Mark Hofmann's wife, Doralee, has filed for a divorce from her incarcerated husband.
She is also asking the court to rid her of what has become the infamous Hofmann name.Formerly a loyal supporter of her husband, she no longer wants to be identified as a Hofmann but wishes to be known by her maiden name, Doralee Olds, according to a divorce complaint filed in 3rd District Court Tuesday.
Mark Hofmann, the man who admitted killing two people with homemade bombs to cover up an elaborate forgery scam involving historical documents, is not contesting the divorce.
Citing "irreconcilable differences" as the grounds for terminating their nearly nine-year marriage, Doralee Hofmann asks that her husband pay $600 a month in child support to cover the welfare of their four children, ages 7, 5, 3 and 1. She also requests that Mark Hofmann pay 50 percent of his (future) wages earned in prison for alimony until she remarries or obtains full-time employment.
In an affidavit attached to the divorce complaint, Doralee Hofmann says she can't pay the $77.50 filing fee required in a divorce case because her husband "is presently incarcerated . . . is unemployed and has no assets and is without any funds" to pay for her support.
Agreeing to the conditions outlined in the divorce complaint, Mark Hofmann signed a "waiver and consent" form Wednesday. The divorce becomes final after a 90-day waiting period.
According to court documents, the divorce proceedings were under way a month before reports surfaced that Mark Hofmann was sending coded letters to his wife that included veiled threats to one investigator and two Board of Pardons members involved in his case.
Mark Hofmann, 33, is serving a life sentence for the October 1985 pipe-bomb murders of Steven Christensen, 30, and Kathleen Sheets, 50. Hofmann pleaded guilty to two counts of second-degree murder and two counts of felony theft by deception dealing with forged historical documents.
In January, the Board of Pardons recommended the con artist and murderer spend the rest of his life in prison because of his chilling and "callous disregard for human life." The murders, the board concluded, were part of his plan to cover up a convoluted forgery scheme, bilking investors out of more than $3 million.
Doralee Hofmann asks the court to award her full custody of their four children, permitting their father "reasonable and regular visitation."
She further requests that the court hold Mark Hofmann responsible for the "tax debts and obligations" the couple has incurred during their marriage.
(Many of the investors who lost hundred of thousands of dollars through bogus document deals have filed civil claims against Mark Hofmann, which are pending in court.)
Although the divorce papers were not filed until Tuesday, Doralee Hofmann had signed the divorce complaint July 7 - a month before media reports concerning coded letters Mark Hofmann had been mailing to her.
The letters, according to FBI cryptologists in Washington, contained biographical information about Board of Pardons members. In March, prison investigators confirmed that Hofmann had made verbal threats regarding the lives of board members.
When approached by the FBI to turn over the letters, Doralee Hofmann reportedly willingly surrendered the letters to the authorities.
The Hofmanns were married Sept. 14, 1979, in Salt Lake City.