Episode 4: Magic and Mormonism

**SPEAKER_1** (0:02)
A pipe bomb concealed in a package addressed to Stephen Christensen explodes outside Christensen's office in downtown Salt Lake. Christensen dies in a hail of shrapnel.

**SPEAKER_2** (0:12)
Hofmann targets Christensen because he was about to expose Hofmann's financial dealings.

**SPEAKER_1** (0:18)
11:20 a.m. Another pipe bomb explodes in suburban holiday.

**SPEAKER_2** (0:22)
The second bomb was intended for Christensen's business partner, but mistakenly kills an innocent bystander. Hofmann then builds a third bomb.

**SPEAKER_3** (0:33)
There's a lot of speculation as to who the third bomb was for. I think the bomb was intended for Brent Ashworth.
They had met on that day of the week for a long period of time. Brent was expected to be at that location, and I really think that Mark had planned to go to that location and set that bomb off in the vicinity of Brent Ashworth.

**SPEAKER_4** (0:54)
We would have just walked up to his car like we normally did, and he would find me to get in the car and wham-al. I probably would have been killed.

**SPEAKER_2** (1:04)
But Brent Ashworth didn't come to town. So now Hofmann has a live bomb sitting on his seat.

**SPEAKER_1** (1:16)
October 16th, 2:40 p.m. A third bomb explodes in the sports car of historic documents dealer Mark Hofmann.

**SPEAKER_2** (1:23)
Hofmann suffers burns and multiple fractures.

**SPEAKER_3** (1:27)
His injuries were not life threatening, but they were very serious.

**SPEAKER_2** (1:35)
When he gives his account of where he was sitting as the bomb exploded, he contradicts the forensic evidence found at the scene.

**SPEAKER_6** (1:43)
We decided we had to do a very concerted, extremely in-depth investigation of Mark Hofmann and all of his document dealings.

**SPEAKER_1** (1:52)
As investigators circle closer to Hofmann as their killer, the case throws a cloud of doubt on the church's documents and on others Hofmann has sold from coast to coast.

**SPEAKER_6** (2:02)
Once we learned that they were forgeries, once we learned that his whole reputation was built upon deceit, we understood why he killed these two people.

**SPEAKER_1** (2:10)
Finally, prosecutors make their move.

**SPEAKER_7** (2:13)
Mark W. Hofmann has been charged with two counts of first degree homicide, a capital offense.

**SPEAKER_2** (2:18)
Hofmann pleads guilty to second degree murder and theft by deception. In January 1988, he appears in court to face sentencing.

**D. Michael Quinn** (2:27)
Do you think you should ever be freed yet?

**SPEAKER_7** (2:30)
I obviously want to be freed. By a majority vote, the board has decided that you should serve natural life in prison.

**SPEAKER_6** (2:43)
I've never met a person that was so amoral. Everything was about him, about his ability to fool people.
His great desire in life was to fool the experts. That's why everything was pointed toward creating a document and daring the experts to disprove it. And that's what drove him on.

**SPEAKER_9** (3:07)
He admitted later that he actually was trying to change church history because he said that he had become an atheist when he was a teenager.
He wanted to embarrass the church. He wanted to show that it was false. He wanted to literally change history. But he did it in such a genius way that it was all very plausible.

**SPEAKER_2** (3:31)
After ten years, 800 documents and two murders, the Master Forger's reign has finally come to an end.

**Lindsay Hansen Park** (3:41)
Hi, this is Lindsay Hansen Park.

**Bryan Buchanan** (3:43)
And this is Bryan Buchanan.

**Lindsay Hansen Park** (3:45)
Bringing you the story of Mormonism from the shadow of the everlasting hills, straight out of Zion, this isn't your grandpa's Mormon history.

**Bryan Buchanan** (4:12)
This is the tale of Mormon saints and sinners from our roots until present day.

**Lindsay Hansen Park** (4:17)
Gird your loins, lock your hearts, and pay your tithing, because we're bringing you the story of Mormonism in all its paradisiacal glory.

**Bryan Buchanan** (4:26)
It's the Sunstone History Podcast.

**Lindsay Hansen Park** (4:49)
October 15th, 1985 started as a standard Tuesday in Salt Lake City. Mormons had just held their twice annual conference a week earlier and life had settled back into routine. The day quickly became a horrific point in time that people would remember vividly. About 8 a.m. a pipe bomb exploded in a downtown office building killing 31 year old Mormon history enthusiast and collector, Steve Christensen.
An hour and a half later, Cathy Sheets picked up a package near her mailbox in the East bench of Salt Lake City and was killed by an explosion.
It turned out that her husband had been a business partner of Christensen's. The next day, a car parked in front of the desert gym where the LDS Conference Center is now burst into a fireball in the middle of the afternoon injuring the driver. The owner of the car, Mark Hofmann. What was going on? Was this the work of disgruntled investors? The mafia? Someone connected with Mormon history? This was a sensational mystery that had everyone wondering.