Crime

Vance Boelter indicted in murder of Minnesota House Speaker Melissa Hortman

Vance Boelter was indicted by a federal grand jury on charges related to the murder of Minnesota House Speaker Melissa Hortman, her husband, and the critical wounding of two others. The indictment includes murder, stalking, and firearms charges, which stem from his elaborate plot that involved showing up at prominent Democratic Minnesota politicians’ doors disguised […]

Vance Boelter was indicted by a federal grand jury on charges related to the murder of Minnesota House Speaker Melissa Hortman, her husband, and the critical wounding of two others.

The indictment includes murder, stalking, and firearms charges, which stem from his elaborate plot that involved showing up at prominent Democratic Minnesota politicians’ doors disguised as a police officer with a realistic latex mask, then shooting the couple after they answered. He also faces state charges of two counts of second-degree murder and two counts of attempted second-degree murder, along with federal stalking and firearms charges.

“This political assassination, the likes of which have never occurred here in the state of Minnesota, has shaken our state at a foundational level,” acting U.S. Attorney Joseph Thompson said.


In the early hours of June 14, Boelter is accused of shooting Minnesota state Sen. John Hoffman nine times and his wife, Yvette, eight times after showing up at their door dressed as a police officer and wearing a realistic silicone mask. He is charged with assassinating Hortman and her husband, Mark, just prior.

The Hoffmans were rushed to the hospital in critical condition but are recovering.

In this courtroom sketch, Vance Boelter, right, who is charged with killing one Minnesota lawmaker and wounding another, is seen at a federal court hearing Monday, June 16, 2025, in St. Paul, Minnesota. (Cedric Hohnstadt via AP)

Boelter’s motivation remains unclear, but investigators found a one-and-a-half-page letter, described as rambling and difficult to read, that was ascribed to him. In it, Boelter claimed he had been secretly trained by the United States military and asked to perform the killing so that Gov. Tim Walz (D-MN) could run for Klobuchar’s Senate seat, according to two sources familiar with the matter speaking with the Minnesota Star Tribune. The note was reportedly addressed to FBI Director Kash Patel.

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Asked by reporters about the note, Thompson agreed it was a fantasy.

“There is little evidence showing why he turned to political violence and extremism,” he said. “What he left were lists: politicians in Minnesota, lists of politicians in other states, lists of names of attorneys at national law firms.”

Boelter gave his first interview since his arrest last month to the New York Post on Saturday, during which he said the shootings were unrelated to President Donald Trump or the subject of abortion, as previous hypotheses had claimed.

“You are fishing, and I can’t talk about my case … I’ll say it didn’t involve either the Trump stuff or pro life,” Boelter wrote in a message to the outlet.

“I am pro-life [personally], but it wasn’t those,” he continued, using the jail’s internal messaging system. “I will just say there is a lot of information that will come out in future that people will look at and judge for themselves that goes back 24 months before the 14th. If the gov ever [lets] it get out.”  

MINNESOTA SHOOTER CLAIMS WALZ ASKED HIM TO KILL KLOBUCHAR AND OTHERS IN LETTER TO FBI

Boelter was caught after a two-day search, the largest in Minnesota history. Investigators discovered a series of outlandish projects in his wake, including solving hunger in the U.S. through Good Samaritan laws and creating a Hollywood-like studio in the Democratic Republic of the Congo called “CONGOWOOD.”

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Notably, he proposed establishing a “tracking mechanism” where citizens could “see listed every [single] elected official and where they stand on the Law (Food Providers Good Samaritan Law),” referring to his scheme to solve hunger in the U.S. through Good Samaritan laws aimed at food waste.

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