On this day, Oct. 15, in 1985, master forger Mark Hofmann kills two people with pipe bombs to cover up his acts of fakery.
For years Hofmann tricked the nation’s top document collectors, creating counterfeit writings of Mark Twain, George Washington and Mormon leader Joseph Smith.
When his scheme began to unravel, he built two pipe bombs to divert attention. Killed in separate explosions in Salt Lake City were document collector Steve Christensen and Kathleen Sheets, wife of Christensen’s former business associate.
Police began to suspect Hofmann the next day after a bomb exploded in his car. A search of his house unearthed the tools used to create his forgeries.
Hofmann was sentenced to life in prison.
-Scott McCabe
