Mark Hoffman's Salamander Letters
LDS Leaders Would Fall Victim to a Conman's Strange Scheme
One of the most bizarre incidents in modern Mormon history are two murders that occurred in 1985 to cover up the tracks of someone who had forged documents and sold them to the Mormon church. These pages would become known as the Salamander letters.
The Salamander Letters, composed by Mark Hoffman, are known today to be a forgery, but the leaders of the LDS church, including Spencer W. Kimball, Gordon B. Hinckley and current apostle Boyd K. Packer believed the documents were genuine. Hoffman's efforts to keep his crime from being detected led to two murders in Salt Lake City. Hoffman himself would be the victim of a car bomb he made when it exploded in his own car before the bomb reached its intended victim.
What Mark Hoffman's Salamander Letters Claimed
High-ranking church officials believed them to be genuine. Jerald and Sandra Tanner, long-time critics of the Mormon church and its beliefs, suspected that Mark Hoffman forged the letters so that he could sell them to the church.
Hoffman approached church leaders stating that he had found documents in an old Bible that were written by Joseph Smith and other early Mormon leaders. Gordon B. Hinckley, Spencer W. Kimball, and Boyd K. Packer led the delegation that made the deicision to purchase Hoffman's forgeries. At least one sheet was purported to be Reformed Egyptian characters taken directly from the Golden Plates. The most famous part of the collection was a letter written by Martion Harris to W.W. Phelps claiming that the location of the Golden Plates was revealed to Joseph by a white salamander that transfigured into a spirit, according amateur Mormon apologist, Jeff Lindsay.
How Mark Hoffman's Forgeries Were Spotted
The Mormon General Authorities looking at the documents decided to purchase the Salamander Letters because Mark Hoffman's documents may have been authentic, or the documents may have been written by enemies of the church. Quotes of the late Mormon prophet Gordon B. Hinckley support both positions, although Hinckley's statements were made after the Salamander Letters were known to be a forgery.
The cracks on the layers of the document, known as alligatoring, proved the documents to be forgeries. George Thockmorton was the first person to detect this, according to Signature Books.
The Salamander Letter Murders – Mark Hoffman Tries to Cover up His Forgeries
Mark Hoffman would kill people to cover up his tracks and would wind up in a hospital when the third bomb intended for another victim exploded prematurely while he was in the vehicle. It was this bomb itself that gave law enforcement agencies the evidence they needed to link him to the earlier murders.
Where the Salamander Letters Are Now
Mark Hoffman's forged documents were bought by the church and now are in the possession of the vaults. These vaults are accessible only to church scholars who have been given special permission by the church to view its contents. Critics such as the Tanners believe that the church is trying to hide these potentially embarrassing documents. Jeff Lindsey believes that the church storing the letters in its vault is an act of historical preservation.
Because Mark Hoffman's Salamander Letters are known forgeries, there seems to be no reason to keep these documents hidden from the world. The documents are nothing more than a historical curiosity, but depositing the documents in the vaults causes critics to speculate the letters contain information the Mormon church does not want the general public to know.
Resources:
“Salamander Letter and Mark Hoffman.” Lighplanet.com Jeff Lindsey.
“The Mormon Forgery Murders.” Katherine Ramsland. TruTv.com Crime Library.
