Mark Hofmann — The Forger Who Became a Murderer

Mark William Hofmann (born 1954) is the most notorious document forger of the 20th century — a man whose forgeries were so skillful that they deceived historians, archivists, librarians, the FBI crime lab, and the leadership of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. When his elaborate fraud began to collapse, Hofmann resorted to murder, killing two people with pipe bombs in Salt Lake City in October 1985. The Hofmann case fundamentally changed the practice of document authentication and remains the most dramatic cautionary tale in the history of the manuscript trade.

The Forger

Background

Hofmann grew up in Salt Lake City, a member of the LDS Church who lost his faith as a teenager but concealed his disbelief. He developed an early interest in coin collecting and old documents, and he began forging documents while still in college at Utah State University.

His first major forgery was the so-called “Anthon Transcript” (1980) — a document purportedly containing characters from the gold plates that Joseph Smith claimed to have translated to produce the Book of Mormon. The Anthon Transcript was “discovered” by Hofmann and authenticated by LDS Church historians and academic scholars, establishing Hofmann’s reputation as a finder of important Mormon historical documents.

Method

Hofmann’s technical skills were extraordinary:

Ink: He manufactured his own iron gall ink using historical recipes, producing ink that was chemically consistent with period examples. He aged the ink by applying oxidizing agents, creating the surface chemistry that document examiners associate with old ink.

Paper: He sourced period paper from old books, removing endpapers and blank leaves to provide authentic paper stock for his forgeries.

Handwriting: He studied the handwriting of his targets — Joseph Smith, Martin Harris, Oliver Cowdery, and others — and practiced until he could produce convincing imitations.

Aging: He subjected completed documents to artificial aging processes, including exposure to chemicals that simulated the effects of time on paper and ink.

Content: Perhaps most impressively, Hofmann’s forgeries contained plausible content that fit into existing historical narratives (or created provocative new ones). He had a deep knowledge of early Mormon history and American manuscript traditions.

The Major Forgeries

Mormon Documents

Hofmann forged dozens of documents relating to early Mormon history, many of which were purchased by the LDS Church or by private collectors of Mormon Americana:

The Salamander Letter (1984) — Purportedly a letter from Martin Harris (one of the Three Witnesses to the Book of Mormon) to W.W. Phelps, describing Joseph Smith’s discovery of the gold plates in terms involving a white salamander rather than an angel. This document was politically sensitive because it suggested folk-magic elements in the founding narrative of Mormonism. The letter was purchased by a prominent LDS collector and donated to the Church.

The Joseph Smith III Blessing (1981) — Purportedly a document in which Joseph Smith designated his son, Joseph Smith III, as his successor — supporting the claims of the Reorganized Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints (now the Community of Christ) rather than the Utah-based LDS Church.

Non-Mormon Documents

Hofmann also forged American historical documents unrelated to Mormonism:

The Oath of a Freeman — Purportedly the first document printed in British North America (Cambridge, Massachusetts, 1638). Hofmann attempted to sell this forgery to the Library of Congress for $1.5 million. The Library’s hesitation — and its insistence on scientific testing — contributed to the pressure that ultimately unraveled Hofmann’s scheme.

Documents attributed to Daniel Boone, Betsy Ross, and other American historical figures.

The Unraveling

Financial Pressure

Hofmann’s fraud required constant cash flow. He used the proceeds from each sale to fund his lifestyle and to finance the creation of new forgeries. He also borrowed heavily against documents he had not yet sold, creating a web of debt that required increasingly ambitious forgeries to sustain.

By 1985, Hofmann was deeply in debt and was running out of plausible documents to “discover.” His attempts to sell the Oath of a Freeman were stalling, and collectors and dealers were beginning to ask uncomfortable questions about the remarkable frequency with which Hofmann kept finding important documents.

The Bombings

On October 15, 1985, two pipe bombs exploded in Salt Lake City:

Steven Christensen, a businessman and document collector who had been closely involved in some of Hofmann’s transactions, was killed by a bomb placed at the door of his office.

Kathleen Sheets, the wife of Christensen’s former business partner, was killed by a bomb delivered to her home.

The next day, October 16, a third bomb detonated prematurely in Hofmann’s car, seriously injuring him. Police initially treated Hofmann as a victim, but investigation quickly revealed that he had constructed all three bombs.

Arrest and Confession

Hofmann was arrested and eventually charged with two counts of first-degree murder and multiple counts of fraud. In 1987, he pleaded guilty to second-degree murder (avoiding the death penalty) and was sentenced to five years to life in prison.

In prison, Hofmann provided extensive confessions detailing his forgery techniques and the full scope of his fraud, providing invaluable information for document authentication specialists.

Impact on Authentication

What the Case Revealed

The Hofmann case exposed serious weaknesses in document authentication practices:

Over-reliance on provenance stories: Hofmann’s reputation as a document finder was itself the primary authentication — people believed the documents were genuine because Hofmann found them, and Hofmann was trusted because his previous documents had been authenticated.

Insufficient scientific testing: Many of Hofmann’s forgeries were accepted on the basis of visual and contextual examination without rigorous scientific analysis of ink, paper, and aging characteristics.

Confirmation bias: Documents that fit existing historical narratives (or that were provocatively just outside them) were more readily accepted because experts wanted them to be genuine.

Changes in Practice

The Hofmann case led to significant changes:

Scientific testing became standard for important document purchases. Ink dating, paper analysis, and spectroscopic examination are now routine for high-value acquisitions.

Provenance requirements tightened. Buyers now demand documented chain of custody rather than accepting a finder’s story.

Institutional caution increased. Libraries and archives implemented more rigorous acquisition procedures.

Authentication training improved. Document examination programs incorporated lessons from the Hofmann case.

Hofmann Today

Hofmann remains in prison in Utah. His forgeries continue to surface in the market — some were never identified during the original investigation, and new attributions are occasionally made when documents with suspicious characteristics match Hofmann’s known techniques.

The LDS Church has publicly acknowledged that several documents it purchased from Hofmann were forgeries and has worked with scholars to document the extent of the fraud.

Lessons for Collectors

The Hofmann case carries enduring lessons:

1. No finder’s reputation authenticates a document. Provenance and expertise are necessary but not sufficient — scientific testing is essential for important acquisitions.

2. Documents that are “too good to be true” may be exactly that. The Oath of a Freeman, the Salamander Letter, and other Hofmann creations were spectacular finds — so spectacular that critical skepticism was suppressed by excitement.

3. Financial incentives corrupt. When enormous sums of money depend on a document’s authenticity, the pressure to authenticate (and the reluctance to question) is immense.

4. Forgery skill can exceed detection skill — temporarily. Hofmann’s technical abilities in ink manufacture, paper sourcing, and handwriting imitation were genuinely impressive. But no forgery is perfect, and advancing scientific techniques will eventually expose inconsistencies.

The Hofmann case is not just a story about documents — it is a story about the psychology of trust, the vulnerability of expertise to skillful deception, and the catastrophic consequences that can follow when fraud and desperation intersect. It remains the most important case study in the history of document authentication.