By Joseph Ax
July 23 (Reuters) – The Minnesota man who pleaded guilty to assassinating a top Democratic lawmaker and attempting to murder another was sentenced to life in federal prison on Thursday, 13 months after he disguised himself as a police officer and attacked the legislators at their homes.
Vance Boelter, 59, was given consecutive life sentences plus 40 years by U.S. District Court Judge John Tunheim in Minneapolis. He pleaded guilty to six counts in June, including murder, part of an agreement with prosecutors that allowed him to avoid a potential death sentence.
“Political violence is an attack not only on its immediate victims, but also on our communities, our democratic institutions, and the rule of law,” Acting U.S. Attorney Todd Blanche said in a statement.
Boelter, wearing a silicone mask, donned a police uniform and drove an SUV with a license plate that read, “Police,” as he carried out the late-night shootings on June 14, 2025.
After ringing the doorbell and gaining entry, Boelter fatally shot Melissa Hortman, the top Democrat in the Minnesota House of Representatives, and her husband Mark in their home. Earlier, he also shot and wounded state Senator John Hoffman and his wife Yvette at their home a few miles away.
He also visited the homes of two other lawmakers that night, authorities said, but no one answered the door at one house and Boelter left the other home when a police officer, believing him to be a fellow officer, approached his car.
Investigators found a list of more than 45 Minnesota officials in his car. Law enforcement captured Boelter two days later after the largest manhunt in state history.
The shootings highlighted the spike in political violence that has hit the U.S. in recent years.
During Thursday’s sentencing, victims and family members spoke emotionally about the toll Boelter’s crimes had taken, according to the Minneapolis Star Tribune.
“I miss my mom, I miss my dad,” the daughter of the Hortmans, Sophie Hortman, said through tears. “I miss believing in the goodness of humanity.”
Mark Hortman’s father, J. Carroll Hortman, criticized the government for agreeing to a plea deal, the newspaper reported. Hortman also said he tried to appeal to Blanche but was blown off.
Asked to comment, a Justice Department spokesperson said in a statement that the U.S. attorney general always considers the views of victims’ families when determining whether to seek the death penalty in specific cases.
“But even when capital punishment may appear to be the just sentence, significant legal or evidentiary obstacles may leave no legally sustainable basis to seek it,” the statement said, without specifying whether such obstacles existed in the Boelter case.
After Boelter pleaded guilty in June, the U.S. Attorney in Minnesota, Daniel Rosen, told reporters, “This case as charged was certainly death penalty eligible, and we would have prevailed in that ultimately in the courts. But the truth is, when you have a defendant that is prepared to plead guilty … to ensure that he never sees freedom again in his entire life, that was an opportunity that we just could not pass up.”
Boelter briefly apologized in court before he was sentenced.
“To every person I have caused loss, pain, heartache, confusion, sadness, shame, or loneliness, I am truly sorry,” he said, according to the Star Tribune.
(Reporting by Joseph Ax; Additional reporting by Andrew GoudswardEditing by Rod Nickel and Aurora Ellis)
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