engagement was in July and by September they were married. I am also a professor at Montserrat College of Art in the illustration department. In 1999, Olds joined Gwyneth McNeil at Utah's Academy of Life Management using hypnosis, Reiki, light and sound, breath walking and life-path coaching to help clients cope with stress and learn to love themselves. The LDS Church announced the discovery of the Anthon Transcript in April and purchased it from Hofmann for more than US$20,000. In the early parts of Murder Among the Mormons, Hofmann is depicted as a devout Mormon. 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. ), Thats all for this week. When I read this article I did not expect to find this in the comments, quite interesting to read. Hofmann had no such collection, nor the time to produce one. What youre logically implying is precisely what I said was wrong with Fs argument that racism is what you say it is. Hofmann hinted that the McLellin collection would provide revelations unfavorable to the LDS Church. "It is where she always wanted to be," McNeil says, "but didn't know it was possible.". One CAN criticize people who arent white without being racist, but youre demonstrating to everyone that is not what you are doing. . Now, Netflix is getting in on the act. Hofmann graduated 573 in a class of 700. But Ill not be subscribing to Netflix given that Prince Hapless and Migraine are being paid $$$$$$$ by it for their nauseating dross. 6. "He was acting the same. 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. His institutional history is pretty clean. 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. She blamed herself. 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. 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. Powered by WordPress.com VIP. According to Lindsey, the Hofmann affair emboldened many scholars to penetrate deeper into Mormon history that its most conservative leaders wanted left unexplored, and that church leaders were unlikely to be able to fully contain the fires of intellectual curiosity that Hofmann helped fan. Under the microscope they noticed that the ink was cracked. By age 24, his interest had shifted from U.S. coins to old Mormon money, which along with his coin collection he sold a year later and decided to forge for a living. In fact, not even their full names are public knowledge. That night I also chickened out of the suicide attempt and made the final selection who my victims would be.. Sure enough, Olds "discovered" a piece of parchment gummed into the Bible, with Egyptian-looking scribbles on it. Her children visited their father from early on and continue to do so regularly. Netflix's Murder Among the Mormons explains Hofmann's crimes, which included forging fake religious Mormon documents in order to sell them to the church for profit and, eventually, murder. Dean Jessee, an editor of Smith's papers and the best-known expert on handwriting and old documents in the Historical Department of the LDS Church, concluded that the document was a Smith holograph. In 1979, he married Doralee "Dorie" Olds, and the couple eventually had four children. I believe this is what led to my forging activities.. and I a black woman am saying you a white man are racist. Au contraire: I, a white man, say that you, a black woman, are racist. The facility uses the direct supervision management model, which allows direct interaction between officers and inmates. QED. A trip to Manchester, England, first got Mark interested in Mormon documents. "Only to the extent that I truly love myself can I truly love another.". You are racist. I say its racist = its racist doesnt wash (yet) however much some of the more deranged in society might prefer it. Mark Hoffman Chief Research Information Officer, Children's Mercy Research Professor - Pediatrics, Biomedical and Health Informatics UMKC (volunteer) Research Professor - Pediatrics - KU Medical . As Mark Hofmann serves out the remainder of his life in a Utah prison, his ex-wife, Dorie Olds, has moved on. 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. [11] https://t.co/uxD6Jp1O6U, Benjamin Park (@BenjaminEPark) February 26, 2021. [l][22], But Hofmann's grandest scheme was to forge what was perhaps the most famous missing document in American colonial history, the Oath of a Freeman. All we know of Marks son and three daughters is that they have grown up without their biological father in their lives. His first victim, Steven Christensen, was a Mormon bishop and document collector who threatened to expose the forgeries. Hofmann attempted suicide in his cell by taking an overdose of antidepressants. It left her feeling confused, unloved and suicidal but she had no words. 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. 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. Marc Hoffmann was born on August 18, 1983 in Paris. Good luck to you RR. "If I had awakened earlier, I might have ended up dead.". 2023 Cinemaholic Inc. All rights reserved. Money, he wrote, then became the object.. In 1988, Olds filed for and was granted a divorce. Murder Among the Mormons, a true crime docuseries about the Hofmann forgeries and bombings, was released on Netflix March 3. One of Utahs most infamous criminals kissed his children while they slept in their bedrooms the night before he donned a lettermans jacket and carried a package into the Judge Building in downtown Salt Lake City and took the elevator to the sixth floor. But when Mark confessed, and the reality of his actions dawned on her, Dorie filed for divorce. If the dictionary definition of racisms not what racism is, what is it? He was revived, but not before spending twelve hours lying on his right arm and blocking its circulation, thus causing muscle atrophy. Criticism of the words/attitudes of two people, one of whom is white, the other of dual heritage, is not in any way, shape or form necessarily and