[FORGERY AND MURDER]. Authentic Mark Hofmann bank check, signed and dated, paid to his Mortgage Lender, for "Late Charges" Hofmann, Mark Book Arts,Boston Book Fair 2025

1 canceled bank check (6" x 2.75"), printed on verso, endorsed in manuscript by Mark Hofmann and bearing his signature and date, as well as the payee: Rettiley Mortgage Co. AN IRONIC SURVIVOR OF MARK HOFMANN'S EARLY CRIME WAVE: THIS CANCELED CHECK BEARS HOFMANN'S SIGNATURE (NOT A FAKE!) AND IS DATABLE TO THE YEAR IN WHICH HE MANUFACTURED THE INFAMOUS "JOSEPH III BLESSING" MORMON DOCUMENT. PERENNIALLY IN DEBT, OUR CHECK IS DISTINGUISHED BY THE FACT THAT HE MADE IT PAYABLE TO HIS MORTGAGE LENDER FOR "LATE CHARGES." Hofmann (b. 1954) is a convicted murderer and forger from Salt Lake City. While he is justly considered to be among the most skilled forgers of all time, his claim to infamy is for producing fake documents pertaining to the Mormon Church history, particularly those that contradict its standard teachings and dogma, and ultimately for murdering two innocent people. Despite the money he made from sales of documents (forged and genuine), Hofmann was almost always in debt due to his lavish lifestyle. As pressure increased on him to pay his now-crushing financial obligations, he tried to buy more time by manufacturing homemade bombs. By design, one of them killed a Mormon document collector / client, Steven Christensen. To deflect attention away from himself as the perpetrator, Hofmann planted a bomb in the driveway of Christensen's business partner Gary Sheets. This bomb detonated not in the face of the intended victim, but in that of his wife Kathy, which killed her instantly. The next day a third bomb detonated, this time in Hofmann's car (probably by accident). After months of investigation by the ATF, the FBI and the Salt Lake City police, he was arrested in January 1986; in the next year pleaded guilty to two counts of second-degree murder, one count of theft by deception (for forging the so-called Salamander Letter), and one count of fraud for the bogus sale of the fictitious McLellen Collection), thereby escaping the death penalty. Hofmann was sentenced to "five years to life" in Utah prison, but because of his shocking indifference to the deaths of his victims, and his utter lack of remorse, the Board of Pardons chose to eliminate the possibility that he would ever be released from prison. Very few actual Mark Hofmann signatures have appeared on the market.