NETFLIX viewers have been left speechless as they watched drama unfold in the latest documentary Murder Among the Mormons.
Fans have taken to Twitter to share how they were stunned to see carb bomb victims being treated with “magic oil and prayer”.
The new three-part documentary, created by BBC Studios and movie director Jared Hess, was released by the streaming service this week.
It follows a terrifying series of bombings within the Mormon Church in Salt Lake City, Utah, in 1985.
Using grainy footage captured at the time, one clip shows police arriving at the scene of a car bombing that badly injured rare Mormon document dealer Mark Hoffmann.
Hoffmann had claimed to have discovered the earliest Mormon document written by the church’s founder, Joseph Smith.
According to the church’s history, Smith was visited by an angel who gave him gold plates, which he translated into the Book of Mormon
The hidden letter, which was taken as a validation of the church, was later contradicted by another of the now 66-year-old’s findings, the “Salamander letter”.
Supposedly written by another important Mormon figure, the note claimed Joseph Smith had been led to the gold plates by a salamander and not an angel.
This controversial letter threatened to destroy the very foundations of the church – which was based on “angels” and not “magic”.
Hoffmann was caught up in a blast as he carried a series of documents that were thought to contain “explosive and embarrassing revelations about the Mormon church”.
While police rushed to the scene to investigate, viewers at home were baffled as a passer by treated the victim with “a blessing”.
“After Mark Hoffmann’s car exploded, a witness rushed to his aid and gave him a blessing,” one Twitter user wrote of the scenes.
“Witness: ‘I took out my consecrated oil and commanded him to live until help arrived’.”
Others questioned what was going on: “So Mark Hoffmann lived because a guy blessed him with magic oil?”
“So many questions about that car bomb…” a third chimed in.
One Mormon churchgoer added: “I miss being so audacious that I’d pull out old smelly olive oil and command people’s bodies to heal.”
As police investigated the case, it was found that Mark, the supposed victim of the bombing, had forged documents and had intended to kill himself after orchestrating two prior bombings.
One in an office block saw the murder of fellow document dealer and financial consultant Steven Christensen.
The other killed the wife of one of Christensen’s former business associates Kathy Sheets outside her holiday home.
Hofmann was arrested in January 1986 and after initially protesting his innocence, he pleaded guilty to two counts of second-degree murder, one count of theft by deception for forging and one count of fraud.
He was sentenced to five years but the judge recommended he never be released.
Murder Among the Mormons is available to stream on Netflix.
