US man pleads guilty to assassinating Minnesota House speaker and husband
A Minnesota man pleaded guilty on Thursday to federal charges that he killed Minnesota’s House speaker and her husband and attempted to murder a state senator and his wife.
Vance Luther Boelter, 58, of Green Isle, Minnesota, pleaded guilty to six federal murder, firearms, and stalking charges related to the attacks nearly a year ago on the state lawmakers, changing a not guilty plea he had entered in August.
The change of plea came after the Justice Department decided not to seek the death penalty against Boelter, as long as he agreed to a plea under which he could receive two life sentences plus 40 years in prison, Minnesota US Attorney Daniel Rosen said at a press conference after Thursday’s hearing.
Rosen said his office believed they could have prevailed in getting a death sentence, but “when you have a defendant that is prepared to plead guilty, take consecutive life terms plus to ensure that he never sees freedom again in his entire life, that was an opportunity that we just could not pass up”.
Boelter disguised himself as a police officer to carry out the June 14, 2025 shootings. He wore a silicone mask and drove an SUV with a number plate that simply read “Police”, in which officers later found a list of more than 45 other Minnesota legislators and officials.
He fatally shot Melissa Hortman, the top Democrat in the Minnesota House, and her husband Mark, in their home and shot and wounded another Democratic lawmaker, state Senator John Hoffman, and his wife Yvette, in their home a few kilometres away.
