Vance Boelter, Minnesota shooter, pleads guilty to avoid death sentence in federal murder cases

Vance Boelter pleaded guilty Thursday to six counts in the murders of former Minnesota House Speaker and her husband and the shootings of a state senator and his wife.

Boelter, 58, shot and killed the former Speaker of the Minnesota House and her husband in June 2025, and shot state Sen. John Hoffman and his wife Yvette, both of whom survived.

In exchange for the plea, the Department of Justice (DOJ) agreed not to seek the death penalty.

The DOJ instead is asking the judge to sentence him to two life terms, plus 40 years.

“Political violence is a scourge in our nation,” said U.S. Attorney Daniel N. Rosen about the verdict. “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.”

The DOJ called “political violence the nemesis of our country.”

Still, the plea deal failed to reveal exactly what motivated Boelter, a failed security consultant.

He is avowedly pro-life, but was also appointed by Minnesota’s Democrat Gov. Tim Walz to a workforce development board and has claimed the motives in the murders weren’t political.

Last summer The Lion spoke with David Carlson, a childhood friend and part-time roommate of Boelter’s, who offered a far less exotic explanation for his friend’s actions.

He had a failed corporate venture in the Congo, mounting financial desperation and was a man unraveling emotionally.

“Why can’t we just say it was mental health?” Carlson asked.

During Thursday’s hearing, Boelter answered “yes” when asked whether he pounded on the former Minnesota House Speaker Melissa Hortman’s door claiming to be conducting a welfare check.

He agreed he used a fake name and badge number, shot Mark Hortman, then chased Melissa Hortman down, pressed a gun to her head and shot her.

He also confirmed telling the Hoffmans “this is a robbery” before shooting both of them multiple times.

The indictment itself was just six counts tracking statutory elements such as “intent to kill” and “crime of violence,” while never positing a motive.

The DOJ and its affidavit for a search warrant in the case included writings, allegedly by Boelter, that seem untethered to reality.

In those writings, he claims to have been trained by the U.S. military “off the books” for missions across four continents and alleges Gov. Tim Walz personally recruited him to assassinate Sens. Amy Klobuchar and Tina Smith.

Boelter claims Walz then tried to have him killed when he refused.

Also found near the writings were a stack of “No Kings” flyers, tied to the anti-Trump administration protests happening nationwide that same day.

Despite the federal plea, Boelter still faces murder charges in state court.

Hennepin County indicted him on two charges of first-degree murder, four charges of attempted murder, a charge of animal cruelty and a charge of impersonating a police officer.

“The damage done to the victims – those with us, those who were taken from us, and to our entire community – has opened wounds that will never heal,” Hennepin County Attorney Mary Moriarty said. “These charges reflect the weight of Mr. Boelter’s crimes, and our thoughts are with Melissa and Mark Hortman’s family, the Hoffman family, Rep. Bahner, and Sen. Rest.”

Moriarty noted that the state sentences aren’t subject to presidential pardons, said CBS News, although there’s no indication that Boelter would get a pardon from any president for murder charges. 

With nothing left to bargain for federally, Boelter has little incentive to plead guilty in Hennepin County, which makes a trial more likely than not.

And Minnesota’s first-degree murder statute requires the state to prove premeditation, not just intent, with little at stake for either side, because Minnesota doesn’t have the death penalty.

Boelter’s own federal admissions of the use of a costume, the fake badge, months of surveillance, could be used as evidence of premeditation.

But if his defense leans into the Carlson narrative in an insanity plea, or his writings are allowed into evidence, the same trial could become the venue where “political extremism” charges become more specific – and more inflammatory.

“Mr. Boelter carried out a heinous and unprecedented act of political violence against Minnesota’s political leaders,” said Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension Superintendent Drew Evans about the plea deal. “We are grateful for all the agencies that worked in partnership to bring Mr. Boelter into custody and prepare a case that forced the guilty plea accepted in court today.”