Dallin H. Oaks, «Recent Events Involving Church History and Forged Documents»[11]Архивная копия от 15 октября 2019 на Wayback Machine, Ensign, October 1987.
Allan D. Roberts, «The Truth is the Most Important Thing: A Look at Mark W. Hofmann, the Mormon Salamander Man»[12] Archived[13] 2008-02-05 at the Wayback Machine.
Some LDS apologists dispute the fact that the church was deceived by Hofmann’s forgeries. However, on October 18, 1995, after Hofmann’s arrest, Hinckley said, «I frankly admit that Hofmann tricked us …. We bought those documents only after the assurance that they were genuine …. I am not ashamed to admit that we were victimized. It is not the first time the Church has found itself in such a position. Joseph Smith was victimized again and again. The Savior was victimized. I am sorry to say that sometimes it happens.» Meridian Magazine [5] Archived[6] 2010-02-06 at the Wayback Machine, November 2006. Steven Naifeh and Gregory White Smith, The Mormon Murders: A True Story of Forgery, Deceit, and Death (St. Martin’s, 2005), 435-37. «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. Toll records showed Hofmann placed several calls to Hinckley’s office from his car telephone during the week before the bombings …. But Hinckley spoke of Hofmann as if he barely recognized his name. Repeatedly when he was asked about the document, Hinckley answered: „I can’t remember.“ Lindsey, 267. As Simon Worrall has written, Hofmann „had fooled the most powerful men in the Mormon Church ….They were seers, endowed with the power of discernment, who, according to the Book of Mormon could 'translate all records that are of ancient date.' Yet when Gordon B. Hinckley and the president of the Church, Spencer W. Kimball, had looked at the Anthon Transcript, they had been no more able to translate Hofmann’s forged hieroglyphics than if they had been in Swahili. As Hofmann remembered how tears had come to their eyes, he felt a surge of sadistic pleasure.“ Simon Worrall, The Poet and the Murderer: A True Story of Literary Crime and the Art of Forgery (New York: Dutton, 2002), 104. Roger Launius, in a review of Linda Sillitoe and Allen Roberts, Salamander: The Story of the Mormon Forgery Murders, 2nd ed. (Salt Lake City: Signature Books, 2006) in the John Whitmer Historical Association Journal 8 (1988), writes, „Equally intriguing, why was the Mormon historical community so unwilling to accept the facts of the case and only reluctantly acknowledged that Hofmann was a murderer and that his documents were fakes? I suspect it has something to do with an unwillingness to admit that Hofmann had tricked them.“
mormonstories.org
Metcalfe, Brent. «Brent Metcalfe — Early Years, Mark Hofmann, the Salamander Letter, and the Bombings».[4]Архивная копия от 1 октября 2019 на Wayback Machine Mormon Stories. Retrieved August 23, 2014.
«'Mark Hofmann was unquestionably the most skilled forger this country has ever seen,' said Charles Hamilton, a New York document dealer who is widely regarded as the nation’s pre-eminent detector of forged documents. He was the first to determine that the widely publicized Hitler Diaries of several years ago were fakes. Mr. Hamilton said Mr. Hofmann 'perpetrated by far the largest monetary frauds through forgery that this country has ever had,' adding, 'He fooled me — he fooled everybody.'» New York Times, February 11, 1987.[ https://www.nytimes.com/1987/02/11/us/dealer-in-mormon-fraud-called-a-master-forger.htmlАрхивная копия от 4 марта 2021 на Wayback Machine]
query.nytimes.com
Turner, Wallace (March 19, 1981). „Mormon Document Raises Doubts On Succession Of Church’s Leaders“[8]. The New York Times. Retrieved May 12, 2010.
