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. 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. 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. [9]:7778 A former girlfriend believed Hofmann performed his mission only because of social pressure and the desire not to disappoint his parents. Notify me of follow-up comments by email. 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. He was raised in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church). The third victim, injured but still alive, was Mark Hofmann, a man unknown to most Salt Lakers but a minor celebrity among Latter-day Saint historians and collectors. He's mean.". She believed he was, indeed, a liar and a cheat. Dorie Olds is the ex-wife of Mormon bomber Mark Hofmann, who killed two people on Oct. 15, 1985. Because *both* sides of an argument can deploy the kinds of terms you use to undermine my position, as I demonstrate here they are useless in advancing your argument. The change was part a routine housing evaluation . 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. She believes that her mother didn't really want her. Read our. "[37], A student of Mormonism, Jan Shipps, agreed that press reports "contained an astonishing amount of innuendo associating Hofmann's plagiarism with Mormon beginnings. In 2011, it was revealed that Hofmann had tape-recorded himself pitching the bogus document to the RLDS Church archives. However, in 2016, he was transferred to Central Utah Correctional Facility in Gunnison. The church acquired several documents from Hofmann. While there, she heard that her husband was wounded and rushed to the hospital after a bomb went off in his car. he asked. If I am mansplaining are you not blacksplaining? 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. I don't believe in an afterlife. READ NEXT: Dorie Olds Now: Where Is Mark Hofmanns Ex-Wife Today in 2021? If youre here curious about the same, weve got you covered. ", "Early in the investigation friends of Mark Hofmann and Steven Christensen repeatedly told the detectives that they had been present when Hofmann and Christensen received telephone calls from Gordon Hinckley. The LDS Church announced the discovery of the Anthon Transcript in April and purchased it from Hofmann for more than US$20,000. 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. Well look at it on a continual basis, Gehrke said in 2016. Copyright 2023 Heavy, Inc. All rights reserved. What youre logically implying is precisely what I said was wrong with Fs argument that racism is what you say it is. 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. You also called a woman who has called herself a black woman a dual race which isnt a thing. You are racist. 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. Document examiner George Throckmorton analyzed several Hofmann documents that had previously been deemed authentic and determined they were forgeries. Police officers search Mark Hofmanns car after a bomb exploded at 200 North and Main Street in Salt Lake City, injuring Hofmann on Oct. 16, 1985. 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. It recites Hofmanns story and the adverse impact his forgeries have had on the church. Dr. Mark A. Hoffman is a Pediatrician in Los Angeles, CA. Undercurrents On the surface, Dorie Olds' childhood in Salt Lake City's Sugar House neighborhood seemed fairly typical for Utah Mormons. Who is Mark Hofmann? Mark Hofmann attends a preliminary trial in April 1986. But Ill not be subscribing to Netflix given that Prince Hapless and Migraine are being paid $$$$$$$ by it for their nauseating dross. [11] The forgery was a letter complete with an 1828, For instance, Hofmann paid US$22,500 for a first edition of, There actually were two surviving collections of McLellin papers, neither of which Hofmann knew of. Hofmann graduated 573 in a class of 700. In 1979, he married Doralee "Dorie" Olds, and the couple eventually had four children. He also forged an 1830 letter from Martin Harris known as the Salamander Letter which described Joseph Smith being involved in folk magic. His forging hand was thereby permanently disabled. Hofmann agreed to confess his forgeries in open court, in return for which prosecutors in Utah and New York dropped additional charges against him. Dorie Olds is the ex-wife of Mormon bomber Mark Hofmann, who killed two people on Oct. 15, 1985. She does recall, however, a chilling moment when his sister asked: "Why do you want to marry him? McLellin described Joseph Smith "as a corrupt, even murderous, Hofmann had made two significant errors in his. Writer: Alice & johanna 2. 4 Doralee Olds Hofmann Credit: Youtube/Gospel Tangents Who is Mark Hofmann's ex-wife Doralee Olds Hofmann? Smith had given a page with such script to an early Mormon convert, Martin Harris, to show to Charles Anthon, a scholar of ancient languages. The missiles . Throckmorton also discovered that some documents, supposedly written by different people, had similar writing styles and that they had been written with homemade iron gall ink that looked cracked like alligator skin under a microscope, although authentic period ink did not. The forgeries were thus intermingled with many legitimate historical documents, which bolstered Hofmann's credibility. He sounded just as boyishly earnest when lying to the media about discovering valuable historic Mormon documents as he did when confessing to the police that he committed fraud and double murder in the 1980s. The most important thing in my mind was to keep from being exposed as a fraud in front of my friends and family, Hofmann wrote. 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. 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. In the end, of course, Hofmann did get caught because of the murders, but also because of his mistakes. 