MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — A man accused of politically motivated killings involving the leading Democrat in the Minnesota House and her spouse, along with the attempted murder of a state senator and his partner, is set to appear before a federal judge on Thursday. This follows the announcement from federal prosecutors that they will not pursue the death penalty against him.
On Wednesday, the U.S. attorney’s office in Minneapolis informed the court that the Justice Department has opted out of seeking capital punishment for Vance Boelter, aligning with a tentative plea deal. Boelter’s legal representatives have yet to comment on the matter, and the court filing remains silent on the specifics of the plea arrangement.
In a tragic incident on June 14, 2025, a man posing as a police officer and driving a counterfeit squad car shot former Minnesota House Speaker Melissa Hortman, her husband Mark, and state Sen. John Hoffman along with his wife Yvette. The attack also resulted in severe injuries to the Hortmans’ golden retriever, who had to be put down due to his condition.
The 58-year-old Boelter was apprehended near his residence in rural Green Isle the following day, after what authorities describe as the most extensive manhunt in Minnesota’s history. He is facing both federal and state charges, including murder and attempted murder. His state trial is currently paused as his federal case proceeds.
Since abolishing the death penalty in 1911, Minnesota has never conducted a federal death penalty case. According to Daniel Borgertpoepping, a spokesperson for the Hennepin County Attorney’s Office, the federal plea agreement will not influence the state-level charges against Boelter.
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 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.