This is a throwback episode from 2018. Sandra & Jerald Tanner were the first to identify a Hofmann forgery. They were the first to claim the Salamander Letter was a forgery but they didn't know it was a Hofmann forgery. Even though they didn't suspect Mark Hofmann was the forger, they were eventually proved correct. Sandra tells how her husband Jerald came to that conclusion, his later illness & death from dementia, and whether she thinks some books in the Bible could be classified as forgeries. Plus at the end of the video, I'll give a preview of my next interview with Sandra! Check out our conversation...

https://youtu.be/SK_6orYOYro

Don’t miss our other conversations with Sandra: https://gospeltangents.com/people/sandra-tanner

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"Man Bites Dog" Story: How Anti-Mormon Critics Jerald & Sandra Tanner Were the First to Expose Mark Hofmann Forgery
Sandra Tanner is a long-time critic and historian of Mormonism. She details her interactions with the notorious document forger and murderer, Mark Hofmann. The interviews reveal a profound paradox—what Sandra Tanner called the "man bite dog story"—where the very critics who might have benefited from anti-LDS documents were the ones who first proved them to be frauds.

Here is a breakdown of the shocking discoveries, clever manipulations, and institutional controversies surrounding Hofmann, as shared by Sandra Tanner:

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Shrewd Forger’s Credibility Gambit
Mark Hofmann first approached Sandra Tanner and her husband, Jerald, in 1978 or 1979 after having read their book, Mormonism Shadow or Reality. At this time, Hofmann was an average-looking young man who did not stand out, which actually aided him in his forgery business.

Hofmann’s initial goal was to establish credibility for his future fakes. He visited the Tanners and handed Sandra a photocopy of a one-sheet document—a fraudulent Second Anointing Ceremony. This ritual is considered higher than celestial marriage and promises eternal life (short of murder) to select individuals.

Hofmann spun a detailed, manipulative story, claiming he found the document (purporting to be from the 1912 Salt Lake Temple period) while cleaning out his deceased grandfather's attic. He insisted he couldn't share his name because his family was prominent, thus giving the document an air of mystery and protected provenance.

Sandra Tanner realized that Hofmann was attempting to raise the document’s value by having her pass it around, creating a "trail of interest". However, because the document lacked provenance, Sandra did not publish it, though she did give copies out to people who asked, cautioning them that she could not vouch for it. This established Hofmann’s pattern: planting evidence or information about documents, often having others "find" them (like Jeff Simmonds finding the Anthon transcript pasted in a Bible) to lend them credibility.
Jerald Tanner’s Analysis: Salamander Letter Is Too "Pat"
When the Salamander Letter (a document critical of Joseph Smith, linking him to magic and the coming forth of the Book of Mormon in a magic setting) was rumored and surfaced, Jerald Tanner was skeptical. Jerald insisted on seeing the whole typescript of the letter to properly evaluate it.

Jerald’s forensic methodology was based on a prior experience: years earlier,