It’s a horrible story. In June, 2025, a 58-year-old psycho named Vance Boelter shot and killed former Speaker of the Minnesota House Melissa Hortman and her husband Mark in their Brooklyn Park home. He followed that savagery by going on to shoot and injure State Sen. John Hoffman and his wife, Yvette. Their golden retriever was severely injured in the attack and had to be put down.
On Thursday, nearly a year later, Boelter changed his initial not-guilty plea to guilty on charges of murder and stalking during a Minneapolis court hearing. He avoids the death penalty with the plea, but the judge in the case, John R. Tunheim, accepted the prosecution’s recommendation of two consecutive life terms plus 40 years behind bars. He will hold a formal sentencing hearing this summer.
BREAKING: Vance Boelter, the man charged in the killings of Democratic lawmakers in Minnesota last summer, changed his plea to guilty in his federal case on Thursday, according to ABC Minneapolis affiliate KSTP.
— ABC News (@ABC) June 11, 2026
Read more: https://t.co/YSXl2w8bka pic.twitter.com/wZ4LVSW25x
The details of Boelter’s rampage are horrific:
Authorities said Boelter disguised himself as a law enforcement officer and wore a “hyper realistic” silicone face mask, a tactical vest, and body armor on the night of the shootings.
Armed with a flashlight and a handgun, Boelter knocked on the Hoffmans’ door and shouted, “This is the police! Open the door!” He shot the senator and his wife multiple times before driving to the homes of two other state officials, who were not home, then proceeding to the Hortmans’ residence, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Minnesota.
Some horrific new details emerging as Vance Boelter admits to deadly political attacks. Admits he rushed forward towards DFL lawmaker Melissa Hortman shooting her multiple times as she tried to flee in her home, including pressing his 9mm gun to her head and firing. @FOX9 https://t.co/MwSmWTz5bH
— Paul Blume (@PaulBlume_FOX9) June 11, 2026
Boelter wrote a letter to the FBI that was written after the shootings but before he was captured following a 43-hour manhunt. Because he exclusively targeted Democrats, some initially claimed he was a right-wing extremist, but his letter is mostly gibberish:
Boelter claimed he needed to kill Klobuchar so Walz could run for the U.S. Senate. Walz isn't running for the Senate - he opted against it earlier this year and is mulling running for a third term as governor. The letter is incoherent, 1.5 pages long, confusing and hard to read.
— Ryan Faircloth (@RyanFaircloth) June 20, 2025
As RedState’s Bonchie wrote in June of 2025:
In other words, Boelter is just an insane person. Nothing in his letter makes logical sense, and there is no indication he did what he did in support of Trump or anyone else on the political right. Instead, he seems to have been infatuated with Walz and created a justification to kill in service to him.
Insane is one word. I would also add “evil.”
The only “good” news is that Boelter will never taste freedom again, and the families of the victims will be spared a long, painful trial (although they can give victim impact statements at the sentencing hearing, if they so choose). The real justice will come when he meets his maker, and the sooner the better.
Editor’s Note: The American people overwhelmingly support President Trump’s law and order agenda.
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