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. "I felt something was off, but I didn't know what it was.". "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. In 1988, Olds divorced Hofmann, who pleaded guilty to murdering Christensen and Sheets as well as forging dozens of documents and is incarcerated for life at the Utah State Prison. [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". ", Olds wanted to start healing other people, says longtime friend Sylvia Gregerson, who met the bomber's wife after the crimes, "to try and heal herself.". 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. I told myself that my survival and that of my family was the most important thing. Under the microscope they noticed that the ink was cracked. 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. He obtained loans from local businessmen using real, rare books from his personal collection as collateral. A scene from "Murder Among the Mormons" re-enacts when Mark Hoffman tested a homemade explosive. Find Dr. Hoffman's phone number, address, insurance information, hospital affiliations and more. Well yes! He began to write at the age of 9; poems, short stories and all kinds of texts. 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. Over the years, he writes articles on cinema - his second passion - as well as self-taught scripts. She had four children to rear and needed to re-establish her life. But in the letter, Hofmann wrote that he intended to kill himself. [5]:6566 The document seemed to be the transcript that Smith's scribe Martin Harris had presented to Charles Anthon, a Columbia classics professor, in 1828. In late 2015, the prison moved Hofmann out of maximum security in Draper to the Central Utah Correctional Facility in Gunnison. She spoke of her life and what has happened in the 30 years since one of Utah's most infamous crimes, Thursday October 8, 2015. Hofmann constructed his version to fit Anthon's description of the document, and its discovery made Hofmann's reputation. I felt like that was the end, Hofmann wrote. Three letters purportedly written from an Illinois prison by Smith used different ink, paper, and writing instruments. Hofmann was a happily married father of three small children with another one on the way. With the white salamander letter, he hoped to dismantle the LDS Church by changing its history. Sep 1, 2016 - Jan 31, 2019. "[19]:130, No one is certain how many forged documents Hofmann created during the early 1980s, but they included a letter from Smith's mother, Lucy Mack Smith, describing the origin of the Book of Mormon;[k] letters from Martin Harris and David Whitmer, two of the Three Witnesses, each giving a personal account of their visions;[5]:95,97 a contract between Smith and Egbert Bratt Grandin for the printing of the first edition of the Book of Mormon; and two pages of the original Book of Mormon manuscript taken in dictation from Smith to Oliver Cowdery. 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 LDS Church publicized this Hofmann creation through a press conference on August 23, 1982. 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. [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. 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. Boy you are embarrassing yourself here. My philosophy is that they're dead. [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]. However, on October 18, 1995, after Hofmann's arrest, Hinckley said, "I frankly admit that Hofmann tricked us. [18][j] Document expert Kenneth W. Rendell later said that while there was "the absence of any indication of forgery in the letter itself, there was also no evidence that it was genuine. The body of Steven Christensen is removed from the Judge Building in Salt Lake City in October 1986. His behavior in prison did not throw up red flags, prison spokesman Steve Gehrke told Fox 13, but they had plans to keep tabs on Hofmann at the lower security facility. Now, Netflix is getting in on the act. Trent Nelson | The Salt Lake Tribune [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. [5]:56 He later told prosecutors that he had lost his faith in the LDS Church and become an atheist around age 14. If the dictionary definition of racisms not what racism is, what is it? The suicide of Mark Madoff made news because he is the son of convicted Ponzi schemer Bernard Madoff. One CAN criticize people who arent white without being racist, but youre demonstrating to everyone that is not what you are doing. It was already known that McLellin had written various letters and papers dealing with controversial subjects in Joseph Smith's life; in 1879 the RLDS Church printed a letter from McLellin to Joseph Smith III stating that the elder Smith's wife, Emma, knew and disapproved of her husband's adultery. 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. Sometimes the church received these as donations, and others it purchased. "I had to learn that I had value, a right to choose for myself what I felt to be right, and that my voice should be heard. [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]. New York prosecutors also sought an indictment for the fraudulent sale of Oath of a Freeman. [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 think life is basically worthless. 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. "I had to learn how to accept and love myself enough to keep a boundary, rather than shrinking in fear of authoritarian dictates, or passively going along with situations in which I saw no choice," she says. 