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WWW.MY-SUBS.CO
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Can I ask a favor?
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Don't make me answer that.
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Don't make me answer that.
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Let somebody else do it.
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I don't wanna make a hero out of him.
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Because he was fantastic.
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No one has come close to doing
what he has done.
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- Officer?
- One male fatality.
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The calm of Salt Lake City, Utah,
was rocked today by two booby-trap bombs
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that left two people dead.
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...a morning of fear and death.
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The first explosion ripped through
a downtown office building, killing a man.
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The second explosion outside
a Holladay home claimed another life.
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There was dark talk involving religious
documents, hired professional killers.
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A Watergate-style cover-up,
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and one of the wealthiest,
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if not most wealthy,
church in America involved,
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the Mormon Church.
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There is a common thread
that seems to connect all the victims.
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A mysterious Salamander letter.
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The Salamander letter challenges
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the Mormon Church's account
of its own origin.
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The bombing's impact has drawn the Church
into an uncomfortable spotlight:
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Murder among the Mormons.
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What I love the most
about treasure stories,
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they're always about lost treasures,
you know?
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Whether we're looking for Atlantis
or the Titanic or whatever,
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there's a lot of treasure out there.
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But the thing is, treasure stories
always have the same ending.
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The treasure is temporarily found.
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But then some calamity happens,
and the treasure's lost again.
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You know,
the old airplane pilot joke about,
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"Ladies and gentlemen,
we're landing in Salt Lake City.
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Set your watch back ten years."
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It's an old chestnut.
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It's a very conservative community.
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The state of Utah has long been
the home of the Mormons.
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Mormons are members
of a worldwide church,
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headquartered in Salt Lake City, Utah.
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We'd like you to meet the Mormons.
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Mormonism is relatively young.
It was founded only 150 years ago
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by Joseph Smith.
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In 1829, a young man named Joseph Smith
translated a set of gold plates
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to which he was directed by an angel,
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into a volume called "The Book of Mormon."
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This is the true story
of Joseph Smith's valiant mission
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in bringing forth "The Book of Mormon."
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I am a messenger
sent from the presence of God.
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My name is Moroni.
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There is a book deposited,
written upon gold plates.
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Joseph Smith formed a church
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called The Church of Jesus Christ
of Latter-Day Saints,
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abbreviated to "LDS."
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Translate these ancient writings
and bring them forth to the world.
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The real treasure
is not the gold in those plates,
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but what's written on them.
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The LDS Church believes it has
a divine mandate to preserve its history.
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For Latter-Day Saints, the history
is integral with the faith itself.
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Joseph? Is this where you saw
Heavenly Father and Jesus?
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Yes, Lucy.
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This is the very place.
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Early Mormonism is full of treasure tales,
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and it really carried over
into the '70s and '80s.
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You've got a growing LDS religion
and a growing market for Mormon artifacts.
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So the Mormon people have always
had a propensity
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to seek those kind of treasures out.
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It's a thinking man's game,
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dealers who know history well enough
to purchase old books and pieces of paper
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and sell them for a profit.
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There are only a handful of men
who've acted as dealers
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for these pieces of high-prized history.
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Shannon Flynn's one of them.
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There's a certain amount
of detective work.
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There's a certain amount of excitement,
high stakes, valuable pieces.
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I had taken an interest
in LDS Church doctrine,
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probably since those late teenage years.
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I remember clearly
the first collectible item I bought.
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It was a third edition of a pamphlet
by B.H. Roberts.
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I didn't know what I was doing.
I paid $10 for it.
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But I was interested in the history,
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and in the Salt Lake area,
it was centered mainly on bookstores.
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And that kind of became
the Mormon history coffeehouse,
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if you want to think of it in those terms.
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You would go, meet people.
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"Hey, come over here.
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Let me show you this.
Let's see that book."
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And it was at that time
that I was introduced to Mark Hofmann.
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And I was very excited to meet Mark.
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He was...
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In the Mormon document world,
he was a rock star.
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Mark Hofmann,
a student at Utah State University,
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found the document.
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It appears to be
the earliest Mormon document
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and the earliest Joseph Smith holograph.
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Also, I think it's exciting
just to think that
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apparently, this piece of paper was copied
by Joseph Smith's own hand,
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the characters were, right from
the gold plates that were right there.
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It's covered
with carefully drawn symbols.
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On the back,
a statement signed by Joseph Smith.
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"These characters were diligently copied
by my own hand from the plates of gold."
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Well, I feel pretty lucky.
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Mark bought an old Bible
from a man in Salt Lake.
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The man said he'd purchased the Bible
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from the granddaughter
of Joseph Smith's sister.
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Uh, Dorie walked in.
She just got home from work.
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He had this Bible,
and I started flipping through the pages.
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And there was this part
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that was folded up and had
this sticky gum on the end of it.
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I think it was black,
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and I called to him, saying,
"There's something in here."
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She was there when I finally
succeeded in prying off the top page...
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that revealed a folded piece of paper.
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Well, the Anthon Transcript.
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Things in that document
validated The Book of Mormon
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and Joseph Smith...
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And it was thrilling.
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That's when he said
he wanted to do this as his job.
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He said, "I'm gonna be going
into the document business.
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Is that okay with you?"
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The LDS Church and its members
are world-renowned
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for their zeal in collecting
historical documents.
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Dozens of researchers and collectors
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are committed to finding
tidbits from the past.
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That Joseph Smith's first encounter
with the Divine
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was his experience with the coming forth
of the Book of Mormon.
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At the time, my particular interest
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was the origins of Mormonism.
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And the first time
I heard about Mark Hofmann
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would have been seeing the picture of Mark
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surrounded by major figures
of the Mormon hierarchy.
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Here they are, gathered to see
what this young man has found.
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The Anthon Transcript discovery
was widely publicized
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and brought Mark Hofmann into contact
with top leaders in the Mormon Church.
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Mark wanted to be
the ultimate document dealer,
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and so, Mark would ask me
to do the genealogical research,
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where we would research the descendants
of certain mission presidents
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and see if they had any of these
family documents or books on hand.
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I was so enthusiastic,
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and it just started
snowballing at that point.
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A 137-year-old letter
was found and proved authentic
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by a Mormon Church historian.
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The document was found by Mark Hofmann.
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I'd never seen anybody come up with
the material that Mark was coming up with.
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The first time I actually read the letter,
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I think I about fell off the chair
I was sitting in.
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The letter is from Lucy Mack Smith,
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mother of the Church's first prophet
and president, Joseph Smith.
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He'd track
old letters down by postage stamps,
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wax seals, and all that.
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He always had some inside track
on how he was getting things.
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Part of the collection...
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I bought
a lot of them over the years.
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There haven't been a lot
of dealers in this kind of thing before.
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It was almost like a new era
for Mormon collectibles.
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The buying and selling of Mormon documents
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has attracted so much attention lately,
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they're commanding top dollar.
