Man pleads guilty to killing a top Minnesota Democrat and her husband while posing as an officer

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MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — A Minnesota man who posed as a police officer and went door-to-door in the middle of the night, killing the top Democrat in the state House and her husband and wounding a state senator and his wife, pleaded guilty to murder on Thursday so that federal prosecutors would not seek the death penalty.

The attacks by Vance Boelter, 58, sparked the largest search for a suspect in state history. They also reverberated far beyond Minnesota, as elected officials across the country feared that escalating threats and polarization could lead to more violence.

There were brief sobs from the courtroom gallery on Thursday as family members of Melissa and Mark Hortman sat alongside Sen. John Hoffman and his wife, Yvette, while the chilling events of June 14, 2025, were described in great detail.

Disguised with a tactical uniform and realistic mask that covered his entire head, Boelter drove a fake police SUV with lights flashing to the legislators' homes. As his federal defense attorney questioned him about his actions, he repeatedly said a simple “yes,” including whether he pressed a gun to Melissa Hortman’s head and fired. The family's golden retriever was so gravely injured that it had to be euthanized.

Boelter, wearing his orange jail sweatshirt and sweatpants, followed along as U.S. District Judge John Tunheim talked through each of the six charges and the potential sentences they carried. Tunheim did not yet set a date for sentencing. Boelter is facing an agreed-upon sentence of two consecutive life terms, plus 40 years.

Boelter was captured near his home in rural Green Isle the day after the shootings. He also faces state charges, which have been on hold pending the resolution of his federal case.

The U.S. attorney’s office in Minneapolis notified the court Wednesday that the Justice Department would not seek the death penalty against Boelter in accordance with a proposed plea agreement.

Minnesota abolished capital punishment in 1911 and has never had a federal death penalty case. Daniel Borgertpoepping, a spokesperson for the Hennepin County Attorney’s Office, said the federal plea deal would not affect Boelter’s state charges, including two counts of murder and four counts of attempted murder. Boelter also faces state charges of impersonating a police officer and animal cruelty.

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.

“Political violence is a scourge in our nation,” said United States Attorney Daniel N. Rosen in a statement Thursday. “We now expect Vance Boelter will spend the rest of his natural life in prison without parole. To all of those who would commit political violence: this Justice Department will seek and obtain the longest prison terms for your offense.”

Prosecutors have called the shootings political. When they announced the federal indictment in July, they released a rambling handwritten letter they say Boelter wrote to FBI Director Kash Patel in which he confessed to the attacks. However, 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, sometimes suggesting 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.

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 was left with permanent physical weakness, the lawsuit said, while their adult daughter, Hope Hoffman, who was there and called 911 but was not shot, suffered severe psychological trauma.

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Fingerhut reported from Des Moines, Iowa.