Murder Among the Mormons

Last updated

Murder Among the Mormons
Murder Among the Mormons.png
Genre Documentary
Directed by
Music by Joel Goodman
Country of originUnited States
Original languageEnglish
No. of episodes3
Production
Executive producers
ProducerJannat Gargi
CinematographyBianca Cline
Editors
  • Greg O'Toole
  • Matthew Prekop
Running time45-58 minutes
Production company BBC Studios
Original release
NetworkNetflix
ReleaseMarch 3, 2021 (2021-03-03)

Murder Among the Mormons is an American true crime documentary television miniseries following Mark Hofmann, one of the most notable forgers in history, who created forgeries related to the Latter Day Saint movement. Joe Berlinger serves as an executive producer. It consists of three episodes and premiered on Netflix on March 3, 2021. [1]

Contents

Plot

The series follows Hofmann, one of the most accomplished forgers in history, who created forgeries related to the Latter-day Saint movement. Hofmann created explosive devices resulting in two deaths, and was exposed as a forger and sent to prison. [2] [3] [4]

Episodes

No.TitleDirected byOriginal air date [5] U.S. viewers
(millions)
1"Episode 1" Jared Hess
Tyler Measom
March 2, 2021 (2021-03-02)N/A
2"Episode 2"Jared Hess
Tyler Measom
March 2, 2021 (2021-03-02)N/A
3"Episode 3"Jared Hess
Tyler Measom
March 2, 2021 (2021-03-02)N/A

Production

In 2017, Jared Hess and Tyler Measom began conducting research on the story, met with those who participated in the series and attempted to contact Hofmann, who did not respond to requests for an interview. [6] [7] The series was initially pitched as a six-episode series; however, when Netflix and BBC Studios joined the project, it was reduced to three episodes. [8]

Reception

On Rotten Tomatoes, the series holds an approval rating of 88% based on 16 reviews, with an average rating of 7.29/10. The website's critical consensus reads, "Investigating an outrageous but true story with restraint, Murder Among the Mormons is entertaining true-crime pulp and a fascinating examination of a community." [9] On Metacritic, it has a weighted average score of 74 out of 100, based on eight critics, indicating "generally favorable reviews". [10] In the week of its debut, the show was ranked third overall for original-content Video on Demand streaming, with 587 million minutes streamed, according to Neilson. [11]

Related Research Articles

The salamander letter was a controversial forged document about the history of the Latter Day Saint movement. The letter was one of hundreds of documents concerning the history of the Latter Day Saint movement that surfaced in the early 1980s. The salamander letter presented a view of the life of the movement's founder, Joseph Smith, that stood sharply at odds with the commonly accepted version of the early progression of the church Smith established.

Mark William Hofmann is an American counterfeiter, forger, and convicted murderer. Widely regarded as one of the most accomplished forgers in history, Hofmann is especially noted for his creation of fake documents related to the history of the Latter Day Saint movement. When his schemes began to unravel, he constructed bombs to murder three people in Salt Lake City, Utah. The first two bombs killed two people on October 15, 1985. On the following day, a third bomb exploded in Hofmann's car. He was arrested for the bombings three months later, and in 1987 pleaded guilty to two counts of second-degree murder, one count of theft by deception and one count of fraud.

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References

  1. Strouse, Jackie (4 February 2021). "Netflix Sets 'Murder Among the Mormons' Docuseries on 1985 Utah Bombings (Exclusive)". The Hollywood Reporter . Archived from the original on 4 March 2021. Retrieved 3 March 2021.
  2. "Hofmann Pleads Innocent To Weapons Indictment". AP NEWS. Archived from the original on 23 April 2021. Retrieved 5 March 2021.
  3. Lindsey, Robert (11 February 1987). "DEALER IN MORMON FRAUD CALLED A MASTER FORGER (Published 1987)". The New York Times. ISSN   0362-4331. Archived from the original on 4 March 2021. Retrieved 5 March 2021.
  4. Lindsey, Robert (16 February 1986). "EXTORTION BY FORGERY GIVEN AS MOTIVE IN UTAH MURDERS (Published 1986)". The New York Times. ISSN   0362-4331. Archived from the original on 24 May 2015. Retrieved 5 March 2021.
  5. "Murder Among the Mormons". The Futon Critic . Retrieved 3 March 2021.
  6. "'Murder Among the Mormons' Duo on Their Personal History With the True-Crime Saga". The Hollywood Reporter. 5 March 2021. Archived from the original on 5 March 2021. Retrieved 5 March 2021.
  7. Kranc, Lauren (3 March 2021). "The Murder Among the Mormons Directors Are Prepared For the Church of Latter-Day Saints' Response". Esquire . Archived from the original on 3 March 2021. Retrieved 3 March 2021.
  8. Walch, Tad (3 March 2021). "Jared Hess explains his turn to true crime for Netflix series 'Murder Among the Mormons'". Deseret News . Archived from the original on 3 March 2021. Retrieved 3 March 2021.
  9. "Murder Among the Mormons". Rotten Tomatoes . Archived from the original on 22 March 2021. Retrieved 22 April 2021.
  10. "Murder Among the Mormons". Metacritic . Archived from the original on 3 March 2021. Retrieved 4 March 2021.
  11. "Top 10s: TV Ratings, Video Games, SVOD". Archived from the original on 1 April 2021. Retrieved 2 April 2021.