User Reviews

The pacing and editing in this true crime documentary is what made it interesting and compelling. Intertwining the archival footage with present day interviews was done well. However I particularly enjoyed the discovery and science of the motive, and appreciated the series took the time to explain how it was accomplished.

Fascinating story, well told.

A short three piece documentary that was actually pretty wild. The documentary style had a great flow and use of archival footage. Pairing current and old interviews with the same subjects was interesting. The doc gave just enough background on Mormon history and documents to get you up to speed but not overwhelm. An unexpected conclusion.

We've been watching a series of Netflix true crime documentaries recently, but of the ones we've watched "Murder Among the Mormons" is the first one with a case that I knew nothing at all about before starting. Though this was interesting, and the story is told in quite a logical way, I came away with more questions and theories about the antagonist than the show provides.

Mark Hofmann is an historical documents dealer with a knack for finding rare items that has made him a wealthy man. His location in Salt Lake City makes him a prime dealer for working with the Mormon church and his location of the "Salamander Letter" has made him a big if controversial name in those circles. Just days before he's due to provide a big haul of letters and documents for verification, a series of bombs explode, killing authenticator Steven Christensen and Kathy Sheets, seriously injuring Hofmann and destroying the cachet.

I'm going to write the rest of the review without spoiling who is behind the bombs, as going in I knew nothing about this case and I'd prefer you to have the same experience, if you can. There are some interesting characters in this doc from the worlds of law enforcement, document dealing and the Mormon church, none more so than Shannon Flynn, whose voice and mannerism are quite the most memorable aspect of the series. The documentary is quite well researched, with many interviews with key characters that are still with us and quite a bit of news footage from the time - though the little re-enactments that they do are played usually for laughs and I could have done without them.

Having finished it, though I understand the motivations for the crimes, I don't feel I understand why the killer escalated to murder so quickly when other options would have worked better. The historical interview that makes up much of the final episode gives the impression that the person is a sociopath and that eventually was going to kill someone when the pressures on them made it the preferable option, but that's my amateur interpretation. I'd have preferred some expert guidance on this from criminal psychiatrists.

Though I doubt it's going to live long in the memory, I was entertained enough by "Murder Among the Mormans" to finish it and though there's an interesting story here, I could have done with more indepth analysis of the murderer.

I didn't remember this incident until I started watching it, then it clicked; something about a Mormon civil war (which would probably be a pretty cool thing to watch). I thought it was a pretty good doc. Being only 3 episodes long I found it to be just about right and not slow or boring at all. If it was any longer it probably would have been, but I didn't find that the case at all. It was thorough and everyone who could be interviewed was included except for the diabolical genius perpetrator. There is definitely something seriously wrong with that knucklehead. All in all It was pretty good and quite short but informative, which is a rarity for Netflix.

At first I thought, geez this case is so old, I don't care ... and then I couldn't turn it off. The murderer is as cold-blooded as Ted Bundy. Watch for the photos at the end. 😮

I will call this a big overview of a very dark and horrific act that I had either not known of or remembered. It is a big event as the intersection of terrorism and The Mormon Church. I learned a good bit and I always kept feeling something, perhaps important, regarding the story was missing. I kept coming back to feeling I was trying to "over-think" this thing. This was a simple case of greed and narcisicm gone to a unthinkable level. I think the doc could have been more revealing and more in-depth since it was three installments. Still I was interested. BTW Mark Hoffman's voice is not right...something is way off when you process his voice. He is a total psychopath filled with something quite dark and he got by cloaking it for way too long.

This was incredibly well done and on point. Please do the Lafferty Brothers next. Like legit. Has to happen. Keep exposing this kind of information.

For some strange reason I find documentaries about religions always highly entertaining. And even though this documentary is talking a lot about the Mormons (morons would be more accurate in my opinion) the main subject is murder and other crimes without spoiling anything. It's well made, easy to watch and understand, composed of interviews from the people that were involved in one way or another. What I found truly amazing is how easily some people get fooled. In this case it's the Mormons and that's not really surprising considering what kind of nonsense they believe in. But in all fairness anybody could have been fooled by these crimes, religious people or not. The main 'criminal' (without mentioning his name so not to spoil the documentary if you like me never heard of this case before) is definitely a mastermind that conned everyone he encountered. Murder Among The Mormons is three episodes long and will suit people that like watching true crime documentaries.

Utilizing extensive present day interviews with people directly involved; and plenty of archival footage and news broadcasts, the film takes a very detailed look at a truly unbelievable crime. The editing is great.

I was entertained all the way through. There's not a bunch of filler, and the episodes fly by. If you tend to enjoy this kind of content, or true crime, then this series should be very enjoyable for you.