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It's become a lucrative business
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because many new items
come from a period of Mormon history
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for which very little is known.
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Mark would travel to different places,
including New York City,
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and discovered a number of things.
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Hofmann's dealings soon branched out
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from selling only Mormon-related documents
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to letters and signatures
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by some of the most prominent names
in American history.
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It certainly smacks of Indiana Jones.
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He didn't look the part.
He looked like a nerd, and he was a nerd.
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He was able to remember minute,
who-could-give-a-care details
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that somewhere along the line
would make a lot of difference.
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We had a friendship
that extended to his wife
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and our families.
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One of the times I was there,
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we played Celestial Pursuit,
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Trivial Pursuit for Mormons.
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One by one, Mark sat there
with the cards, every one right.
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Never missed one.
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And so, I started working
on document deals for him.
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It was like I was given the opportunity
to play along Michael Jordan,
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or, um, Brett Favre or Ryne Sandberg.
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I worked in the genealogical archive
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doing research
on the beginnings of Mormonism
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and contemporaries of Joseph Smith,
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people like Martin Harris,
David Whitmer...
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Back then, I spent a lot of my time
in the historical archives,
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uh, researching documents and working
for the LDS Church security department.
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I'd come across a book.
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Um, how can I put it?
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It became a lightning rod
for a number of general authorities
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because they felt that
that material was damaging to the Church,
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and they were concerned
that I would publish it.
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I was called in by my supervisors,
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and was terminated.
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And so the Church is
in kind of an ironic situation.
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On the one hand,
they are driven by history,
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and they want to preserve documents.
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Their appreciation for the builders
of the past will be enhanced.
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But on the other hand,
what do you do with documents
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that have the potential
of destroying someone's faith?
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I remember it specifically
because it was my birthday,
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December 27th, 1983.
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Mark said, "Come here.
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I'm gonna show you something
that no one has seen."
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He takes out of his briefcase
the Salamander letter.
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"That was in the box
where the gold plates were."
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What?
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What?
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Wow.
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And he says,
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"We don't have any photographs of this.
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Can you photograph it?"
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And so I was the first person
to take those photographs,
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and he was keeping it
under tremendous secrecy.
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I was one of a select group, this big...
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that was privy to the bombshells.
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But that was his world,
and there was a reason for it,
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because everybody did that
to a certain extent.
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They would never reveal
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where they were getting
their best materials.
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So that world,
it was not that odd to keep secrets.
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♪ Throned on the mountain's crest
In robes of statehood dressed ♪
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♪ Utah, we love thee! ♪
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Rod Decker, KUTV News.
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Thank you, Rod.
That's a nice way to end the news, right?
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I've been a journalist
in Utah for 45 years.
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Among the people who are interested
in Mormon documents and Mormon history...
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If you look at the '80s,
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Mark Hofmann
found document after document,
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and he made a huge reputation for himself.
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Then one of the documents he had found
was called the White Salamander letter.
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It was a letter from Martin Harris,
an important man in early Mormonism,
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and the letter said
that Joseph Smith had told him
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that Joseph Smith
was led to the Golden Plates
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by a white salamander.
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This contradicted the Church version
of what had happened
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and struck deeply at Mormon belief.
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This new Salamander letter
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gave a far different story
of the Church's earliest roots
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and took that context
of Christian familiar terms, like angels...
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My name is Moroni.
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...and twisted them towards
a kind of folk magic context.
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And the contents of the Salamander letter
got a lot of attention from scholars,
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00:15:34,558 --> 00:15:37,227
who argued about it and began to say,
"Wait a minute.
244
00:15:37,311 --> 00:15:41,357
Is the history that we learned about this
from Joseph Smith not correct?"
245
00:15:46,070 --> 00:15:50,908
Now, the LDS Church does, in fact,
keep documents from the public,
246
00:15:50,991 --> 00:15:56,121
so some people say
that the LDS Church hides its history.
247
00:15:58,624 --> 00:16:02,628
One of Mark's concerns was that the Church
248
00:16:02,711 --> 00:16:07,716
would try to hide documents
that proved embarrassing to them,
249
00:16:07,800 --> 00:16:10,427
and I think that's why you find him
250
00:16:10,511 --> 00:16:12,846
giving copies of the documents
to other people.
251
00:16:15,057 --> 00:16:16,558
I remember one day,
252
00:16:16,642 --> 00:16:19,728
Mark Hofmann approached me
with the Salamander letter.
253
00:16:21,021 --> 00:16:25,401
And I remember that,
as I read it, I said,
254
00:16:25,484 --> 00:16:28,070
"Have you talked
to Steve Christensen yet?"
255
00:16:28,153 --> 00:16:31,073
Okay, and you're a collector
of this kind of thing.
256
00:16:31,156 --> 00:16:33,951
Well, uh, actually not.
257
00:16:34,034 --> 00:16:36,370
- I collect a lot of books...
- Mm-hmm.
258
00:16:36,453 --> 00:16:38,622
...and the way I became aware
of the document
259
00:16:38,706 --> 00:16:40,958
was through, uh, Brent Metcalfe...
260
00:16:41,041 --> 00:16:44,211
Steve had a genuine interest
in Church history,
261
00:16:44,920 --> 00:16:47,756
and while he loved the Church,
262
00:16:47,840 --> 00:16:52,761
he also felt that there was a need
for intellectual transparency
263
00:16:52,845 --> 00:16:55,597
when it came to the history of the Church.
264
00:16:57,599 --> 00:17:00,561
I know when Steve first saw
the Salamander letter,
265
00:17:00,644 --> 00:17:06,525
he recognized there were some issues
in there that were very much, um...
266
00:17:07,192 --> 00:17:09,528
controversial to many members
267
00:17:09,611 --> 00:17:12,114
of the Church of Jesus Christ
of Latter-Day Saints.
268
00:17:12,656 --> 00:17:15,284
His first concern was,
number one, is this authentic?
269
00:17:15,868 --> 00:17:19,121
A few select individuals
actually read the contents of the letter,
270
00:17:19,204 --> 00:17:21,749
and look at the handwriting,
uh, early in '84.
271
00:17:22,374 --> 00:17:24,918
I received
the authentication reports back...
272
00:17:25,753 --> 00:17:26,587
uh...
273
00:17:26,670 --> 00:17:28,338
shortly thereafter, uh,
274
00:17:28,422 --> 00:17:31,550
made the purchase of the letter
from Hofmann...
275
00:17:31,633 --> 00:17:34,470
I remember
going with Mark to Steve's office,
276
00:17:34,553 --> 00:17:38,682
and the price that they negotiated
was $40,000 for the document.
277
00:17:41,435 --> 00:17:46,356
So at that point, the Salamander letter
began to create some real concerns
278
00:17:46,440 --> 00:17:49,401
on the part of, particularly,
President Gordon B. Hinckley.
279
00:17:49,485 --> 00:17:54,198
When we are called before the bar of God
to give an accounting of our performance...
