Changes

Before the $185,000 would be handed over to Hofmann, it was deemed necessary to appoint someone to verify that the documents were authentic. The church leadership assigned that task to Steven Christensen. But then things began to get uncomfortable for Hofmann, who had not had time to produce the forged collection before the designated day to meet with Christensen. Further, Hofmann was concerned because Gerald Tanner, an ex-Mormon who had become a Christian, had somehow obtained a copy of the Salamander Letter that the church was trying to hide from public view. Tanner, after careful analysis, expressed the opinion that the Salamander Letter was a forgery, despite LDS church experts declaring it authentic. Hofmann’s solution to his dilemma was to murder Christensen on the day that Christensen was intending to get his first view of the Collection, and then to murder Christensen’s former business partner on the same day so that it would look like the murderer was somehow associated with the business dealings of these two men. The second bomb, however, killed the partner’s wife instead. The day after these murders, a third bomb went off, by accident, in Hofmann’s car so that, contrary to his plans, he became a suspect in the previous day’s murders. Gerald Tanner thought that this bomb was intended for him.  

Before the $185,000 would be handed over to Hofmann, it was deemed necessary to appoint someone to verify that the documents were authentic. The church leadership assigned that task to Steven Christensen. But then things began to get uncomfortable for Hofmann, who had not had time to produce the forged collection before the designated day to meet with Christensen. Further, Hofmann was concerned because Gerald Tanner, an ex-Mormon who had become a Christian, had somehow obtained a copy of the Salamander Letter that the church was trying to hide from public view. Tanner, after careful analysis, expressed the opinion that the Salamander Letter was a forgery, despite LDS church experts declaring it authentic. Hofmann’s solution to his dilemma was to murder Christensen on the day that Christensen was intending to get his first view of the Collection, and then to murder Christensen’s former business partner on the same day so that it would look like the murderer was somehow associated with the business dealings of these two men. The second bomb, however, killed the partner’s wife instead. The day after these murders, a third bomb went off, by accident, in Hofmann’s car so that, contrary to his plans, he became a suspect in the previous day’s murders. Gerald Tanner thought that this bomb was intended for him.  

Gordon Hinckley, as acting President, along with other top leadership of the LDS church, was directly involved in dealing with the FBI in their investigation of the murders. Although Hofmann was an early suspect because of the bomb that went off in his car, the investigators could not determine a motive that would be needed in order to make a good case against him. Despite the insights of Gerald Tanner, Hofmann’s expertise as a forger was not yet known. In the attempts to determine a motive, and to find more facts about the case, detective Jim Baker, a chief investigator of the murders, said of the “cooperation” he got from Hinckcley and others in the LDS leadership: “They're hiding something; the church is doing everything it can to make this as difficult as possible. I've never seen anything like this in a homicide investigation.”<ref>[http://www.utlm.org/newsletters/no70.htm ''Salt Lake City Messenger'' 70 (January 1989), p. 12].</ref>

Gordon Hinckley, as acting President, along with other top leadership of the LDS church, was directly involved in dealing with the FBI in their investigation of the murders. Although Hofmann was an early suspect because of the bomb that went off in his car, the investigators could not determine a motive that would be needed in order to make a good case against him. Despite the insights of Gerald Tanner, Hofmann’s expertise as a forger was not yet known. In the attempts to determine a motive, and to find more facts about the case, detective Jim Baker, a chief investigator of the murders, said of the “cooperation” he got from Hinckley and others in the LDS leadership: “They're hiding something; the church is doing everything it can to make this as difficult as possible. I've never seen anything like this in a homicide investigation.”<ref>[http://www.utlm.org/newsletters/no70.htm ''Salt Lake City Messenger'' 70 (January 1989), p. 12].</ref>

After Mark Hofmann confessed, there was considerable criticism of the church’s role in the events related to the murders and the apparent cover-ups by the church regarding its suppression of documents. In an attempt to counter this criticism, church leaders commissioned Richard E. Turley Jr., Managing Director of the LDS Church Historical Department, to write a book presenting the church’s side of the issue. When the book appeared in 1992,<ref>Richard E. Turley, Jr., ''Victims: The LDS Church and the Mark Hofmann Case'' (Urbana: Univ. of Illinois Press, 1992).</ref> it revealed a hitherto hidden fact that has been characterized as “one of the most embarrassing secrets that a Mormon historian has ever revealed.”<ref>''Salt Lake City Messenger'' 83, p. 2.</ref> During the long course of the criminal investigations, someone discovered that an important part of the McLellin Collection was in the First Presidency’s vault, where it had been since 1908. This fact was not made public until Turley’s book was published six years after Hofmann confessed. If it had been made known earlier, before Hofmann was arrested, his arrest would have taken place immediately, since the presence of the Collection in the First Presidency’s vault would have shown that Hofmann did not have the collection, and hence was a forgerer and a liar. The motive for the murders would then have been established, namely to remove the pressure on Hofmann to produce the documents. As it was, when this piece of information was kept from the investigators and the public, it allowed a murderer, Mark Hofmann, free to roam the streets of Salt Lake City.  

After Mark Hofmann confessed, there was considerable criticism of the church’s role in the events related to the murders and the apparent cover-ups by the church regarding its suppression of documents. In an attempt to counter this criticism, church leaders commissioned Richard E. Turley Jr., Managing Director of the LDS Church Historical Department, to write a book presenting the church’s side of the issue. When the book appeared in 1992,<ref>Richard E. Turley, Jr., ''Victims: The LDS Church and the Mark Hofmann Case'' (Urbana: Univ. of Illinois Press, 1992).</ref> it revealed a hitherto hidden fact that has been characterized as “one of the most embarrassing secrets that a Mormon historian has ever revealed.”<ref>''Salt Lake City Messenger'' 83, p. 2.</ref> During the long course of the criminal investigations, someone discovered that an important part of the McLellin Collection was in the First Presidency’s vault, where it had been since 1908. This fact was not made public until Turley’s book was published six years after Hofmann confessed. If it had been made known earlier, before Hofmann was arrested, his arrest would have taken place immediately, since the presence of the Collection in the First Presidency’s vault would have shown that Hofmann did not have the collection, and hence was a forgerer and a liar. The motive for the murders would then have been established, namely to remove the pressure on Hofmann to produce the documents. As it was, when this piece of information was kept from the investigators and the public, it allowed a murderer, Mark Hofmann, free to roam the streets of Salt Lake City.