MOVIES - July 2, 1987

Salt Lake City may be rather far from Hollywood, but mere geography hasn’t stopped police and lawyers involved in the case of one Mark W. Hofmann from hiring a Los Angeles agent to represent them in any negotiations for movie rights to the story. Hofmann, 32, pleaded guilty in January to second-degree murder in the slayings of Steven Christensen and Kathleen Sheets on Oct. 15, 1985. Nine of the people working the case--which also involved forged documents, many dealing with early Mormon Church history--have entered into an uneasy alliance, agreeing to lend their names and characters to producers interested in movie options to the Hofmann story. The price? Anywhere from $500 to $2,500 per person. Things do get less expensive as you go East. . . .