280
00:17:54,281 --> 00:17:57,034
Hinckley released
the letter with a disclaimer.
281
00:17:57,951 --> 00:18:00,871
He said, "We'll have to accept,
for the time being,
282
00:18:01,455 --> 00:18:04,958
the scientific evaluations
of the examiners,
283
00:18:05,542 --> 00:18:06,877
but that does not mean
284
00:18:06,960 --> 00:18:09,922
that it could not have been
a forgery from that time period,
285
00:18:10,005 --> 00:18:12,758
that was created for the purposes
of hurting the Church."
286
00:18:13,258 --> 00:18:17,971
I think it unlikely that any of us will be
commended for wearing out our lives
287
00:18:18,806 --> 00:18:21,809
in an effort to find
some morsel of history,
288
00:18:22,434 --> 00:18:24,561
incomplete in its context,
289
00:18:25,354 --> 00:18:28,190
to cast doubt
on the integrity of this work.
290
00:18:28,690 --> 00:18:33,821
When the Salamander letter got publicized,
and newspaper stories were written on it,
291
00:18:33,904 --> 00:18:35,948
it just changed everything.
292
00:18:36,615 --> 00:18:38,742
The letter generated a lot of controversy,
293
00:18:38,826 --> 00:18:41,703
some saying it alters
traditional views of Mormon history.
294
00:18:41,787 --> 00:18:44,498
Others say it merely sheds new light
and doesn't change a thing.
295
00:18:44,581 --> 00:18:47,251
The Church is not
eager to retell its story,
296
00:18:47,334 --> 00:18:49,837
but I think the story
is gradually going to be altered
297
00:18:49,920 --> 00:18:50,921
in light of new evidence.
298
00:18:51,004 --> 00:18:52,339
The Salamander letter
299
00:18:52,422 --> 00:18:55,008
challenges the Mormon Church's account
of its own origins.
300
00:18:55,092 --> 00:18:58,470
It sent historians scurrying
to reinterpret the Mormon past.
301
00:18:58,554 --> 00:19:03,183
Instead of God and angels,
now it's salamanders and magic.
302
00:19:03,267 --> 00:19:06,520
It's as if someone came up with
a document in which Moses said,
303
00:19:06,603 --> 00:19:10,107
"I got the Ten Commandments
from the ghost of Elvis Presley."
304
00:19:10,190 --> 00:19:11,942
The letter accuses Smith
305
00:19:12,025 --> 00:19:14,361
of dealing in folk magic
and treasure hunting.
306
00:19:14,444 --> 00:19:16,613
This Mormonism,
it's an outgrowth of magic.
307
00:19:16,697 --> 00:19:18,323
It's just boogeldy-boogeldy.
308
00:19:18,407 --> 00:19:23,245
Religion sometimes breeds
amongst people some extremes.
309
00:19:23,745 --> 00:19:27,207
It was a striking blow
at the belief in the Church.
310
00:19:27,291 --> 00:19:29,585
Mormon leaders came under fire
from critics
311
00:19:29,710 --> 00:19:31,628
when the Salamander letter came to light...
312
00:19:31,712 --> 00:19:35,090
The Church is not in a crisis of faith.
We do not feel...
313
00:19:35,674 --> 00:19:38,969
whatever the commentaries may be,
that the Church's foundations
314
00:19:39,052 --> 00:19:41,847
are in any way being battered or crumbled.
315
00:19:41,930 --> 00:19:44,516
I love the gospel with all my heart...
316
00:19:44,600 --> 00:19:46,143
Steve began to recognize
317
00:19:46,226 --> 00:19:49,188
that document dealing
wasn't just a gentle pastime
318
00:19:49,271 --> 00:19:51,565
for those
who have a passing interest in history.
319
00:19:51,648 --> 00:19:53,525
Do you still have the letter?
320
00:19:53,609 --> 00:19:56,028
No, I donated the letter
to the LDS Church,
321
00:19:56,570 --> 00:20:00,282
which had really
been the plan for some time.
322
00:20:00,365 --> 00:20:03,827
Those documents are reportedly
in the possession of the Church Archives.
323
00:20:03,911 --> 00:20:06,997
Examination by historians
outside the Church is forbidden.
324
00:20:07,080 --> 00:20:08,248
At that point,
325
00:20:08,332 --> 00:20:11,460
Steve Christensen donated
the Salamander letter to the Church,
326
00:20:12,169 --> 00:20:16,173
and in a letter that he wrote
to President Gordon B. Hinckley,
327
00:20:16,256 --> 00:20:17,966
one of the things he said was,
328
00:20:18,050 --> 00:20:20,219
"It appears
that dealing in Mormon documents
329
00:20:20,302 --> 00:20:22,387
can be a dangerous business."
330
00:20:23,764 --> 00:20:25,933
- I think that's what I need.
- Okay.
331
00:20:38,695 --> 00:20:41,490
I came to Utah
and joined a bowling league.
332
00:20:42,824 --> 00:20:46,703
And one of the bowlers there
brought out a tool chest of coins.
333
00:20:47,287 --> 00:20:49,039
My eyes got that big.
334
00:20:51,792 --> 00:20:54,336
I bought it,
and it got me started in coins.
335
00:20:56,588 --> 00:21:01,593
And Mark Hofmann saw that I was
interested in Mormon-related money items.
336
00:21:02,344 --> 00:21:05,806
So he was coming in
all the time with new items.
337
00:21:07,641 --> 00:21:09,726
The notoriety
of the Salamander letter
338
00:21:09,810 --> 00:21:11,603
has increased the odds that even more
339
00:21:11,687 --> 00:21:14,314
of these rare Mormon documents
might soon be found.
340
00:21:14,398 --> 00:21:16,775
Dealers and collectors
are especially conscious
341
00:21:16,858 --> 00:21:19,236
of the possibility
of finding these rare Mormon papers.
342
00:21:19,319 --> 00:21:22,489
Knowledgeable dealers believe
unfound LDS documents
343
00:21:22,572 --> 00:21:26,076
may number in the hundreds
or even thousands.
344
00:21:31,415 --> 00:21:33,917
One day, Mark comes into my store
345
00:21:34,001 --> 00:21:37,379
and says he's located
a large collection in New York City
346
00:21:38,255 --> 00:21:42,592
that is by far
the largest, uh, Mormon money
347
00:21:42,676 --> 00:21:46,680
and, uh, documents of the Church
in existence.
348
00:21:46,763 --> 00:21:52,185
And he says, "They've contacted me
and are interested in selling it."
349
00:21:55,731 --> 00:21:58,191
Mark says,
"I don't have the money to buy it.
350
00:21:58,275 --> 00:22:00,861
Would you help finance the item?"
351
00:22:00,944 --> 00:22:02,988
And I say, "Well, how much is it?"
352
00:22:03,071 --> 00:22:06,450
And he says, "$185,000."
