Vance Boelter Pleads Guilty in Federal Court to Murders of Minnesota House Speaker and Husband; State Charges Still Pending

Vance Boelter pleaded guilty Thursday in federal court in Minneapolis to murdering Minnesota House Speaker Melissa Hortman and her husband Mark Hortman. He also pleaded guilty to the non-fatal shootings of state Sen. John Hoffman and his wife Yvette Hoffman.

Federal prosecutors announced the day before that they would not seek the death penalty under the plea agreement. U.S. Attorney Daniel N. Rosen said seeking the death penalty was taken off the table once Boelter agreed to plead guilty and serve multiple consecutive life sentences.

Under the agreement, Boelter faces two consecutive life terms plus an additional 40 years in prison. U.S. District Judge John Tunheim accepted the guilty pleas and said he would set a date soon for sentencing.

Boelter, 58, approached the victims' homes in the early hours of June 14, 2025, while disguised as a police officer and driving a vehicle made to look like a squad car, according to court records. He wore a tactical uniform and realistic mask that covered his entire head and drove a police-style SUV with flashing lights.

Boelter stopped outside the homes of two other lawmakers in the Minneapolis suburbs that night.

At one, he knocked but no one answered. At the other, he was apparently frightened away when a police officer, believing he was a fellow officer, approached him. Boelter was captured near his home in rural Green Isle, Minnesota, the day after the shootings.

Authorities released a rambling handwritten letter Boelter wrote to FBI Director Kash Patel confessing to the attacks. In messages to reporters, Boelter referred repeatedly to a yearslong "investigation" he said he had been carrying out, sometimes suggesting it was about the COVID-19 vaccine. The Hortman family's golden retriever was gravely injured in the shootings and had to be euthanized.

Boelter faces state charges including two counts of murder, four counts of attempted murder, impersonating a police officer, and animal cruelty. The federal plea agreement does not affect the state's case against Boelter, which had been on hold pending resolution of the federal case, the Hennepin County Attorney's Office said.