Salamander Letter - Suspicion & Resolution

Suspicion & Resolution

Hofmann drew suspicion for discovering so many astounding documents that others had missed, including the so-called "Oath of a Freeman", which he was attempting to sell to the Library of Congress.

Jerald and Sandra Tanner (Salt Lake City residents who left the LDS church after coming to doubt the legitimacy of the church's claims) were suspicious of Hofmann's Salamander Letter. Though Hofmann's "discoveries" of important Mormon documents often appeared to bolster the Tanners' own arguments, Jerald had, by early 1984, concluded there was significant doubt as to the Salamander Letter's authenticity, and "to the astonishment of a community of scholars, historians and students, published an attack on the so-called Salamander Letter." By late 1984, Jerald Tanner questioned the authenticity of most if not all of Hofmann's "discoveries" based in large part of their unproven provenance. The Tanners did concur with Hofmann in contending that the LDS church's apparent inability to discern the forged documents was evidence against church leadership being divinely inspired. John Tvedtnes, an LDS scholar, responded with Joseph Smith's statement that "a prophet was a prophet only when he was acting as such," and that purchasing historical materials is a business activity rather than a prophetic undertaking. It is also asserted that the LDS leaders don't claim infallibility and that the Church's efforts to obtain and archive historically significant material extends to works even by anti-Mormon authors.

Hofmann was struggling under massive debt and falling behind on delivering on deals that he had made. In 1985, when he learned that the pedigree of the Salamander Letter was under widespread suspicion, he produced and sent a number of bombs as a diversionary tactic. Two people were killed: Christensen, the main target; and Kathleen Sheets. Hofmann himself was subsequently injured when a third bomb went off prematurely in his car. The police investigated this wave of destruction, and during a search of Hofmann's home found a studio in the basement where he could create counterfeited documents as well as a machine gun which had been converted to full automatic fire. This was later used as the basis for a federal indictment. Many of the documents Hofmann sold or donated were proven to be forgeries by a new forensic technique developed by the Federal Bureau of Investigation, chiefly to detect his forgeries. Salt Lake City Police Department forensic examiner George Throckmorton and Arizona document examiner William Flynn were the investigators who determined the letter was a forgery. They examined a poem supposedly written by Harris and placed in his old Book of Common Prayer and determined it had actually been created by Hofmann. Hofmann used the poem to authenticate the writing in the salamander letter. Although this was enough proof by itself that the letter was a forgery, Throckmorton and Flynn bolstered their case by getting in touch with Frances Magee, the widow of a descendant of Robert Harris. Magee's family had owned the book for many years, and Magee told investigators that she'd never seen the poem before. She suspected someone had planted it there after she sold the book.

Church leaders, especially Gordon B. Hinckley, continued to field criticism for some time for "being duped" and being "unable to discern the evil intentions of a man like Hofmann". Hinckley later noted: "I accepted him to come into my office on a basis of trust.... I frankly admit that Hofmann tricked us. He also tricked experts from New York to Utah, however.... 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."