353
00:22:07,492 --> 00:22:11,997
And I had credit with the bank,
so I gave the money in an advance to Mark.
354
00:22:12,914 --> 00:22:16,460
Stories got around
that Mark is offering this collection.
355
00:22:16,543 --> 00:22:19,421
I remember talkin' with him.
"What's in the collection?"
356
00:22:19,504 --> 00:22:21,423
"It's got five little diaries.
357
00:22:21,506 --> 00:22:24,468
They're written between 1831 and '38."
358
00:22:25,677 --> 00:22:27,429
It became the McLellin Collection.
359
00:22:29,806 --> 00:22:31,892
Well, the McLellin Collection.
360
00:22:31,975 --> 00:22:36,271
There was a letter in there
of potentially a devastating nature.
361
00:22:36,355 --> 00:22:39,941
A letter that was written
by Joseph Smith's wife,
362
00:22:40,025 --> 00:22:44,404
which detailed that it was, in fact,
Joseph Smith's older brother
363
00:22:44,488 --> 00:22:46,531
who first met Moroni,
364
00:22:47,157 --> 00:22:49,618
lifted the stone, saw the gold plates.
365
00:22:52,371 --> 00:22:57,209
And after the Salamander letter
had significant impact for the Church,
366
00:22:58,835 --> 00:23:02,798
the McLellin Collection
was potentially devastating.
367
00:23:03,632 --> 00:23:04,466
Devastating.
368
00:23:06,510 --> 00:23:09,471
When Mark was marketing
the McLellin Collection,
369
00:23:09,554 --> 00:23:12,516
he talked about it with Steve Christensen,
370
00:23:13,100 --> 00:23:16,686
who was representing
the Church's interest at that time,
371
00:23:16,770 --> 00:23:20,607
and hearing about this, began to think,
"Well, the Church ought to own that."
372
00:23:24,152 --> 00:23:30,325
Steve Christensen had sort of been put
in charge from someone in the LDS Church,
373
00:23:30,409 --> 00:23:36,456
and he was gonna go with Mark
and get the McLellin Collection.
374
00:23:37,374 --> 00:23:39,709
Mark took it
through Steven Christensen
375
00:23:39,793 --> 00:23:41,503
directly to the LDS Church,
376
00:23:42,170 --> 00:23:45,715
and they're gonna buy it for $300,000.
377
00:23:47,384 --> 00:23:51,138
And meanwhile,
I should say that I had guaranteed
378
00:23:51,763 --> 00:23:54,724
to not mention this to anybody.
379
00:23:55,642 --> 00:23:58,437
He told me, on this collection,
380
00:23:58,520 --> 00:24:01,314
that the Church
didn't want it to be exposed
381
00:24:01,398 --> 00:24:04,276
until they could go through
the entire collection
382
00:24:04,359 --> 00:24:07,612
and find out what it's about
before it was released to the public.
383
00:24:08,447 --> 00:24:10,782
You know, secrets just can't be kept.
384
00:24:11,533 --> 00:24:13,827
Every...
Well, there's an old story.
385
00:24:14,327 --> 00:24:19,833
If... The only way to keep a secret
between two people is to kill one of 'em.
386
00:24:20,417 --> 00:24:21,835
It's kind of true.
387
00:24:27,716 --> 00:24:30,218
There's an emergency
in the Church building
388
00:24:30,302 --> 00:24:31,428
on the corner of Main...
389
00:24:31,511 --> 00:24:33,991
- An APB... He's been cut.
- ...and Third South.
390
00:24:34,055 --> 00:24:35,735
231, we've got an echo.
391
00:24:35,807 --> 00:24:39,686
- Let's notify homicide.
- We have one male fatality...
392
00:24:39,769 --> 00:24:41,062
It's the kind of terror
393
00:24:41,146 --> 00:24:43,106
that so often
grips other parts of the world.
394
00:24:43,190 --> 00:24:45,275
But today, the violence we associate
395
00:24:45,358 --> 00:24:47,194
with the Middle East or Northern Ireland
396
00:24:47,277 --> 00:24:49,112
struck tragically along the Wasatch Front.
397
00:24:49,196 --> 00:24:52,115
All of a sudden, we heard a boom.
It shook the building.
398
00:24:52,199 --> 00:24:54,451
And there was debris
out in the hallway, cans.
399
00:24:54,534 --> 00:24:55,911
Looked like a wastebasket.
400
00:24:57,913 --> 00:25:02,125
The bomb went off in the east side
of the Judge Building shortly after eight.
401
00:25:02,209 --> 00:25:04,961
The office building
was already full of workers.
402
00:25:05,045 --> 00:25:08,882
I was sitting up in my bed,
uh, watching TV,
403
00:25:09,508 --> 00:25:12,636
and I got a call from Curt Bench.
404
00:25:13,678 --> 00:25:17,349
I was driving to work downtown...
405
00:25:17,432 --> 00:25:19,184
...and I always listened to the news.
406
00:25:19,267 --> 00:25:21,561
...still searching through the debris,
407
00:25:21,645 --> 00:25:25,524
waiting for the victim's body
to be brought out of the Judge Building.
408
00:25:25,607 --> 00:25:30,028
The newscaster said that
there had been an explosion downtown,
409
00:25:30,820 --> 00:25:33,156
and that a man had been killed.
410
00:25:34,324 --> 00:25:37,452
And I only knew one person
that worked in the Judge Building.
411
00:25:38,328 --> 00:25:39,579
It was all over the news.
412
00:25:39,663 --> 00:25:43,875
Every network station
was running it at that point.
413
00:25:44,000 --> 00:25:46,461
...a powerful blast rocked
the sixth floor
414
00:25:46,545 --> 00:25:48,213
of the Judge Building in Salt Lake.
415
00:25:48,296 --> 00:25:50,465
Police believe
it was a sophisticated bomb.
416
00:25:50,549 --> 00:25:53,552
...blown the door off the hinges,
thrown shrapnel...
417
00:25:53,635 --> 00:25:57,055
Here's the secretary that found a box
addressed to our victim.
418
00:25:57,138 --> 00:26:02,102
And, uh, then I got
a call from a reporter, and, uh...
419
00:26:11,444 --> 00:26:13,029
He said, um...
420
00:26:15,448 --> 00:26:19,452
"What can you tell me
about Steve Christensen
421
00:26:20,245 --> 00:26:22,497
now that he's died?"
422
00:26:24,207 --> 00:26:25,917
In downtown Salt Lake,
423
00:26:26,001 --> 00:26:28,795
a local financial consultant,
Steven F. Christensen,
424
00:26:28,878 --> 00:26:30,380
died in that explosion.
425
00:26:30,463 --> 00:26:32,882
Witnesses say
he had stopped to pick up a package
426
00:26:32,966 --> 00:26:35,885
in the doorway of his office
when the booby trap went off.
427
00:26:35,969 --> 00:26:40,265
A search dog from the airport was
brought in to look for more explosives.
