Boelter gets life sentences for Minnesota lawmaker attacks

Vance Boelter was sentenced Thursday to two consecutive life terms plus 40 years in federal prison for killing former Minnesota House Speaker Melissa Hortman and her husband, Mark, and shooting state Sen. John Hoffman and his wife, Yvette, in politically motivated attacks that shook the state.

U.S. District Judge John R. Tunheim said it was “the longest sentence I have imposed after hearing thousands of cases over the years, but it is well deserved.” The sentence carries no possibility of parole.

Boelter, who turned 59 Thursday, pleaded guilty in June to six federal charges. In court, he admitted killing the Hortmans and wounding the Hoffmans in attacks that also targeted the Hoffmans’ daughter, Hope. The U.S. Department of Justice announced in June that it would not seek the death penalty. The Guardian reported that Boelter pleaded guilty to avoid the death penalty and agreed to the maximum sentence short of it.

Before he was sentenced, Boelter offered a brief apology. “To every person I have caused loss, pain, heartache, confusion, shame or loneliness, I am truly sorry,” he said.

Prosecutors had urged the court to ensure Boelter never left prison. “Justice requires that Boelter never be free again,” they wrote in a filing Tuesday.

The attacks happened June 14, 2025, in the Twin Cities suburbs of Champlin and Brooklyn Park and triggered a 43-hour manhunt that ended in rural Green Isle, Minnesota. The Guardian, citing court documents, reported that Boelter spent months identifying and stalking his targets before driving to their homes in the middle of the night disguised as a police officer.

At the Hortmans’ home around 3:30 a.m., Boelter wore a tactical uniform and mask, rang the doorbell and shouted that he was a police officer conducting a welfare check, according to court documents cited by The Guardian. Mark Hortman answered the door. Boelter gave a fake name and badge number, asked for Melissa Hortman to come to the door, then shot Mark Hortman multiple times before entering the house and shooting Melissa Hortman as she fled upstairs.

Earlier that night, Boelter had gone to the Hoffmans’ home, where he shot and critically injured John and Yvette Hoffman, according to police and court documents cited by The Guardian. Court documents also said he went to two other lawmakers’ homes that night.

Survivors and relatives described the damage in emotional statements. Sophie Hortman said, “What I cared about is my entire life had been shattered in 30 seconds. My parents were dead. The dog had been shot multiple times. My brother was wrecked.” Colin Hortman said he lives with post-traumatic stress disorder and asked for the maximum sentence without release. “The blood that was spilled is the last thing I see before I fall asleep and the first thing I see as I wake,” he said.

John Hoffman said he returned to the Minnesota Senate “because I refuse to allow violence to become the author of my future,” but said his family remains on alert. “Our home no longer feels like the sanctuary it once was,” he said, describing solid steel doors and reinforced security as “daily reminders that violence followed us home.”

Yvette Hoffman said she believed she was dying after being shot. “I’ll never forget looking down and watching my blood stream down that white washing machine as I felt myself sinking to the floor and fading,” she said.

The Hennepin County Attorney’s Office has said it plans to proceed with state charges, including two counts of first-degree premeditated murder and four counts of attempted first-degree murder. The Hoffman family is also suing Boelter civilly, alleging assault, battery, intentional infliction of emotional distress, negligence and negligence per se.

Minnesota lawmakers have approved tributes to Melissa Hortman, including a memorial garden, the renaming of Highway 610 and the state’s community solar garden program in her honor, and two measures championed by her son Colin to help families after traumatic events.