Vance Boelter pleaded guilty in federal court to murdering Minnesota House Speaker Melissa Hortman and her husband, Mark Hortman, and to nonfatal shootings of state Sen. John Hoffman and his wife, Yvette Hoffman. Prosecutors said they would not seek the death
When Vance Boelter looked down at the questions put to him in federal court Thursday, he answered the same way over and over—“yes.”
From the courtroom gallery. John and Yvette Hoffman sat alongside members of the Hortman family as the events of the night in June 14. 2025 were laid out in detail. Boelter, wearing an orange jail sweatshirt and sweatpants, watched as a U.S. District Judge walked through what each of the six charges could mean. and the judge did not set a sentencing date.
Boelter is charged in the political assassinations of Minnesota House Speaker Melissa Hortman and her husband. Mark Hortman. and in the shootings of state Sen. John Hoffman and his wife, Yvette Hoffman. Prosecutors said Boelter came to their doors in the early hours of June 14. 2025 disguised as a police officer and driving a fake squad car.
During the proceedings, defense attorney questioning included whether Boelter pressed a gun to Melissa Hortman’s head and fired. The Hortmans’ golden retriever suffered injuries described as so grave that it had to be euthanized.
At times, there were brief sobs from the gallery as the courtroom described what happened and Boelter tracked the judge’s explanation of each charge and possible sentences.
Boelter, 58, pleaded guilty after federal prosecutors informed the court Wednesday that the Justice Department would not seek the death penalty under an agreed-upon plea agreement. The change-of-plea hearing was scheduled for Thursday.
The plea deal moves the federal case toward an agreed-upon sentence of two life terms, plus 40 years. Boelter is also facing state charges, which have been on hold while the federal case was resolved.
Daniel Borgertpoepping. a spokesperson for the Hennepin County Attorney’s Office. said the federal plea deal would not affect Boelter’s state charges. Those state charges include two counts of murder and four counts of attempted murder. He also faces state charges of impersonating a police officer and animal cruelty.
Minnesota abolished capital punishment in 1911, and it has never had a federal death penalty case. While the Trump administration has pushed for greater use of capital punishment, there were questions about whether Boelter’s case would qualify for the death penalty under federal law.
Prosecutors have called the shootings political. When federal prosecutors announced the indictment in July. they released a rambling handwritten letter they said Boelter wrote to FBI Director Kash Patel in which he confessed to the attacks. Prosecutors said the letter didn’t make clear why he targeted the Hortmans or the Hoffmans.
In some messages to media, Boelter referenced a vague and cryptic “investigation” he had been carrying out. At times, he suggested it was about the COVID-19 vaccine.
Friends described Boelter as an evangelical Christian and occasional preacher and missionary, who held politically conservative views and had been struggling to find work.
In court Thursday, the lasting impact of the attack was also part of the background established in prior filings. John Hoffman said in a lawsuit filed against Boelter in April that his left arm and hand likely would never fully recover. and that he also had permanent injuries to his digestive and urinary systems. Yvette Hoffman said in the same lawsuit that she was left with permanent physical weakness. Their adult daughter. Hope Hoffman. who was there. called 911. and was not shot. and the lawsuit said she suffered severe psychological trauma.
Boelter was captured near his home in rural Green Isle the day after the shootings following what prosecutors called the largest search for a suspect in Minnesota history.
Vance Boelter Melissa Hortman Mark Hortman John Hoffman Yvette Hoffman Minnesota House Speaker plea guilty fake police officer death penalty federal court Green Isle