Hofmann's 3-day stay in hospital ends today

Convicted killer Mark Hofmann is expected to return to the Utah State Prison today after spending three days in the hospital.

Utah Department of Corrections spokesman Jack Ford said Hofmann was taken to a Salt Lake-area hospital Tuesday for a malady he can't discuss because inmates' medical information is private.

The department doesn't notify family members when an inmate is in the hospital, unless the inmate will be there more than 10 days, because hospital facilities are not secure.

On two occasions, death-row inmate Ronnie Lee Gardner escaped from his room while hospitalized and was caught shortly afterward, Ford said.

The department doesn't even tell the hospital the name of the arriving inmate. Instead, the inmate is identified as Department of Corrections, John Doe, Ford said.

Hofmann is serving the rest of his life in the Utah State Prison for a pair of bombings in Salt Lake County in October 1985. The bombings killed Steve Christensen in the Judge Building and Kathy Sheets outside her Holladay home. A third bomb exploded about 200 N. Main St., injuring Hofmann. He was eventually convicted of the two murders and sentenced to five years to life in prison in 1987. In 1988, the Utah Board of Pardons and Parole elected to keep him in prison for the rest of his life.