Hofmann's techniques are topic of S.L. meet

Twenty years to the day that Salt Lake document dealer Mark Hofmann killed two Utahns with pipe bombs, forensic document examiners from around the country will gather to talk about his murders and forgeries.

"The Hands of Hofmann: Motive for Murder," an all-day symposium sponsored by the Southwestern Association of Forensic Document Examiners, will look back at the criminal investigation. Hofmann is serving a life sentence at the Utah State prison for the murders of Steven Christensen and Kathleen Sheets on Oct. 15, 1985.

The public symposium runs from 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Saturday at the Red Lion Hotel, 161 W. 600 South. Speakers will include prosecutors, investigators, victims, historians and forensic document examiners who helped solve the crimes. Cost of the event is $40.

The forensic association will explore Hofmann's forgery techniques in detail at private meetings on Friday and Sunday. The group held a similar meeting in 1987, but most of the examiners in attendance are no longer working, and the newer examiners haven't yet learned Hofmann's secrets, says George Throckmorton, director of the Salt Lake City Police Department crime lab. The public is not invited to these sessions.

"We don't want more of those Hofmann guys running around," Throckmorton explained.