Man gets two life sentences for killing Minnesota lawmaker and husband - NBC News

What the report says

NBC News, citing Associated Press reporting, says Vance Boelter, 59, was sentenced Thursday in federal court in Minneapolis to two consecutive life terms for killing former Minnesota House Speaker Melissa Hortman and her husband, Mark. U.S. District Judge John R. Tunheim also imposed an additional 480 months, or 40 years, in prison.

Boelter pleaded guilty last month to six federal counts in an agreement that took the death penalty off the table. According to the report, prosecutors and federal defenders had said the negotiated punishment was the harshest available sentence short of capital punishment. In court, Boelter apologized to people harmed by his actions.

The case stems from June 14, 2025, attacks in the Minneapolis area. NBC reported that Boelter admitted he spent months selecting and monitoring targets before going to officials’ homes at night while disguised as a police officer. Court documents described him as first shooting state Sen. John Hoffman and his wife, Yvette, who survived with critical injuries, then going to the Hortman home, where Melissa and Mark Hortman were killed. Authorities said he also visited two other lawmakers’ residences that night.

The sentencing followed victim-impact statements from the Hoffman and Hortman families, including the Hortmans’ children. Prosecutors characterized the crimes as an attack on democratic government, while the report noted the killings triggered what authorities described as the largest police search in Minnesota history and heightened fears about threats against public officials. Boelter still faces state charges, including murder and attempted murder counts.