Posted by:
blindguy
(
)
Date: October 26, 2020 09:53AM
Wikipedia to the rescue! From that site:
"Hofmann was arrested in January 1986 and charged on four
indictments totaling 27 counts, including
first-degree murder, delivering a bomb, constructing or possessing a bomb, theft by deception, and communication fraud. A fifth indictment, containing an additional five counts
of theft by deception, was added later in January.
Hofmann initially maintained his innocence. However, at a preliminary hearing, prosecutors produced voluminous evidence of his forgeries and debts, as well as evidence linking him to the bombs.
Hofmann not only faced the prospect of the
death penalty in Utah, but was indicted on federal charges of possession of an unregistered machine gun. New York prosecutors also sought an indictment for the fraudulent sale of the Oath of a Freeman. In January 1987, Hofmann pleaded guilty to two counts of second-degree murder, one count of theft by deception for forging the Salamander Letter, and one count of fraud for the bogus sale of the McLellin collection. He agreed to confess his forgeries in open court, in return for which prosecutors in Utah and New York dropped additional charges against him. He was sentenced to five years to life, but the judge recommended that Hofmann never be released."
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mark_HofmannMy guess is that in order to not have to seek the testimony of Gordon B. Hinckley and other LDS church leaders, the prosecutor put the pressure on Mr. Hoffmann to plead guilty. In the end, Mr. Hoffmann agreed to plead guilty to some charges if the first-degree murder charges were reduced to second degree and if some of the counterfeit and forgery charges were dropped.