Minnesota man sentenced to life for killing Democratic lawmaker Melissa Hortman. Photograph: Tim Evans/ReutersMinnesotaMinnesota man sentenced to life for killing Democratic lawmaker Melissa HortmanVance Boelter receives two life terms after admitting politically motivated killings and shootings.
The Minnesota man who pleaded guilty to killing a top Democratic lawmaker and her husband was sentenced to spend the rest of his life in prison on Thursday, a little over a year after the political attacks.
Details
Vance Boelter, 59, was sentenced to two consecutive life terms plus 40 years in prison after pleading guilty in June to the six counts related to the killings of the former house speaker Melissa Hortman and her husband, Mark, and the shootings of state senator John Hoffman and his wife, Yvette.
Photograph: Tim Evans/Reuters View image in fullscreen The caskets of Melissa Hortman and her husband, Mark, lie in state at the Minnesota capitol in St Paul on 27 June 2025.
Separately, The caskets of Melissa Hortman and her husband, Mark, lie in state at the Minnesota capitol in St Paul on 27 June 2025.
“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,” said Lisa Hortman Bean, Mark’s sister.
Mark Hortman’s parents and siblings spoke of their anger on Thursday, both at the man who killed him and at the justice system, according to the latest reporting on the story.
Available information indicates that 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, in a development tied to the same story.
In court on Thursday, Hoffman said he and his family were constantly reminded of the extraordinary violence of that night, even in the mundane details of day-to-day life.
Statements
Context
Mark Hortman’s father and siblings voiced their anger that he would not face the death penalty.
Boelter went to Hortman’s home, wearing a tactical uniform and mask, about 3.30am on 14 June 2025, according to the latest reporting on the story.
Fellow lawmakers and survivors of the shooting spoke Thursday at the sentencing hearing for Vance Boelter, the man who pleaded guilty last month to federal charges related to the killing of former House Speaker Hortman and her husband Mark, as well as critically wounding state Sen.
Mark Hortman’s father and siblings voiced anger that he could not be sentenced to death, in a development tied to the same story.
Separately, Vance Boelter, who killed a former Minnesota House Speaker and her husband and seriously injured another lawmaker and his wife, appears in a courtroom sketch.
Hoffman said he and his family are constantly reminded of the extraordinary violence of that night, even in the mundane details of day-to-day life.
“I could not fathom why I was spared and (Hortman) was not,” she said, according to the latest reporting on the story.
