Vance Boelter pleads guilty, agrees to serve life in prison for his attacks on Minnesota lawmakers

MINNEAPOLIS — Nearly one year after carrying out one of the most shocking acts of political violence in state history, Vance Boelter pleaded guilty on Thursday to killing Rep. Melissa Hortman and her husband, Mark, and shooting Sen. John Hoffman and his wife, Yvette.

Boelter acknowledged that in agreeing to the plea deal, he will face two consecutive life sentences along with several additional years in federal prison to run consecutively with those sentences. In exchange, Boelter will not face the death penalty.

Inside a packed courtroom in downtown Minneapolis, the Hoffmans and members of the Hortman family sat feet away from Boelter, dressed in a neon orange sweatsuit with his gray hair cropped close, as he admitted what he did in the early morning hours of June 14, 2025.

“Do you fully understand the nature of the crimes?” U.S. District Judge John Tunheim asked Boelter.

“Yes,” he responded.

Boelter provided details that were previously unknown about the horrors of that morning, including that he executed Melissa Hortman by pressing a gun to her head and shooting her as she fled up the stairs of her home. When he admitted that, cries erupted inside the courtroom.

Boelter’s federal defender, Manny Atwal, went through the details of his crimes as part of the plea by asking Boelter to confirm the allegations against him. She asked whether he carried out a series of shootings against elected Minnesota officials while impersonating a police officer. “Yes,” Boelter replied. He then confirmed that he acted alone as he planned the attack for months and wore a mask when he went about trying to kill as many lawmakers as possible.

He first went to the home of the Hoffmans, where he ordered them downstairs with their hands up and then entered their home. He then shot John and Yvette Hoffman and fired at Hope Hoffman.

As Boelter admitted to what he did to the Hoffmans, John and Yvette Hoffman sat in the front row of the court nodding along each time Boelter responded, “Yes,” to the accusations.

Boelter then admitted that he traveled to the homes of two more lawmakers, Rep. Kristin Bahner in Maple Grove and Sen. Ann Rest in New Hope. He couldn’t carry out attacks there because Bahner was not home and a New Hope police officer intercepted him outside Rest’s home.

Boelter then fled New Hope and later arrived at the Hortman home.

He admitted that Mark Hortman answered the door and Boelter told him there had been reports of shots fired. Mark Hortman responded, “Good God, I was asleep.” Boelter than asked Mark if anyone else was home, and Mark responded that only his wife was home. Boelter told Mark Hortman he needed to see her. Mark asked Melissa to come to the door. He said they couldn’t see Boelter because he was shining a flashlight in their eyes. Mark asked for Boelter’s name and badge number. He made up both. Then Mark asked for his department.

When Atwal asked Boelter about what department he gave, he stumbled momentarily, then acknowledged that he said he was a Maple Grove police officer.

Boelter said he shot Mark Hortman multiple times with a 9 mm handgun. He said he then shot Melissa Hortman repeatedly inside the home as she attempted to flee up the stairs, then pressed the gun to her head and fired, killing her.

After the killings. Boelter escaped through Edinburgh USA Golf Course and sparked the largest manhunt in state history. He was arrested 43 hours later, in a field not far from his home in Green Isle, Minn.

Boelter told Judge Tunheim that he is not on any medication except a pain pill for his shoulder. He said he has never been diagnosed as depressed or mentally ill. Boelter appeared lucid during the hearing speaking about his family, where he’s lived, and his international travels for his work.

At a news conference after the hearing, U.S. Attorney Daniel Rosen called the killings of the Hortmans and the shooting of the Hoffmans “the worst political violence crimes that we have seen.”

“Political violence is a scourge plaguing America in our times,” he said.

Rosen said that he and acting U.S. Attorney General Todd Blanche saw the decision to pull the death penalty off the table in exchange for a guilty plea “the exact same way.”

“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 could just not pass up,” Rosen said.

Four months ago, U.S. District Judge Margaret Garnett in New York dismissed a federal murder charge against Luigi Mangione in the killing of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson and removed the option for the federal government to seek the death penalty in that case. Garnett’s legal analysis included that stalking, which both Mangione and Boelter were charged with in connection with federal murder charges, is not a crime of violence. The crime of violence designation was necessary to seek the death penalty.

Rosen said that ruling led his office to “re-examine” the case against Boelter in light of the outcome.

In a statement, the Hoffman family said: “There is no justice for Mark and Melissa Hortman, and there is no justice when our family and our state will never truly heal,” The family added that the legal outcome may offer accountability for the attack, but “true healing requires something more from all of us.”

“The opportunity for justice is for Minnesotans and Americans to serve … to treat people with respect, to stop de-humanizing each other, and to stop dividing our country with hate and rhetoric.”

While Boelter awaits sentencing in his federal case, he still has several outstanding charges in Hennepin County. Those include several counts of first-degree murder and attempted first-degree murder, along with an animal cruelty charge for his shooting of the Hortmans’ dog, Gilbert, who was later euthanized. That court process is entirely separate from the federal charges and Boelter’s guilty plea.

“Mr. Boelter will sit in a Hennepin County courtroom and be held accountable for his actions. We are in contact with the U.S. Attorney’s Office about transferring Mr. Boelter into our custody,” Hennepin County Attorney Mary Moriarty said in a statement. “My thoughts are with the Hoffmans and with Mark and Melissa’s family and loved ones as the federal phase ends and we approach state prosecution.”

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