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. At that time, they were all five and under. Across the aisle was a pregnant Dorie Olds, then-wife of Mark Hofmann, the LDS forger who was accused of the heinous act. Only his listed aliases point to his criminal past. 30 years after fatal bombings, Dorie Olds manages to leave the past behind. Hofmann drove to Logan early the next morning to buy parts for a third bomb. Get it as soon as Wednesday, Apr 12. Dressed in a three-piece suit with natty bow tie and a thin gold chain around his ample mid . by Mark Hoffmann Hardcover. [5]:55 Hofmann and his friends were said to have made bombs for fun on the outskirts of Murray, Utah. Going to trial and getting bad guys, big splashes, lots of exposure. Four siblings. The letter recounted how the church prophet had encountered a white salamander that transformed itself into a spirit guarding the gold plates. "[9]:514. The facility uses the direct supervision management model, which allows direct interaction between officers and inmates. Toll records showed Hofmann placed several calls to Hinckley's office from his car telephone during the week before the bombings. Eventually, though, they zeroed in on the apparent motive: a tangled web of lies and debts, forgeries and frauds, that had made Hofmann feel backed into a corner, stalling for time. 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. On March 3, the streaming giant debuted Murder Among the Mormons, a three-part series offering new interviews with victims and their families and more insight into how Mark Hofmann accommodated within his own soul a thieving terrorist and a respected husband and father of four. Her children visited their father from early on and continue to do so regularly. As I look back on the decisions made during this time of panic, I can see many forms of rationalization. The youngest was born after Mark had been charged and arrested with fraud, theft, and murder. 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. 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. He is survived by his wife, Diane, six children, 18 grandchildren and nine great-grandchildren. [q] As Hofmann had intended, police initially suspected that the bombings were related to the impending collapse of an investment business of which Sheets's husband, J. Gary Sheets, was the principal and Christensen his protg. Powered by WordPress.com VIP. According to the Ostlings, "The church publicized some of the acquisitions; it orchestrated public relations for some that were known to be sensitive; others it acquired secretly and suppressed."[g][14]. shelved 1,705 times Showing 30 distinct works. I exuded in impressing other collectors and dealers with my rare coins, he wrote. "[24], However, Hofmann had no idea where the McLellin collection was, nor did he have the time to forge a suitably large group of documents. Forged documents related to the church include letters by church founder Joseph Smith, his mother, Lucy Mack Smith, David Whitmer and others. 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. Marc Hoffmann. For example, for the first time in my life I took an interest in reading the obituaries. 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. Until next time, cheers. Rebecca: I should think so! Mark W. Hofmann and his family are pictured in this undated family photo. In February 1981, Hofmann tried to sell the letter to the chief archivist of the LDS Church. Here are seven facts from the series, which was co-produced by Joe Berlinger (Jeffrey Epstein: Filthy Rich): 1. But Hinckley spoke of Hofmann as if he barely recognized his name. He forged a blessing Joseph Smith purportedly gave to his son Joseph SmithIII designating him as his fathers successor. The murders and his forgeries are the subject of the three-part Netflix documentary, which was released today, Wednesday, March 3, 2021. 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.. I like Harry and Meghan, but Im American and dont have complicated feelings toward the royal family. Olds went into the hallway for a moment of prayerful silence. I believe that I was trying to convince myself of the worthlessness of life and of lifes unfairness, Hofmann wrote. 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. 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. When I read this article I did not expect to find this in the comments, quite interesting to read. You wouldnt need to go on these kinds of flip-outs if it werent based in racism. 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. Ships from and sold by Amazon.com. Sheets,[r] a child, a dog whoever" [was killed]. Scope and Contents This collection contains one portrait of Mark Hoffman's family in 1984. [29][9]:491,52123 Utah has an indeterminate sentencing scheme. A controversial plea bargain kept Hofmann off death row. I was the witness and entangled in it," Olds says. While in England, Hofmann enjoyed investigating bookshops and buying early Mormon material, as well as books critiquing Mormonism. Hofmann told his parents that he had baptized several converts; he did not tell them that he had also perused Fawn M. Brodie's biography of Joseph Smith, No Man Knows My History. Hofmann is imprisoned at the Central Utah Correctional Facility in Gunnison, Utah, in the Monroe unit, according to his inmate records. He delighted in traveling around the world to collect rare copies of children's books, but he made a living as a seller of historical documents. "When I first met Dorie, she was very mousy," McNeil says. 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. 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. She found healing for herself through hypnosis, she says, and has channeled her. 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". During the investigations, many of the prosecution team became convinced that they were being stonewalled by leaders of the LDS Church. "[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. Mark Hofmann was the mastermind behind deadly bombings that served as the focal point of the new Netflix docuseries, "Murder Among the Mormons." A 2003 BBC documentary about Hofmann is entitled "The Man Who Forged America".[45]. In Stock. QED. 30 years after fatal bombings, Dorie Olds manages to leave the past behind. 2. That night I also chickened out of the suicide attempt and made the final selection who my victims would be..
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