428
00:26:40,348 --> 00:26:43,184
So far, no other bombs have been found.
429
00:26:45,353 --> 00:26:47,188
The morning of October 15th,
430
00:26:47,272 --> 00:26:50,191
Steve and I decided we were gonna
get together at eight o'clock.
431
00:26:50,775 --> 00:26:52,444
at the Judge Building.
432
00:26:52,527 --> 00:26:55,822
I called Steve to tell him
I was running ten minutes late,
433
00:26:55,905 --> 00:26:58,158
because I had stopped
to get these documents,
434
00:26:58,241 --> 00:26:59,492
and I'd be walkin' down.
435
00:27:00,327 --> 00:27:03,913
Uh, the phone rang and rang,
and I just got our answering machine.
436
00:27:03,997 --> 00:27:07,667
Hello. You've reached
the offices of Steve Christensen.
437
00:27:07,751 --> 00:27:12,255
And as I'm walking down,
I see police and firetrucks
438
00:27:12,339 --> 00:27:14,549
right out in front of the Judge Building.
439
00:27:15,925 --> 00:27:19,721
Literally, as I walked in the building,
I walked in the same time
440
00:27:19,804 --> 00:27:22,474
that the property manager
was also walking in,
441
00:27:22,557 --> 00:27:24,893
and we ran up the stairs together.
442
00:27:26,770 --> 00:27:32,942
And I'll never forget looking down
at the hall to our office,
443
00:27:34,110 --> 00:27:35,695
and our door was totally...
444
00:27:36,946 --> 00:27:37,989
blown away.
445
00:27:38,073 --> 00:27:39,074
There was no door.
446
00:27:39,699 --> 00:27:40,784
There were Tab cans.
447
00:27:40,867 --> 00:27:43,536
There was debris all over in the hallway,
448
00:27:44,287 --> 00:27:48,416
and it just was unbelievable to me.
449
00:27:56,633 --> 00:28:00,470
And I'll never forget the building
manager turning to me and saying,
450
00:28:01,179 --> 00:28:04,307
"What in the hell type of business
were you guys running?"
451
00:28:06,685 --> 00:28:09,813
The Sheriff's Department
reports another explosion
452
00:28:09,896 --> 00:28:14,192
at a home on Naniloa Drive
in Holladay within the past hour.
453
00:28:14,275 --> 00:28:16,861
County Sheriff is now
investigating the possibility
454
00:28:16,945 --> 00:28:18,905
that this second explosion, once again,
455
00:28:18,988 --> 00:28:22,450
could be linked to this morning's bomb
at the Judge Building downtown.
456
00:28:22,534 --> 00:28:25,954
Police say both bombs were
triggered by an electrical timing device
457
00:28:26,037 --> 00:28:28,289
and were the work
of professional assassins.
458
00:28:28,373 --> 00:28:31,543
Yes. It was quite loud, a big pop, bang.
459
00:28:31,626 --> 00:28:34,337
The first victim
was Steve Christensen.
460
00:28:34,421 --> 00:28:35,630
The second was the wife
461
00:28:35,714 --> 00:28:38,466
of one of Christensen's
former business associates.
462
00:28:38,550 --> 00:28:40,427
Kathy Sheets died by the blast,
463
00:28:40,510 --> 00:28:42,762
apparently intended for her husband, Gary.
464
00:28:43,471 --> 00:28:46,766
My mind was just racing
with what I just experienced.
465
00:28:47,350 --> 00:28:49,269
I looked over in the corner of my eye.
466
00:28:50,061 --> 00:28:53,565
There's my former partner and boss,
467
00:28:53,648 --> 00:28:57,986
Gary Sheets, just standing there,
wondering what's going on.
468
00:28:58,069 --> 00:29:00,947
The connection
between Christensen and Sheets.
469
00:29:01,030 --> 00:29:03,908
Both served as officers
in a financial consulting company...
470
00:29:03,992 --> 00:29:06,327
The bomb was apparently
meant for Gary Sheets,
471
00:29:06,411 --> 00:29:08,913
but the killer missed his mark,
and Sheets' wife Kathy...
472
00:29:08,997 --> 00:29:11,624
Kathy Sheets died instantly
when she picked up a bomb
473
00:29:11,708 --> 00:29:12,834
placed on a wooden walk.
474
00:29:13,418 --> 00:29:16,504
Police say the device was equal in power
to two sticks of dynamite.
475
00:29:18,423 --> 00:29:22,302
The headlines were
Salt Lake City was like Beirut, Lebanon.
476
00:29:22,886 --> 00:29:25,764
It's like, "What on Earth's going on?"
477
00:29:28,183 --> 00:29:32,395
And panic began to ensue
because one bomb is an anomaly.
478
00:29:32,479 --> 00:29:34,773
Two bombs suggests a serial killer.
479
00:29:35,273 --> 00:29:38,318
If there were two bombs,
there could be three, four, five,
480
00:29:38,401 --> 00:29:39,401
or a dozen or more.
481
00:29:39,444 --> 00:29:41,404
A secretary at the Salt Lake Tribune
482
00:29:41,488 --> 00:29:43,948
received a call that said
the bomber wasn't finished.
483
00:29:44,032 --> 00:29:45,909
"I suggest you listen carefully.
484
00:29:46,576 --> 00:29:49,537
There's four more bombs
from here to South Temple."
485
00:29:49,621 --> 00:29:53,291
It was very disturbing and frightening,
486
00:29:53,374 --> 00:29:55,752
and there was
all kinds of speculation going on.
487
00:29:55,835 --> 00:29:58,797
If there is a reason for today's madness,
the answer probably lies
488
00:29:58,880 --> 00:30:01,216
buried in the business records
of Christensen and Sheets.
489
00:30:01,299 --> 00:30:03,468
...theories revolved
around high finance
490
00:30:03,551 --> 00:30:05,762
and big losses in the CFS company.
491
00:30:05,845 --> 00:30:08,223
There was dark talk
of disgruntled investors,
492
00:30:08,306 --> 00:30:11,017
hired professional killers,
and Las Vegas connections.
493
00:30:11,100 --> 00:30:13,394
Sheets helped
bombing victim Steve Christensen
494
00:30:13,478 --> 00:30:16,773
finance the purchase and study
of the so-called Salamander letter
495
00:30:16,856 --> 00:30:18,942
before it was turned over
to the Mormon Church.
496
00:30:19,025 --> 00:30:20,026
My feeling is that
497
00:30:20,109 --> 00:30:23,738
some disgruntled investor
somewhere hired someone to do this.
498
00:30:23,822 --> 00:30:26,574
We didn't know
who the targets were going to be next,
499
00:30:26,658 --> 00:30:28,827
if there was anybody
that was gonna be next.
500
00:30:28,910 --> 00:30:32,330
Chief Willoughby has been meeting
the past hour with other officials,
501
00:30:32,413 --> 00:30:35,208
and we're going to go to him
right now for this briefing.
