A US District Court on Thursday sentenced Vance Boelter to two consecutive life terms plus 40 years in prison for the fatal shooting of former Minnesota Democratic lawmaker Melissa Hortman and her husband, Mark Hortman, in a politically motivated attack.
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Boelter was also convicted of critically injuring state senator John Hoffman and his wife, Yvette, along with two counts of attempted murder, impersonating a police officer and animal cruelty.
Nearly a year after the Minneapolis-area attacks, Boelter agreed to plead guilty in June for fear of federal prosecutors seeking the death penalty.
On June 14, 2025, Vance Boelter reportedly rang the doorbell to Hortman’s home at around 3:30 am, disguised as a police officer on a welfare check, wearing a uniform and a mask.
Once Mark Hortman answered the door, Boelter gave him a fake name and badge number before requesting him to summon Melissa Hortman, following which he killed both of them, shooting multiple times.
According to police, Boelter had already visited the Hoffmans’, shooting and critically injuring the senator and his wife. In failed attempts, he reportedly also went to two other lawmakers’ houses that night.
“My days are filled with grey, and the blood that was spilt is the last thing I see before I go to sleep and the first thing I see when I wake,” said Colin, son of the Hortmans, while speaking to CNN
“There is no sentence that weighs 15 gunshots, a murdered dog and the rest of my life”, he added.
Speaking to CNN, state senator John Hoffman shared what he experienced on the night of the incident.
“The defendant looked me in the eyes and pulled the trigger. The defendant looked at my wife and chose to do the same,” Hoffman said, adding that he and his wife now live with the injuries, with their bodies remembering the gunfire.
According to CNN, Boelter admitted to identifying and stalking his targets for months before carrying out the attacks.
