In the 1980s, Sheets had built a thriving enterprise, Coordinated Financial Services, in Salt Lake City, which employed Steven F. Christensen as one of its consultants. On the side, Christensen was involved in the lively trade in historic Mormon books and documents and had dealings with Hofmann.
Hofmann, who had been forging documents to sell, worried that his crimes would be discovered and wanted to throw investigators off his trail by shifting their focus to Christensen’s connection with Sheets’ business. Hofmann built two pipe bombs. He left one outside Christensen’s door at the Judge Building in downtown Salt Lake City; Christensen, who had left Sheets’ business, died when he picked up the package and it detonated.