502
00:30:37,085 --> 00:30:42,215
At this moment,
we have a task force put together
503
00:30:42,298 --> 00:30:46,511
because, uh, we definitely feel
that there is a direct tie
504
00:30:46,594 --> 00:30:50,473
between both of the bombings here
in Salt Lake County and Salt Lake City.
505
00:30:51,182 --> 00:30:55,520
There are two areas
that we're centering our efforts on,
506
00:30:55,603 --> 00:30:58,314
and one is the financial dealings,
507
00:30:58,398 --> 00:31:02,235
uh, both Mr. Sheets
and Mr. Christensen were involved in.
508
00:31:03,111 --> 00:31:05,697
The other motive, uh,
we're getting information on
509
00:31:05,780 --> 00:31:08,825
has to do
with the White Salamander letter, uh,
510
00:31:08,908 --> 00:31:11,828
which is now in the possession
of the LDS Church.
511
00:31:11,911 --> 00:31:12,829
Hold on.
512
00:31:12,912 --> 00:31:16,040
Now, my mind immediately
started turning elsewhere.
513
00:31:17,166 --> 00:31:20,295
This has something to do
with that crazy document deal
514
00:31:21,254 --> 00:31:22,672
that Steve was dealing with.
515
00:31:40,440 --> 00:31:42,066
Welcome now to Primetime Access.
516
00:31:42,150 --> 00:31:43,067
I'm Bruce Lindsay.
517
00:31:43,151 --> 00:31:45,528
On this day of extraordinary news
in Salt Lake City,
518
00:31:45,612 --> 00:31:47,947
we're going to devote
most of the rest of this hour
519
00:31:48,031 --> 00:31:49,866
to questions emerging from the murders.
520
00:31:49,949 --> 00:31:53,036
The violence began
as downtown was opening for business.
521
00:31:53,119 --> 00:31:56,331
A morning of fear and death
for much of the Wasatch Front.
522
00:31:56,414 --> 00:31:59,292
...an anonymous caller warned
there were even more bombs
523
00:31:59,375 --> 00:32:00,877
in surrounding buildings.
524
00:32:00,960 --> 00:32:03,838
Police say that that call
could have been a copycat prank,
525
00:32:03,922 --> 00:32:06,674
but the department was taking no chances
at that point.
526
00:32:06,758 --> 00:32:10,637
I would, uh, work with Mark,
and it was always on Wednesday afternoon.
527
00:32:10,720 --> 00:32:12,639
And we would just meet at Walden Book.
528
00:32:12,722 --> 00:32:13,722
That was our spot.
529
00:32:14,182 --> 00:32:17,185
But on October 16th,
I didn't go up that day.
530
00:32:18,603 --> 00:32:20,647
Uh, I tried to get ahold of Mark,
531
00:32:20,730 --> 00:32:22,398
but I couldn't reach him.
532
00:32:22,482 --> 00:32:25,151
I guess he was
running around town that day.
533
00:32:25,234 --> 00:32:27,195
But I did run into Curt Bench, I think,
534
00:32:27,278 --> 00:32:30,782
and Curt told me that, uh,
he had talked to Mark or something,
535
00:32:30,865 --> 00:32:33,952
and he also made it sound
like Mark was, uh...
536
00:32:35,370 --> 00:32:36,663
really nervous.
537
00:32:36,746 --> 00:32:37,664
Okay?
538
00:32:37,747 --> 00:32:38,748
Really nervous.
539
00:32:38,831 --> 00:32:42,502
An associate of Christensen said,
"We're filled with absolute terror."
540
00:32:42,585 --> 00:32:45,004
The houses were cordoned off,
families evacuated,
541
00:32:45,088 --> 00:32:47,131
and dogs brought in to sniff for bombs.
542
00:32:47,215 --> 00:32:48,132
None were found.
543
00:32:48,216 --> 00:32:50,760
I called Mark,
and I warned Mark
544
00:32:50,843 --> 00:32:55,098
and told him that he ought to get
his family out of their house.
545
00:32:55,890 --> 00:32:58,601
Mark tells me,
"Christensen has been killed.
546
00:32:58,685 --> 00:33:00,144
Kathy Sheets has been killed.
547
00:33:00,228 --> 00:33:02,397
I don't know what is happening here.
548
00:33:02,480 --> 00:33:03,898
Your life may be in danger.
549
00:33:03,982 --> 00:33:05,441
You need to leave the house."
550
00:33:05,942 --> 00:33:09,612
We don't know if the attacks had
something to do with religion or business
551
00:33:09,696 --> 00:33:11,072
or even possibly both...
552
00:33:11,155 --> 00:33:14,784
We knew that the people involved
in the Mormon document business
553
00:33:14,867 --> 00:33:17,620
could be potential targets.
554
00:33:18,496 --> 00:33:23,042
And Mark did tell me
that he had concerns
555
00:33:23,126 --> 00:33:26,337
about the McLellin Collection.
556
00:33:27,797 --> 00:33:29,507
People had heard things about it,
557
00:33:29,590 --> 00:33:33,219
and it was becoming
more of a controversial subject.
558
00:33:36,097 --> 00:33:38,725
Lawmen in Salt Lake City
are going all out now
559
00:33:38,808 --> 00:33:40,935
to come up with the "whys" in the tragedy.
560
00:33:41,019 --> 00:33:43,479
They have come up
with some startling information.
561
00:33:43,563 --> 00:33:45,940
It now turns out
that there's another collection
562
00:33:46,024 --> 00:33:49,610
of early Mormon documents
that are reputed to be far more explosive.
563
00:33:49,694 --> 00:33:51,320
They're the McLellin Collection.
564
00:33:51,404 --> 00:33:54,407
Books, diaries, and revelations
from the era of Joseph Smith.
565
00:33:54,490 --> 00:33:56,993
One of the would-be buyers
turns out to have been
566
00:33:57,076 --> 00:33:59,162
bombing victim Steve Christensen.
567
00:33:59,245 --> 00:34:01,914
LDS officials
have yet to confirm or deny reports
568
00:34:01,998 --> 00:34:04,792
that Gordon B. Hinckley
had agreed to buy the documents,
569
00:34:04,876 --> 00:34:07,587
which are believed to contain
controversial information
570
00:34:07,670 --> 00:34:09,672
about the founding of the Mormon Church.
571
00:34:09,756 --> 00:34:16,095
Alvin Rust says the LDS Church had agreed
to pay $300,000 for the collection.
572
00:34:16,179 --> 00:34:19,390
Who at the Church had agreed
to purchase these for $300,000?
573
00:34:19,474 --> 00:34:21,434
It was, uh, Gordon B. Hinckley.
574
00:34:23,186 --> 00:34:25,354
I get on the phone to call the prophet
575
00:34:25,438 --> 00:34:28,107
of the Church of Jesus Christ
of Latter-Day Saints.
576
00:34:28,608 --> 00:34:32,695
The man that took the call says,
"What is it about?"