not in fact racist. Finally, the reality of his murderous nature seeped in as she continued to meet with him, and she came to believe that he was guilty. Heads up: I wrote 2,000 words today on Mark Hofmann, Mormonism, and 1980s America in advance of @netflixs documentary, which releases Wednesday. Slowly, though, Olds developed a few close friendships, a deep mysticism and a knack for analysis and therapy. Boy you are embarrassing yourself here. Mark Hofmann was the mastermind behind deadly bombings that served as the focal point of the new Netflix docuseries, Murder Among the Mormons. Such a letter, if true, would portray Young and, by extension, the LDS Church, in an unfavorable light. Pramedics rush a injured Mark Hofmann to an ambulance after a bomb shredded his car in downtown Salt Lake City. [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]:21, During the bombing investigation, police discovered evidence of the forgeries in Hofmann's basement. All Rights Reserved. But the case was so complicated the district attorneys office, for the first time ever, had to use a computer to keep track of the information. [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. The body of Steven Christensen is removed from the Judge Building in Salt Lake City in October 1986. "It was possible, George thought, that Hofmann could have destroyed Mormonism. It was long believed that the third explosion was an accident. He's mean.". Hofmann constructed his version to fit Anthon's description of the document, and its discovery made Hofmann's reputation. What youre implying is the absurdity that any criticism of someone not white is racist: a gross caricature even of identity politics, and a cheapening of criticism of authentic racism, which you should reflect on if you really care about it. 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. My philosophy is that they're dead. The church acquired several documents from Hofmann. Hofmann injured himself with a third bomb. Marc Hoffmann. Hofmann would also age his papers by putting them in a fish tank, along with a little toy train transformer. [5]:11819, After the letter had been purchased for the church and became public knowledge, LDS Church apostle Dallin H. Oaks asserted to Mormon educators that the words "white salamander" could be reconciled with Smith's Angel Moroni because, in the 1820s, the word salamander might also refer to a mythical being thought to be able to live in fire, and a "being that is able to live in fire is a good approximation of the description Joseph Smith gave of the Angel Moroni. As far back as I can remember I have liked to impress people through my deceptions, he wrote. "[17], In 1984, longtime critics of Mormonism Jerald and Sandra Tanner became the first to declare the Salamander letter a forgery, despite the fact that it, as well as others of Hofmann's purported discoveries, would have strengthened the Tanners' arguments against the veracity of official Mormon history. He was smart and interesting, and they enjoyed long conversations. 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. From 1980 to October 1985, forgeries were almost his exclusive source of income, Hofmann wrote. [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. This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2015, and information in the article may be outdated. Police were on the lookout for a serial bomber when . Done with this blog. . A colleague has written a piece on what Latter-day Saint history experts thought of "Murder Among the Mormons." The 48-year-old man serving as president of the Philippines Iloilo Mission died on Tuesday. "[37], A student of Mormonism, Jan Shipps, agreed that press reports "contained an astonishing amount of innuendo associating Hofmann's plagiarism with Mormon beginnings. Tribune file photo He was arrested for the bombings three months later, and in 1987 pleaded guilty to two counts of second-degree murder, one count of theft by deception and one count of fraud. 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. Martin Luther King: I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the colour of their skin but by the content of their character. He was right. I believe that I was trying to convince myself of the worthlessness of life and of lifes unfairness, Hofmann wrote. A controversial plea bargain kept Hofmann off death row. 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. In January1987, Hofmann pleaded guilty to two counts of second-degree murder, one count of theft by deception for forging the Salamander Letter, and one count of fraud for the bogus sale of the McLellin collection. Mark Hofmann, left, and wife Doralee attend a Board of Pardons hearing in January 1988, before their divorce. The youngest was born after Mark had been charged and arrested with fraud, theft, and murder. Ships from and sold by Amazon.com. Fooling people gave me a sense of power and superiority.. It MUST be defined in order to begin a discussion about whether it applies in X situation. Two Mormon wives sat on opposite sides of the Salt Lake City courtroom, staring intently at images on a screen as a witness described Steve Christensen's body after a pipe bomb shredded it. The second bomb exploded about 90 minutes later, killing Holladay housewife Kathy Sheets when she picked up a package in front of her home. A fifth indictment, containing an additional five counts of theft by deception, was added later in January. Fooling people gave me a sense of power and superiority. Dorie Olds Now: Where Is Mark Hofmanns Ex-Wife Today in 2021. She felt largely alone, rejected by many, including her in-laws and some of her own family members. [5]:55 According to Hofmann, while still a teenage coin collector, he forged a rare mint mark on a dime and was told by an organization of coin collectors that it was genuine.
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