U.S. Prosecutors Drop Death Penalty in Vance Boelter Plea Deal
Federal prosecutors will not seek capital punishment for the man charged in the 2025 shootings of former Minnesota House Speaker Melissa Hortman and three others. The decision is part of a plea agreement ahead of a scheduled change-of-plea hearing.
New York PostU.S. prosecutors announced Wednesday they will not seek the death penalty for Vance Boelter as part of a plea agreement. Boelter faces charges tied to the shootings of former Minnesota House Speaker Melissa Hortman, her husband Mark Hortman, state Sen.
John Hoffman, and Yvette Hoffman. The announcement came one day before Boelter’s scheduled change-of-plea hearing Thursday morning in federal court in Minneapolis. Prosecutors described the agreement in a statement released the same day.
The four victims were shot in the early hours of June 14, 2025, after a man arrived at their doors disguised as a police officer and driving a fake squad car. Melissa Hortman was the top Democrat in the Minnesota House at the time. A photograph of Mark and Melissa Hortman was displayed during their funeral service at the Basilica of St.
Mary’s in Minneapolis on June 28, 2025. The service was held inside the sanctuary. Boelter remains the only person named in court documents as the defendant in the case.