If you don't know anything about Mormonism, this doc gives you a little bit of an idea and goes straight into the story about two murders that occurred during that time. The trailer was slightly misleading and I think that might have been done intentionally. There's nothing edge-of-the-seat about this doc, but it shows you what people can do for money. The first 15-30 mins or so make you make what religion in general really is. Only 3 episodes, quick watch. Watch it if you're bored and wouldn't mind a slightly predictable true crime doc while learning something new.

I do agree with a fellow reviewer that the most interesting episode is the last one and episode 1 and 2 could have either been boiled down to one or just added to the third to make it slightly longer.

It was unclear which direction this documentary would go and blimey, does it take a turn. Of course, no spoilers but you just couldn't make this up. The minds of some people are truly bizarre. But at least it makes for good tv.

This is a well presented, insightful three part series into the crimes of one man, and how he nearly rocked the Mormon Church to it's very core.

This series gathers momentum, and gets more and more dramatic, and shocking with every episode. Part three contains some pretty incredible insights into what must have been a very disturbed mind.

It does make you wonder what documents exist out there.

Some fascinating interviews, clips, and interesting news interviews, it's amazing how manipulative some people can be, and how people simply didn't want to believe what was going on under their very eyes.

These events were unknown to me, I also know very little about The Mormon Church. The first half of Part one gives you an insight into its origins.

It's an interesting look at the polygraph test, it reinforces why it's not admissable in The UK I guess, it can clearly be beaten.

Not as good as other Netflix documentaries. It's kind of boring and it could have been done in less than an hour.

When it comes to religion, all rational and critical thinking must be abandoned. They wanted to believe so much, they never truly questioned the miraculousness of how 1 person could be in a position of a Genie bottle to make your wish come true.

What else has been forged into our history and how has that shaped our way of thinking?

Seeing the clip of the Pastor on TV confirming the history of Mormanism via a forged document was priceless.

Nevertheless, Hoffman was a brilliant mind and a savage.

Another Netflix's limited documentary series. The story depicted the murder of businessmen and collectors of Mormon's original and rare documents.

The core of the story is about the fundamental origin of Mormonism. The series did a good job explaining that aspect of the religion, but there's practically no explanation of the religion's doctrine.

Instead, the series dived into the business of collection of rare items and documents, with the documents regarding Mormonism being the center of interest. The moral of the series was about how unexpectedly dangerous and deadly this business could get.

Overall, I found this series to be pretty entertaining and fascinating. The last half of the last episode was a bit too slow. Compared to other Netflix's limited series, this one wasn't as good, mostly because of the real-life story itself. 7/10

Get to the point already! This docuseries just drags on like a snail. This could have been told in a one part documentary.

I enjoyed the series. I was close to events of that day, before and after. And I was a close friend to Steve Christensen about 10-15 years prior to his murder. I would like to point out a few missing items from the story that I feel are important.

Prior to the events, for several years, Brent Ashcroft, Brent Metcalf, Mark Hoffman, Jerald and Sandra Tanner and a few others were involved in perpetuating stories that were not favorable to the Church with respect to its history. They were likely repeating stories fabricated by Mark, but Brent Metcalf used his position as a researcher with access to Church vaults to add credibility to the tall tales. As a result of these backroom deals, many active members like me were not happy with the stories being told without actual documents to verify the tales. I disliked these persons intensely. Al Rust's insistence that Gordon B. Hinckley's promise to buy the McClellin Collection, sight unseen, for an agreed amount of 300K is preposterous just because no bright person would do that. Elder Hinckley certainly would not do it unless he had seen it, verified it, and assessed value it first hand. No one had seen the collection because it did not exist. Secondly, Al Rust was never given the promise in person. He heard it from Hoffman and believes it to this day 100%. So I don't like Al Rust or any of these other people working in tandem with Mark.

But, as a surprise to me, this series brought me to a place where I can forgive them for what they said they are sorry for. I wish they would be sorry for the years of lies and deceit, even if they were also fooled. Had they not done what they did, perhaps Hoffman would have been stopped. I would have never predicted that my heart could be softened toward these evil people. They were partners with Mark.

Another point I raise that was not covered in the story. Jerald Tanner was skeptical of the Salamander Letter, while the others, including Sandra, embraced it and advanced it as factual. As much as I dislike the Tanners, I admired Jerald for his integrity on that document. In my opinion, Sandra Tanner offered no value to this series. The other participants I can understand, but Sandra offered nothing. I would have like Jerald's perspective, RIP.

And dandruff. None of these guys seem to wash their hair. But yea, the documentary was interesting for the most part. Utterly boring at others.

It's slow to start. A lot of setup. I feel like this was a very interesting story and the cinematography and archival footage and interviews were top notch. It was a 4 hour mini-series though, and I feel like this story would have been best told in a 2 hour movie, because it's a little slow and repetitive at times.