MINNEAPOLIS — Vance Boelter, the man who admitted to shooting two Minnesota lawmakers and their spouses, was sentenced on Thursday to two life terms in prison, followed by 40 years.
U.S. District Judge John Tunheim passed the sentence against Boelter, 59, who admitted to fatally shooting former Minnesota House Speaker Melissa Hortman and her husband, and wounding state Sen. John Hoffman and his wife.
Tunheim said it is the longest sentence he has ever imposed, the Star Tribune reported.
“This was a brutal attack on elected public officials and their families, which is truly an attack on democracy itself,” Tunheim said.
Boelter pleaded guilty to six federal charges against him in June, CBS News reported. As part of his plea, he confessed to killing Melissa Hortman and her husband, Mark; and wounding Hoffman and his wife, Yvette.
BREAKING: Vance Boelter was sentenced Thursday to two consecutive life sentences plus 40 years after pleading guilty to stalking and shooting Democratic lawmakers in Minnesota last year. https://t.co/Xo2HLZy7fx pic.twitter.com/hPu7odLcfH
— ABC News (@ABC) July 23, 2026
The U.S. Department of Justice announced in June it would not seek the death penalty for Boelter, according to the news outlet.
During Thursday’s hearing, John Hoffman said that Boelter looked him in the eyes on June 14, 2025, and shot him, the Star Tribune reported.
“Nine bullet holes in my body, eight in (Yvette’s),” he said. “My wife and I now live with injuries. We live with our bodies remembering the gunfire.”
Yvette Hoffman said she sees a therapist weekly, CNN reported.
“I fought him, Your Honor, with everything I had. And I finally got him out of our home,” she said. “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.
“We always have an escape plan now. This isn’t how people should live.”
Boelter apologized in his statement to the court before his sentence was announced, the Star Tribune reported.
“To every person I have caused loss, pain, heartache, confusion, sadness, shame, or loneliness, I am truly sorry,” Boelter said.
Colin Hortman said his family went from “whole to shattered” in one night when his parents were killed KSTP reported.
“My mom will never bake me another cake … she was supposed to bake my wedding cake,” he told the court. “They would have been the best grandparents -- they will never meet my children.”
Harry Haluptzok, Melissa Hortman’s father, said his daughter “made a difference,” the Star Tribune reported.
“I wish the perpetrator would’ve sat down and talked with Melissa about his political positions,” Haluptzok told the court during his victim impact statement. “Why he thought the way he did and what she could do to help him. Instead, he chose to destroy her and not make any positive change in the world.”
“The pain is so deep. This is my little girl.”
John Hoffman said that Boelter attempted to silence voices last June.
“That perpetrator failed, your honor.”
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