The man who shot two Minnesota lawmakers and their spouses in their homes last June pleaded guilty Thursday to all six federal charges against him.
Vance Luther Boelter, 58, now faces two consecutive life sentences and secondary state charges.
Boelter, of Green Isle, admitted in U.S. District Court in Minneapolis to murdering former Minnesota House Speaker Melissa Hortman and her husband Mark, shooting state Sen. John Hoffman and his wife Yvette, and the attempted shooting of their daughter Hope.
He pleaded guilty before Judge John Tunheim to two counts of stalking, two counts of murder through use of a firearm and two federal firearm offenses.
Boelter, in orange jail clothing and ankle shackles, showed little emotion as he told the judge he was of clear mind and understood the charges. John and Yvette Hoffman sat in the front row of the packed courtroom, and the Hortmans’ children, Colin and Sophie, were present along with several state lawmakers.
The plea came days after the Justice Department said it would not seek the death penalty. U.S. Attorney Daniel Rosen said a ruling in the federal case against Luigi Mangione, which found stalking does not constitute a crime of violence, led prosecutors to re-examine the charges. “When you have a defendant that is prepared to plead guilty, take consecutive life terms, plus, to ensure that he never sees freedom again in his entire life, that was an opportunity that we just could not pass up,” Rosen said.
PREVIOUSLY: Boelter Indicted in Deaths of Minnesota Lawmaker and Spouse
In court, Boelter acknowledged he planned the attacks months in advance. He recorded targets’ addresses, bought a GPS device and a highly realistic silicone mask, and purchased supplies at Fleet Farm to fashion a fake police license plate.
In the early hours of June 14, 2025, Boelter drove a Ford SUV outfitted with police-style lights to the Hoffmans’ home in Champlin, rang the doorbell and shouted that he was police. He shot John and Yvette Hoffman multiple times. Their daughter Hope called 911 during the attack. Champlin officers responded around 2:05 a.m. to find the couple wounded; both survived life-threatening injuries.
Boelter then drove to the home of Rep. Kristin Bahner, who was on vacation, and to the home of Sen. Ann Rest, where a real police officer saw him and assumed he was conducting a welfare check. Boelter left after the officer unsuccessfully tried to get his attention.
He then drove to the Hortmans’ home in Brooklyn Park and parked in their driveway with the fake police lights on. He rang the doorbell, said he was conducting a welfare check and told Mark Hortman he needed to see Melissa before shooting him. Brooklyn Park officers, sent proactively after the Champlin shooting, arrived around 3:35 a.m. and saw the shooting through the open door. Boelter shot Melissa Hortman multiple times as she tried to flee up the stairs. Asked by his attorney in court whether he put the gun to Hortman’s head and pulled the trigger, Boelter said yes, drawing cries from the courtroom.
Officers exchanged gunfire with Boelter, who fled inside the home and escaped on foot despite the heavy police presence. Authorities took three hours to launch a helicopter, and the manhunt that followed lasted about 43 hours, the largest in state history.
PREVIOUSLY: Man Accused of Targeting Minnesota Lawmakers Captured Alive in Sibley County
During his escape, Boelter met a man at a north Minneapolis bus stop who agreed to sell him a Buick and an e-bike. The two took a bus to the man’s home, then drove to a U.S. Bank branch in Robbinsdale, where Boelter emptied an account to pay about $900 for the vehicle and bike. He was captured near his home in Green Isle, close to where he abandoned the Buick along a highway.
Investigators found a notebook in his abandoned Ford Explorer listing 45 state and federal officials and their addresses, along with firearms including assault-style rifles and a large quantity of ammunition.
Boelter also faces state charges in Hennepin County, where prosecutors charged him in June 2025 with two counts of second-degree murder and two counts of attempted second-degree murder. Bail in that case was set at $5 million. Tunheim said he plans to hold an expedited sentencing hearing in the federal case by the end of July, noting the pending state charges. The plea agreement must be approved by the court.
The Hoffman family said in a statement that “there is no justice for Mark and Melissa Hortman, and there is no justice when our family and our state will never truly heal.”
Hortman led House Democrats to the majority in 2018 and served as speaker until 2024. “Political violence is a scourge plaguing America in our times,” Rosen said, calling the attacks among the worst political violence crimes the country has seen.
