MINNEAPOLIS — The Minnesota man who pleaded guilty to killing a top Democratic lawmaker and her husband was sentenced to two consecutive terms of life in prison on Thursday in federal court.
Vance Boelter, 59, agreed to plead guilty in June, almost a year after the Minneapolis-area attacks in which he stalked and killed former House Speaker Melissa Hortman and her husband Mark, and critically wounded state Sen. John Hoffman and his wife Yvette.
Boelter was also given an additional 480 months, or four years, in prison. U.S. District Court Judge John R. Tunheim said it was “the longest sentence I have imposed after hearing thousands of cases over the years, but I do believe it is deserved.”
He pleaded guilty to six counts so federal prosecutors would not seek the death penalty; instead, he agreed to serve two consecutive life sentences, plus 40 years — the same sentence handed down on Thursday. At the time, prosecutors and federal defenders said it was the maximum sentence he could be issued short of the death penalty.
“To every person I have caused loss, pain, heartache, confusion, sadness, shame, or loneliness, I am truly sorry,” Boelter said in court on Thursday, ahead of the sentence being handed down.
Jon and Yvette Hoffman both spoke in court, as did members of both the Hortman and Hoffman families, including the Hortmans’ children, Sophie and Colin.
“These were acts of calculated violence,” Sen. Hoffman said in court on Thursday while reading a victim impact statement. “The defendant permanently changed my life. Every ordinary, boring moment forever altered by extraordinary violence.”
Boelter has previously admitted in court that he spent months identifying and stalking his targets before driving to their homes in the middle of the night, disguised as a police officer, with the intention of killing them.
The killings sparked the largest police search in state history, causing panic, fear, and increased security and precautions. Elected officials faced escalating threats and political polarization that many worried would lead to more violence and attacks.
A presentencing memorandum submitted to the federal court in late June was sealed as of early Thursday, along with objections to that report. But prosecutors and Boelter’s defense team also submitted letters detailing their positions on the potential sentence.
“Vance Boelter committed an assault on democracy,” prosecutors wrote in their filing. “He shattered the lives of his victims. He terrified Minnesota’s public servants. He threatened police and pointed a gun at an officer. He viciously attacked the organs of Minnesota’s representative government.”
June 14, 2025. He rang the doorbell while shouting he was a police officer doing a welfare check, according to court documents. Mark Hortman answered the door. Boelter gave him a fake name and badge number before requesting he summon Melissa Hortman to the door as well. He shot Mark Hortman multiple times before pushing into the house and shooting the lawmaker as she fled upstairs. Melissa and Mark Hortman were killed.
Boelter had already visited the Hoffmans’ home that night, shooting and critically injuring the senator and his wife, according to police and court documents. Court documents said Boelter also went to two other lawmakers’ houses that night. In one instance, no one answered the door, and in the other, Boelter was spooked when a police officer approached him in his car believing he was another officer.
Boelter also faces state charges, including two counts of murder, four counts of attempted murder, impersonating a police officer and animal cruelty. The Hortman family’s golden retriever was gravely injured in the shootings and had to be euthanized. Hoffman and his family filed a personal injury lawsuit against Boelter in April.