There actually were two surviving collections of McLellin papers, neither of which Hofmann knew of. One was discovered by a Salt Lake City reporter shortly after Hofmann was injured by his own bomb. The documents were interesting—McLellin described Joseph Smith «as a corrupt, even murderous dictator who seduced young girls under the guise of divine revelation»—but the documents were not as spectacularly anti-Mormon as Hofmann had implied. Robert Lindsey, A Gathering of Saints: A true Story of Money Murder and Deceit (New York: Simon and Schuster, 1988), 254-56; Introduction to the Signature Books edition of the McLellin Papers[15]Архивная копия от 10 марта 2014 на Wayback MachineArchived 2014-03-10 at the Wayback Machine Church archives also held McLellin journals, which had been institutionally forgotten and were not revealed to exist until after Hofmann’s trial. «Mormon Leaders Suppress 'Key» Item In Murder Case", from the Utah Lighthouse Ministry website[16]Архивная копия от 2 сентября 2019 на Wayback Machine Hofmann obtained on consignment from document expert Kenneth W. Rendell, two pieces of a second-century A.D. Egyptian Book of the Dead, written on papyrus, which he then cut up and passed off as material from the McLellin Papers. Rendell, 132.
sltrib.com
archive.sltrib.com
Lindsey, 80-81. In 2011, it was revealed that Hofmann had tape-recorded himself pitching the bogus document to the RLDS Church archives. (Jensen, Derek P. (July 29, 2011), „Mark Hofmann tape-recorded RLDS scam while it was in progress“, [7]Архивная копия от 20 июня 2019 на Wayback Machine Salt Lake Tribune)
theguardian.com
Worrall, Simon (8 April 2000). «The impersonation of Emily»[14]Архивная копия от 31 октября 2019 на Wayback Machine. The Guardian. Retrieved 11 April2019.
1985 CES Doctrine and Covenants Symposium» (August 16, 1985), 22-23, at Utah Lighthouse Ministry website[9]Архивная копия от 29 сентября 2019 на Wayback Machine.
Utah Lighthouse Ministry website[10]Архивная копия от 16 апреля 2021 на Wayback Machine. A visibly shaken Hofmann paid the Tanners a personal visit. «Why you of all people?» he asked. (Lindsey, 136).
There actually were two surviving collections of McLellin papers, neither of which Hofmann knew of. One was discovered by a Salt Lake City reporter shortly after Hofmann was injured by his own bomb. The documents were interesting—McLellin described Joseph Smith «as a corrupt, even murderous dictator who seduced young girls under the guise of divine revelation»—but the documents were not as spectacularly anti-Mormon as Hofmann had implied. Robert Lindsey, A Gathering of Saints: A true Story of Money Murder and Deceit (New York: Simon and Schuster, 1988), 254-56; Introduction to the Signature Books edition of the McLellin Papers[15]Архивная копия от 10 марта 2014 на Wayback MachineArchived 2014-03-10 at the Wayback Machine Church archives also held McLellin journals, which had been institutionally forgotten and were not revealed to exist until after Hofmann’s trial. «Mormon Leaders Suppress 'Key» Item In Murder Case", from the Utah Lighthouse Ministry website[16]Архивная копия от 2 сентября 2019 на Wayback Machine Hofmann obtained on consignment from document expert Kenneth W. Rendell, two pieces of a second-century A.D. Egyptian Book of the Dead, written on papyrus, which he then cut up and passed off as material from the McLellin Papers. Rendell, 132.
Metcalfe, Brent. «Brent Metcalfe — Early Years, Mark Hofmann, the Salamander Letter, and the Bombings».[4]Архивная копия от 1 октября 2019 на Wayback Machine Mormon Stories. Retrieved August 23, 2014.