577
00:34:33,488 --> 00:34:36,240
And I said,
"It's about the McLellin Collection."
578
00:34:36,324 --> 00:34:39,494
He says, "Yeah, you and Hofmann
were to bring that right now."
579
00:34:39,577 --> 00:34:43,081
A Church spokesman confirms
that Hofmann met with LDS apostles
580
00:34:43,164 --> 00:34:44,624
on Tuesday afternoon,
581
00:34:44,707 --> 00:34:47,835
just hours after the first bomb
killed Steven Christensen.
582
00:34:47,919 --> 00:34:51,339
He said he wanted to donate
the collection to the Church.
583
00:34:52,173 --> 00:34:55,176
There was no discussion
of our purchasing it.
584
00:34:55,885 --> 00:34:58,596
He says,
"We've got people here right now
585
00:34:58,679 --> 00:35:00,598
waiting for the McLellin Collection,
586
00:35:00,681 --> 00:35:01,974
to examine it.
587
00:35:02,058 --> 00:35:04,685
They want to purchase it for the Church."
588
00:35:04,769 --> 00:35:07,605
Hofmann was to turn over
the collection to Christensen
589
00:35:07,688 --> 00:35:09,440
the morning Christensen was killed.
590
00:35:09,524 --> 00:35:12,443
Hofmann didn't show
for the 10:00 a.m. appointment,
591
00:35:12,527 --> 00:35:14,779
but called and asked to meet
at 2:00 p.m.
592
00:35:14,862 --> 00:35:16,197
Sources tell Channel 5
593
00:35:16,280 --> 00:35:19,367
Hofmann had at least two meetings
set up to peddle the papers.
594
00:35:19,450 --> 00:35:22,662
...signature and have it
witnessed, or something like that.
595
00:35:22,745 --> 00:35:25,081
Yeah, I can tell you also that, uh,
596
00:35:25,164 --> 00:35:27,667
the LDS Church is interested in it also.
597
00:35:27,750 --> 00:35:31,170
Yeah, well,
that may tend to complicate things.
598
00:35:31,254 --> 00:35:34,632
They've already acquired,
in fact, uh, some other pieces
599
00:35:34,715 --> 00:35:35,591
they got from me,
600
00:35:35,675 --> 00:35:37,844
- but they don't have this one yet.
- Mm-hmm.
601
00:35:37,927 --> 00:35:40,263
I don't know
what they're interested in it for,
602
00:35:40,346 --> 00:35:42,098
if they just want to lock it up or...
603
00:35:42,181 --> 00:35:44,517
I can't imagine them publishing it
or anything.
604
00:35:45,017 --> 00:35:46,644
Well, be hard to say.
605
00:35:46,727 --> 00:35:48,104
- Yeah.
- Um...
606
00:35:49,397 --> 00:35:52,441
Shannon Flynn is believed
to have been working with Hofmann
607
00:35:52,525 --> 00:35:53,943
on the sale of those papers.
608
00:35:54,986 --> 00:35:55,987
I don't know.
609
00:35:57,405 --> 00:36:01,367
He had an appointment
at two o'clock with an attorney
610
00:36:01,450 --> 00:36:04,704
that represented
a well-to-do Church member
611
00:36:04,787 --> 00:36:08,791
that was going to buy
that McLellin Collection,
612
00:36:08,875 --> 00:36:13,421
give Mark the money,
and kind of keep it for the Church.
613
00:36:14,380 --> 00:36:16,382
And then the shock came.
614
00:36:25,766 --> 00:36:28,811
We saw the explosion,
and the window in the back
615
00:36:28,895 --> 00:36:29,729
flew up in the air.
616
00:36:29,812 --> 00:36:32,773
Was it loud? Yeah.
It shook this whole building, right here.
617
00:36:36,110 --> 00:36:40,781
I drove out to Mark's house
because we had set up a lunch.
618
00:36:40,865 --> 00:36:42,700
Went and knocked on his door.
619
00:36:42,783 --> 00:36:43,659
No one answered.
620
00:36:43,743 --> 00:36:45,036
No one was home.
621
00:36:47,330 --> 00:36:51,667
And, while I was there,
there's news of another bombing coming in.
622
00:36:51,751 --> 00:36:54,670
A bomb was placed
under the seat of a sports car...
623
00:36:54,754 --> 00:36:58,090
It's a car that's been bombed.
It's a Toyota MR2.
624
00:36:58,174 --> 00:37:01,344
All three explosions
may be connected to a controversy.
625
00:37:01,427 --> 00:37:05,223
I mean, I immediately said,
"That's Mark Hofmann's car."
626
00:37:10,269 --> 00:37:11,979
...he's pretty banged up.
627
00:37:12,063 --> 00:37:14,065
He was missing some fingers
that I could see,
628
00:37:14,148 --> 00:37:18,027
had a hole kind of on top of his head,
had a hole in one of his legs.
629
00:37:18,110 --> 00:37:22,823
I remember distinctly
that I had to pull over my car,
630
00:37:22,907 --> 00:37:25,993
and slamming my hand
against the steering wheel
631
00:37:26,077 --> 00:37:27,161
and saying aloud,
632
00:37:27,662 --> 00:37:29,538
"Why didn't you listen to me?
633
00:37:29,622 --> 00:37:31,082
Why didn't you listen to me?"
634
00:37:31,749 --> 00:37:33,668
When officers searched
Hofmann's car,
635
00:37:33,751 --> 00:37:36,963
they found a collection believed to be
early Mormon historical documents.
636
00:37:37,046 --> 00:37:38,965
They're known as the McLellin Collection.
637
00:37:40,007 --> 00:37:43,886
I remember
running out the door as fast as I could,
638
00:37:43,970 --> 00:37:45,930
driving up to the police line,
639
00:37:46,013 --> 00:37:47,013
and just...
640
00:37:47,723 --> 00:37:51,686
jumping out of my car and leaving it
in the middle of the street,
641
00:37:52,270 --> 00:37:55,898
and running over to an officer
who was standing there,
642
00:37:55,982 --> 00:38:00,069
and saying, "Excuse me,
but I think I know whose car that is."
643
00:38:00,152 --> 00:38:03,406
Mark Hofmann was trying to sell
historical Mormon documents.
644
00:38:03,489 --> 00:38:06,450
The original appointment
included Steven Christensen.
645
00:38:06,534 --> 00:38:08,494
He said, "What's your name?"
646
00:38:08,577 --> 00:38:10,579
And I said, "Brent Metcalfe."
647
00:38:11,539 --> 00:38:14,375
And he said,
"I want you to come with me right now."
648
00:38:18,337 --> 00:38:19,547
And he tells me,
649
00:38:20,631 --> 00:38:24,844
"We have reason to believe
that somebody may be trying to kill you."
650
00:38:31,934 --> 00:38:34,270
I get a call
from a gentleman who said,
651
00:38:34,353 --> 00:38:38,232
"Randy, you need to take
your family and leave.
