On Wednesday, U.S. prosecutors announced they will not pursue the death penalty in a plea agreement with Vance Boelter, the man charged with the political killings of the leading Democrat in the Minnesota House and her husband, as well as the attempted murders of a state senator and his wife.
Vance Boelter is set to appear for a change-of-plea hearing on Thursday morning in federal court in Minneapolis.
Assistant U.S. Attorneys Bradley M. Endicott and Matthew D. Forbes stated in a letter to the court, “The Attorney General has authorized and directed the government not to seek the death penalty against Defendant Vance Luther Boelter in accordance with the terms delineated in a proposed plea agreement.”
Boelter’s legal representatives have not yet responded to an email requesting comment, and the details of the plea agreement remain undisclosed in court documents.
Melissa Hortman, the former Speaker of the Minnesota House, her husband Mark Hortman, and State Senator John Hoffman and his wife, Yvette Hoffman, were attacked by a man posing as a police officer and driving a fake squad car on June 14, 2025. Their golden retriever was critically injured and had to be put down.
Boelter, aged 58, was apprehended near his rural Green Isle home the following day, after what authorities describe as the most extensive manhunt in Minnesota’s history. He is facing federal and state charges of murder and attempted murder, among others. His state case is on hold pending the outcome of his federal charges.
While Minnesota abolished the death penalty in 1911 and has never pursued a federal death penalty case, the Trump administration’s push for capital punishment raised questions about Boelter’s eligibility for the death penalty under federal law.
Prosecutors have labeled the attacks as politically motivated. When they announced the federal indictment in July, they released a disjointed letter handwritten by Boelter, addressed to FBI Director Kash Patel, confessing to the shootings. The letter did not clarify why he targeted the Hortmans or the Hoffmans.
In communications with the media, Boelter alluded to a vague “investigation” he was conducting, sometimes implying it related to the COVID-19 vaccine.
Friends have described Boelter as an evangelical Christian who occasionally preached and undertook missionary work, holding politically conservative views, and struggling with unemployment.
When Minnesota’s legislative session began in February, John Hoffman was warmly greeted as he entered the Senate chamber. In a lawsuit filed against Boelter in April, Hoffman claimed his left arm and hand might never fully recover, and he had sustained permanent injuries to his digestive and urinary systems.
Yvette Hoffman was left with lasting physical weakness, according to the lawsuit, while their adult daughter, Hope Hoffman, who was present and called 911 but was not shot, experienced severe psychological trauma.
