Federal prosecutors announced Monday that Vance Boelter, 57, the suspect in last week’s assassinations and shootings of Minnesota state lawmakers and their spouses, will face federal murder charges that could carry the death penalty. He has also been charged with two counts of murder with a firearm.
Hennepin County Attorney Mary Moriarty confirmed that the state will press first‑degree murder charges—requiring a grand jury indictment and carrying a mandatory sentence of life without parole—against Boelter for the fatal shootings of Rep. Melissa Hortman and her husband, Mark Hortman. “We are living in a frightening time,” Moriarty said at a news conference. “Political violence is prevalent. We cannot continue on this way.”
Boelter was taken into custody late Sunday in what officials called the largest manhunt in Minnesota history. SWAT teams deployed drones to track him crawling through dense brush in rural Sibley County, about an hour southwest of Minneapolis, after finding his abandoned car and hat. “It was a relatively short period of time,” said Drew Evans, superintendent of the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension. Although armed, Boelter offered no resistance and was arrested without force near his Green Isle home.
He remains held at the Hennepin County Jail and is scheduled to make his initial federal court appearance in St. Paul at 1:30 p.m. Central. Acting U.S. Attorney Joseph H. Thompson called the case “the stuff of nightmares,” underscoring its gravity.
Boelter already faces two counts of second‑degree murder for the Hortmans’ deaths and two counts of attempted second‑degree murder for shooting State Senator John A. Hoffman and his wife, Yvette Hoffman, at their home. Prosecutors allege Boelter donned a rubber mask, carried a phony badge, and introduced himself as a police officer before opening fire. When the Hoffmans’ daughter dialed 911, officers redirected to check on Rep. Hortman next door—only to witness Boelter shooting Mr. Hortman through an open door before exchanging gunfire and fleeing.
Investigators recovered a notebook listing roughly 70 potential targets—spanning politicians, civic and business leaders, and Planned Parenthood centers—suggesting a broader conspiracy, officials said. Boelter and his wife operate a private security firm marketing police‑style SUVs and once ran a religious nonprofit. A friend told reporters Boelter opposed abortion and served alongside Senator Hoffman on a state workforce development board.
The article was originally published on Politics Nigeria.
