Mormons Deny ‘Sinister’ Link to Fatal Bombings : Leaders Report Normal Dealings for Historical Documents With Suspect

Mormon Church leaders said Wednesday there was nothing “sinister and underhanded” about their meetings with bombing suspect Mark Hofmann regarding a purported treasure-trove of historical documents.

Responding to news accounts of two fatal bombings apparently linked to trafficking in early Mormon records, church officials held a rare news conference at church headquarters to detail their dealings with the man police describe as their prime suspect.

“In the glare and innuendo of publicity accompanying the recent investigation, a normal, though confidential, transaction has been made to appear sinister and underhanded,” said Dallin Oaks, a member of the church’s Council of the Twelve Apostles.

“My own contact with it has been seen as mysterious and questionable. I therefore welcome the opportunity to set the public record straight,” said Oaks, who met with Hofmann on Oct. 15, just hours after the bombings.

Satisfactory Condition

Hofmann, 31, who had been involved in trading or selling some 40 documents to the church since 1980, was listed in satisfactory condition recovering from injuries sustained in a third bombing Oct. 16, which police believe was accidental. No charges have been filed against Hofmann.

Gordon B. Hinckley, a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints’ governing First Presidency, said Hofmann offered in June to donate a collection of letters, diaries and ancient papyri he called the McLellin papers.

Hinckley said he had not been aware previously of such a collection. He said he told Hofmann he would be interested in talking further once Hofmann had acquired the papers and paid off a $150,000 loan he had acquired from another dealer for the transaction.

Doubt About Collection

“I always had some doubt about the McLellin collection” because the church’s historical department knew nothing of it, said Hinckley, who runs the church’s daily affairs for ailing President Spencer W. Kimball.

Hinckley and Oaks denied the church had offered money for the papers of William E. McLellin, an early church apostle who was excommunicated in 1838.

Oaks said he was approached in late June by another church official, Hugh Pinnock, about the possibility of the church loaning $185,000 to Hofmann to buy the collection. Oaks refused, but said he authorized Pinnock to arrange a private loan for Hofmann at First Interstate Bank, where Pinnock is a board member.

$150,000 Loan

Oaks said he was not aware at the time of Hofmann’s earlier conversation with Hinckley, who was then out of town, or of a $150,000 loan to Hofmann from Salt Lake coin dealer Alvin Rust.

Pinnock said he’d been told either by Hofmann or Steven L. Christensen that the loan from Rust was for the purchase of a different document and that the McLellin collection had been pledged as collateral.

Christensen, 31, a history buff who had bought other documents from Hofmann, was killed in the first blast at his downtown office. The second bomb three hours later killed Kathy Sheets, 50, wife of Gary Sheets, an associate of Christensen’s who police believe was the intended victim. Christensen and Sheets were Mormon bishops.