Vance Boelter: Nearly One Year After The June 14, 2025 Attacks In Which Boelter Disguised Himself As A Police Officer, Planned The Killings For Months, And Executed Representative Hortman By Pressing A Gun To Her Head As She Fled Up The Stairs; The Courtroom Erupted In Cries When He Confirmed What He Had Done
According to the Star Tribune, ABC News and the Department of Justice, nearly one year after carrying out one of the most shocking acts of political violence in state history, Vance Boelter pleaded guilty on Thursday to killing Rep. Melissa Hortman and her husband, Mark, and shooting Sen. John Hoffman and his wife, Yvette.
Boelter pleaded guilty to all six counts: two stalking counts, two murder counts, and two federal firearm-shooting offenses. Boelter acknowledged that in agreeing to the plea deal, he will face two consecutive life sentences along with several additional years to run consecutively with those sentences. In exchange, Boelter will not face the death penalty.
The crimes unfolded on June 14, 2025, when Boelter disguised himself as a police officer and fatally shot Melissa Hortman and her husband, Mark, at their home. That same day he drove to the home of Minnesota state Sen. John Hoffman and shot the lawmaker and his wife, Yvette, and attempted to shoot their daughter.
Boelter provided details that were previously unknown about the horrors of that morning, including that he executed Melissa Hortman by pressing a gun to her head and shooting her as she fled up the stairs of her home.
When he admitted that, cries erupted inside the courtroom. Inside a packed federal courtroom in downtown Minneapolis, the Hoffmans and members of the Hortman family sat feet away from Boelter, dressed in a neon orange sweatsuit with his gray hair cropped close, as he admitted his crimes.
U.S. Attorney Daniel Rosen stated: “The terms of our offer to Mr. Boelter were: if you plead guilty and take consecutive life sentences, we will take the death penalty off the table.”
To check out our previous coverage on US political violence, crime, and justice, read our articles here.