Some LDS apologists dispute the fact that the church was deceived by Hofmann’s forgeries. However, on October 18, 1995, after Hofmann’s arrest, Hinckley said, «I frankly admit that Hofmann tricked us …. We bought those documents only after the assurance that they were genuine …. I am not ashamed to admit that we were victimized. It is not the first time the Church has found itself in such a position. Joseph Smith was victimized again and again. The Savior was victimized. I am sorry to say that sometimes it happens.» Meridian Magazine [5] Archived[6] 2010-02-06 at the Wayback Machine, November 2006. Steven Naifeh and Gregory White Smith, The Mormon Murders: A True Story of Forgery, Deceit, and Death (St. Martin’s, 2005), 435-37. «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. Toll records showed Hofmann placed several calls to Hinckley’s office from his car telephone during the week before the bombings …. But Hinckley spoke of Hofmann as if he barely recognized his name. Repeatedly when he was asked about the document, Hinckley answered: „I can’t remember.“ Lindsey, 267. As Simon Worrall has written, Hofmann „had fooled the most powerful men in the Mormon Church ….They were seers, endowed with the power of discernment, who, according to the Book of Mormon could 'translate all records that are of ancient date.' Yet when Gordon B. Hinckley and the president of the Church, Spencer W. Kimball, had looked at the Anthon Transcript, they had been no more able to translate Hofmann’s forged hieroglyphics than if they had been in Swahili. As Hofmann remembered how tears had come to their eyes, he felt a surge of sadistic pleasure.“ Simon Worrall, The Poet and the Murderer: A True Story of Literary Crime and the Art of Forgery (New York: Dutton, 2002), 104. Roger Launius, in a review of Linda Sillitoe and Allen Roberts, Salamander: The Story of the Mormon Forgery Murders, 2nd ed. (Salt Lake City: Signature Books, 2006) in the John Whitmer Historical Association Journal 8 (1988), writes, „Equally intriguing, why was the Mormon historical community so unwilling to accept the facts of the case and only reluctantly acknowledged that Hofmann was a murderer and that his documents were fakes? I suspect it has something to do with an unwillingness to admit that Hofmann had tricked them.“
Lindsey, 80-81. In 2011, it was revealed that Hofmann had tape-recorded himself pitching the bogus document to the RLDS Church archives. (Jensen, Derek P. (July 29, 2011), „Mark Hofmann tape-recorded RLDS scam while it was in progress“, [7]Архивная копия от 20 июня 2019 на Wayback Machine Salt Lake Tribune)
1985 CES Doctrine and Covenants Symposium» (August 16, 1985), 22-23, at Utah Lighthouse Ministry website[9]Архивная копия от 29 сентября 2019 на Wayback Machine.
Utah Lighthouse Ministry website[10]Архивная копия от 16 апреля 2021 на Wayback Machine. A visibly shaken Hofmann paid the Tanners a personal visit. «Why you of all people?» he asked. (Lindsey, 136).
Dallin H. Oaks, «Recent Events Involving Church History and Forged Documents»[11]Архивная копия от 15 октября 2019 на Wayback Machine, Ensign, October 1987.
Allan D. Roberts, «The Truth is the Most Important Thing: A Look at Mark W. Hofmann, the Mormon Salamander Man»[12] Archived[13] 2008-02-05 at the Wayback Machine.
Worrall, Simon (8 April 2000). «The impersonation of Emily»[14]Архивная копия от 31 октября 2019 на Wayback Machine. The Guardian. Retrieved 11 April2019.
There actually were two surviving collections of McLellin papers, neither of which Hofmann knew of. One was discovered by a Salt Lake City reporter shortly after Hofmann was injured by his own bomb. The documents were interesting—McLellin described Joseph Smith «as a corrupt, even murderous dictator who seduced young girls under the guise of divine revelation»—but the documents were not as spectacularly anti-Mormon as Hofmann had implied. Robert Lindsey, A Gathering of Saints: A true Story of Money Murder and Deceit (New York: Simon and Schuster, 1988), 254-56; Introduction to the Signature Books edition of the McLellin Papers[15]Архивная копия от 10 марта 2014 на Wayback MachineArchived 2014-03-10 at the Wayback Machine Church archives also held McLellin journals, which had been institutionally forgotten and were not revealed to exist until after Hofmann’s trial. «Mormon Leaders Suppress 'Key» Item In Murder Case", from the Utah Lighthouse Ministry website[16]Архивная копия от 2 сентября 2019 на Wayback Machine Hofmann obtained on consignment from document expert Kenneth W. Rendell, two pieces of a second-century A.D. Egyptian Book of the Dead, written on papyrus, which he then cut up and passed off as material from the McLellin Papers. Rendell, 132.
«'Mark Hofmann was unquestionably the most skilled forger this country has ever seen,' said Charles Hamilton, a New York document dealer who is widely regarded as the nation’s pre-eminent detector of forged documents. He was the first to determine that the widely publicized Hitler Diaries of several years ago were fakes. Mr. Hamilton said Mr. Hofmann 'perpetrated by far the largest monetary frauds through forgery that this country has ever had,' adding, 'He fooled me — he fooled everybody.'» New York Times, February 11, 1987.[ https://www.nytimes.com/1987/02/11/us/dealer-in-mormon-fraud-called-a-master-forger.htmlАрхивная копия от 4 марта 2021 на Wayback Machine]
