Survivors describe lasting trauma; family anger at plea deal that avoided death penalty
Vance Boelter, the Minnesota man who pleaded guilty to killing a top Democratic lawmaker and her husband, was sentenced Thursday to two consecutive life terms plus 40 years in federal prison, closing the federal case a little over a year after the politically motivated attacks.
Boelter, 59, had admitted in June to six counts related to the killing of former House Speaker Melissa Hortman and her husband, Mark, and the shootings of state Senator John Hoffman and his wife, Yvette. He agreed to the maximum sentence short of the death penalty in exchange for prosecutors not seeking capital punishment.
At the sentencing hearing, fellow lawmakers and survivors described the lasting fear and physical harm Boelter caused. Wearing orange prison garb and shackled at the ankles, Boelter sat extremely still and never looked at the survivors or family members as they delivered victim impact statements.
“The defendant looked me in the eyes and pulled the trigger. The defendant looked at my wife and chose to do the same,” Hoffman said in court. “My wife and I now live with injuries. We live with our bodies remembering the gunfire.”
Yvette Hoffman said she had been too traumatized to work since the attack and sees a therapist weekly.
“I fought him, your Honor, with everything I had. And I finally got him out of our home. I will never forget looking down and watching my blood slowly stream down that white washing machine as I felt myself sinking to the floor,” she said, barely holding back tears.
Hoffman told the court that he and his family were reminded of the violence even in the mundane details of daily life. They no longer receive mail at home, they installed solid steel doors, and they have had to change how they perform everyday tasks because of their injuries.
Boelter admitted in court in June 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.
On June 14, 2025, Boelter went first to the Hoffmans’ home, shooting and critically injuring the senator and his wife, according to police and court documents. He then drove to Hortman’s home, arriving about 3:30 a.m. wearing a tactical uniform and mask. He rang the doorbell while shouting that he was a police officer doing a welfare check, according to court documents.
Mark Hortman answered the door. Boelter gave a fake name and badge number before asking him to summon Melissa Hortman to the door. He shot Mark Hortman multiple times, pushed into the house, and shot the lawmaker as she fled upstairs. Both were killed.
Court documents said Boelter also went to two other lawmakers’ houses that night. At one house, no one answered the door; at the other, Boelter was spooked when a police officer approached his car, believing he was another officer.
Members of Mark Hortman’s family voiced anger that Boelter avoided the death penalty.
“It will not offer me peace of mind that he will have room and board provided for the rest of his life, paid for by my tax dollars,” Lisa Hortman Bean, Mark’s sister, told the court.
The sentencing brings to a close the federal case against Boelter.