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Plea in Minneapolis
Vance Boelter pleaded guilty in federal court in Minneapolis to murder, stalking and firearms crimes tied to the killings of former Minnesota House Speaker Melissa Hortman and her husband, Mark, and an attack on state Sen. John Hoffman and his family.
MPR News said Boelter disguised himself as a police officer and killed the Hortmans at their Brooklyn Park home early in the morning on June 14, 2025, about 90 minutes after attacking the Hoffmans at their home in Champlin.
NBC News reported Boelter, 58, responded “yes” when asked by the judge if he carried out the crimes that killed Melissa Hortman and Mark and injured John Hoffman and Yvette Hoffman.
Prosecutors recommended two consecutive life terms plus 40 years, and NBC News quoted U.S. Attorney Daniel Rosen saying, “We now expect Vance Boelter will spend the rest of his natural life in prison without parole.”
Details and courtroom voices
In court, Boelter admitted to a detail not previously known, telling the judge he shot Melissa Hortman at point-blank range, after his defense attorney asked, “When murdering Melissa did you press the gun to her head and fire?”
MPR News reported Boelter responded “Yes,” and a person in the gallery gasped and cried at the admission.
AP News said Boelter parked his police-style SUV with emergency flashing lights at around 3:30 a.m. on June 14, 2025, rang the doorbell, and shouted: “Police, welfare check,” according to a plea agreement made public Thursday.
AP News also quoted U.S. Attorney Daniel N. Rosen saying, “Political violence is a scourge in America,” and that the Justice Department would seek and obtain the longest prison terms available for Boelter’s crimes.
Death penalty off table
The plea agreement removed the death penalty from consideration, with NBC News reporting that federal prosecutors would no longer pursue it in exchange for Boelter’s guilty plea and a sentence of two consecutive life terms plus 40 years.
“A man in Minnesota has pleaded guilty to killing the midwestern US state’s Democratic House speaker, Melissa Hortman, and her husband, Mark, after knocking on the door of their home while impersonating a police officer”
CNN said Judge John R. Tunheim accepted the recommended sentence and would schedule a formal sentencing hearing later this summer where victims would be allowed to speak, while the Hoffman family said in a statement, “there is no justice for Mark and Melissa Hortman, and there is not justice when our family and our state will never truly heal.”
AP News reported that the Hennepin County Attorney’s Office said Thursday that the federal plea agreement does not affect the state’s case, which had been on hold pending the resolution of the federal case.
AP News also described the broader impact of the attacks, saying the Minneapolis-area shootings “sparked the largest police search in state history,” and it noted Boelter was captured near his home in rural Green Isle the day after the shootings.