652
00:38:38,316 --> 00:38:41,402
We're gonna have bomb dogs
and people come over
653
00:38:41,485 --> 00:38:43,821
and actually go through your home."
654
00:38:43,904 --> 00:38:46,532
I'm now looking underneath my car.
I mean...
655
00:38:46,615 --> 00:38:48,117
And this is where my mind was.
656
00:38:48,200 --> 00:38:50,161
I mean, you didn't dare trust anything.
657
00:38:50,911 --> 00:38:54,332
Our lives had been
totally, uh, torn apart.
658
00:38:54,915 --> 00:38:57,793
They informed me
that I was in extreme danger
659
00:38:57,877 --> 00:39:01,047
and that my family and I
should take every precaution.
660
00:39:01,130 --> 00:39:02,548
"Please take cover.
661
00:39:02,631 --> 00:39:04,884
Call your wife immediately,
662
00:39:04,967 --> 00:39:07,011
and be very careful right now.
663
00:39:07,094 --> 00:39:08,679
We don't know what's going on."
664
00:39:23,152 --> 00:39:25,112
I was at my mother's house,
665
00:39:25,196 --> 00:39:27,031
and a phone call came in
666
00:39:27,114 --> 00:39:30,576
that said Mark had been hurt in a car,
667
00:39:30,659 --> 00:39:31,659
with a car bomb.
668
00:39:32,870 --> 00:39:35,915
And I immediately started shaking.
669
00:39:37,708 --> 00:39:40,086
My sister drove me down
'cause I couldn't drive.
670
00:39:40,169 --> 00:39:41,003
I was too upset.
671
00:39:41,087 --> 00:39:42,963
So she drove me down to the hospital.
672
00:39:43,923 --> 00:39:46,717
I went into the hospital,
told them I was Mark's wife.
673
00:39:48,094 --> 00:39:49,094
Um...
674
00:39:57,436 --> 00:39:59,230
He was on a table in a gown.
675
00:39:59,313 --> 00:40:01,148
He had glass all over his face.
676
00:40:03,609 --> 00:40:06,612
None of it made sense to me.
Why would these people want to...
677
00:40:06,695 --> 00:40:08,781
Why would they wanna kill Steve or Kathy?
678
00:40:08,864 --> 00:40:10,574
Why would anybody wanna kill them?
679
00:40:10,658 --> 00:40:12,034
It didn't make sense to me.
680
00:40:12,118 --> 00:40:13,702
Why would they wanna kill them?
681
00:40:14,245 --> 00:40:16,080
It just didn't-didn't make sense.
682
00:40:21,419 --> 00:40:24,004
Throughout this day,
Salt Lake lawmen rushed to check
683
00:40:24,088 --> 00:40:26,173
several bomb threats
and suspicious situations.
684
00:40:26,257 --> 00:40:29,051
Even tonight, it has extended
to the heart of our city.
685
00:40:29,135 --> 00:40:31,887
Temple Square is at this moment
under lockdown.
686
00:40:31,971 --> 00:40:34,932
Everyone on the square,
including the Mormon Youth Symphony,
687
00:40:35,015 --> 00:40:37,935
was evacuated after
what was believed to be a bomb threat.
688
00:40:38,018 --> 00:40:40,479
Canine units were called in
to patrol the grounds.
689
00:40:40,563 --> 00:40:41,856
At the Mormon Church...
690
00:40:41,939 --> 00:40:44,275
♪ ...for a prophet ♪
691
00:40:44,358 --> 00:40:48,696
♪ To guide us in these latter days... ♪
692
00:40:48,779 --> 00:40:52,658
I didn't think the Mormon
document world was a dangerous business.
693
00:40:52,741 --> 00:40:55,286
I thought it was an exhilarating business,
694
00:40:55,369 --> 00:40:59,123
but there was definitely an underbelly
695
00:40:59,206 --> 00:41:01,876
to Mormon document dealing.
696
00:41:04,545 --> 00:41:07,298
More than any crimes in memory,
697
00:41:07,381 --> 00:41:09,717
these bombings
have given rise to speculation,
698
00:41:09,800 --> 00:41:11,469
theories, and public guessing.
699
00:41:11,552 --> 00:41:14,722
Security has been beefed up,
and bomb searches carried out.
700
00:41:14,805 --> 00:41:16,390
The university's archives have...
701
00:41:16,474 --> 00:41:19,101
Some documents vanished or disappeared.
702
00:41:19,185 --> 00:41:22,313
Uh, we don't really know
what might have happened to them.
703
00:41:26,775 --> 00:41:29,153
Whoever had committed these murders,
704
00:41:29,236 --> 00:41:32,031
they're somehow related
to these Mormon documents.
705
00:41:32,114 --> 00:41:35,659
Police are refusing to comment
on reports that Hofmann had other letters
706
00:41:35,743 --> 00:41:38,120
believed to be
even more damaging to the Church...
707
00:41:38,204 --> 00:41:41,957
At this time, I will not comment on that.
That's still part of the investigation.
708
00:41:42,041 --> 00:41:44,001
And a killer is still on the loose.
709
00:41:44,084 --> 00:41:49,215
Most likely, it was somebody who was LDS,
710
00:41:49,298 --> 00:41:53,010
who knew the details
of what we were doing.
711
00:41:53,093 --> 00:41:56,055
Ties to murder and intrigues
have given the Mormon Church
712
00:41:56,138 --> 00:41:57,848
the kind of attention it doesn't want.
713
00:41:57,932 --> 00:42:00,684
It could have been
someone who had a loved one,
714
00:42:00,768 --> 00:42:03,395
who had a crisis of faith
as a result of all of this.
715
00:42:03,479 --> 00:42:06,732
To have the Church
involved in the acquisition
716
00:42:06,815 --> 00:42:10,986
of a collection at this time
would simply fuel speculation
717
00:42:11,070 --> 00:42:14,573
that the Church was trying to acquire it
in order to suppress it.
718
00:42:14,657 --> 00:42:17,493
They wanted
to inflict damage and harm.
719
00:42:17,576 --> 00:42:19,703
A Mormon Church official
said there was, quote,
720
00:42:19,787 --> 00:42:23,832
"Nothing sinister in the Church's efforts
to acquire historical documents
721
00:42:23,916 --> 00:42:24,916
from Mark Hofmann."
722
00:42:24,959 --> 00:42:26,252
Hofmann was hospitalized...
723
00:42:26,335 --> 00:42:28,045
It seemed clear to me...
724
00:42:28,921 --> 00:42:30,923
this was retaliatory.
725
00:42:31,966 --> 00:42:36,512
♪We thank thee, O God
For a prophet ♪
726
00:42:36,595 --> 00:42:40,724
♪ To guide us in these latter days ♪
727
00:42:41,475 --> 00:42:47,731
♪ We thank thee for sending the gospel ♪
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♪ To lighten our minds with its rays ♪
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