Minnesota Man Charged in High-Profile Democrat's Murder Will Not...

A man accused of murdering a former Minnesota state House Speaker will not face the death penalty, according to a plea deal outlined by U.S. prosecutors.

Vance Boelter admitted guilt on Thursday to all federal charges stemming from a fatal shooting in June, as announced by the Justice Department. By accepting the plea deal, Boelter is set to receive the maximum prison sentence allowed for his crimes.

Boelter confessed to two charges of stalking, two counts of murder involving the use of a firearm, and two federal offenses related to firearm shootings.

Assistant U.S. Attorneys Bradley Endicott and Matthew Forbes, in a letter cited by The Associated Press, stated, “The Attorney General has authorized and directed the government not to seek the death penalty against Defendant Vance Luther Boelter in accordance with the terms delineated in a proposed plea agreement.”

FILE – This booking photo provided by the Hennepin County Sheriff’s Office shows Vance Boelter in Green Isle, Minnesota., on June 16, 2025. (Hennepin County Sheriff’s Office via AP)

Boelter is accused of killing former Minnesota State Speaker Melissa Hortman (D), her husband, Mark Hortman, and their dog last year after coming to their door early in the morning on June 14 and opening fire. Boelter is also accused of shooting state Sen. John Hoffman and his wife, Yvette Hoffman.

John and Yvette Hoffman say they suffer from permanent physical damage due to the violent event that prosecutors say was politically motivated.

Boelter was said to have written a letter to FBI Director Kash Patel confessing guilt without declaring a motive.

Friends of the alleged shooter say Boelter was an occasional preacher who was struggling to find work at the time of the killings, the AP reported.

“Across the Twin Cities, families woke on June 14, 2025, to a fear they should never have had to imagine, that their public servants had been hunted and attacked in their own homes,” Joe Persails, special agent in charge for the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives’ (ATF) St. Paul Field Division, said in a statement. “Melissa and Mark Hortman were killed, and John and Yvette Hoffman were left to recover from grievous injuries.”

“The terror Vance Boelter set out to create reached far beyond the people he targeted and shook our entire Minnesota community,” he continued. “ATF joined the urgent, around-the-clock effort to locate Boelter and to develop the investigative leads that helped bring him into custody.”

The special agent added, “Today’s guilty plea cannot return what was taken from these families, but it makes clear that anyone who chooses to bring this kind of violence to our communities will answer for that choice.”

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Minnesota Man Charged in High-Profile Democrat’s Murder Will Not Face Death Penalty

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