A man has pleaded guilty in a US federal court to the murders of the top Democrat in the Minnesota House of Representatives, Melissa Hortman, and her husband, Mark Hortman. Vance Boelter, 58, also admitted to the attempted murder of state senator John Hoffman and his wife, Yvette Hoffman, in a series of politically motivated attacks in June 2025.
Boelter disguised himself as a police officer and drove a fake squad car to the victims’ homes in the early hours of 14 June. He shot and killed the Hortmans and gravely injured their golden retriever, which was later euthanised. Senator Hoffman and his wife were also shot but survived.
Boelter was captured near his home in rural Green Isle the following day after what prosecutors described as the largest manhunt in Minnesota history. He also faces state charges, which have been put on hold pending the outcome of his federal case. The Department of Justice agreed not to seek the death penalty as part of the plea deal, a decision consistent with Minnesota’s abolition of capital punishment in 1911.
Prosecutors have described the shootings as political, but the motive remains unclear. Boelter wrote a rambling letter to FBI director Kash Patel confessing to the attacks and referenced a vague “investigation” into the Covid-19 vaccine. Friends described him as an evangelical Christian with conservative views who had struggled to find work.
John Hoffman said in a lawsuit that his left arm and hand will probably never fully recover, and that he sustained permanent injuries to his digestive and urinary systems. Yvette Hoffman was left with permanent physical weakness, while their daughter, Hope Hoffman, who was present but not shot, suffered severe psychological trauma.
