Man accused in deadly Minnesota lawmaker shootings pleads not guilty to federal charges
The man charged with killing Minnesota House Speaker Emerita Melissa Hortman and her husband, and wounding state Sen. John Hoffman and his wife, pleaded not guilty during his federal arraignment hearing on Thursday morning in Minneapolis.
Vance Boelter, 58, of Green Isle, Minnesota, was indicted July 15 on six counts of murder, stalking and firearms violations.
Boelter, who was uncuffed, sat expressionless during the hearing, wearing a yellow jumpsuit with a bright-orange sweatshirt over top. At the end of the hearing, he glanced back at those in attendance before exiting the courtroom.
Also during the hearing, U.S. Magistrate Judge Dulce Foster granted U.S. Attorney Joe Thompson's request of a 60-day period for discovery disclosures, with an anticipated volume of tens of thousands of pages and 1,700 media files — amounting to hundreds of gigabytes of information.
Foster also approved the prosecution's motion to designate this as a "complex case" so standard speedy trial requirements won't apply, saying both sides will need plenty of time to review the voluminous evidence.
Thompson's team is also seeking a protective order to seal some information regarding the names and addresses of victims and potential victims.
Thompson told reporters after Thursday's hearing that no trial date has been set, and it could possibly not proceed until 2027.
Foster didn't set a deadline for death penalty status, with November being the earliest a decision could be made.
The discovery deadline for prosecutors is set for Oct. 6, while Boelter's legal team has until Oct. 14. Any pre-trial motions are due by Jan. 12, 2026, while responses and notices of intent to call witnesses are due by Feb. 16, 2026. The next motion hearing is scheduled for March 6, 2026.
Those in attendance at Thursday's hearing included Democratic state Rep. Ginny Klevorn, whose district covers parts of the west Twin Cities metro area. She spoke to WCCO's Caroline Cummings afterwards off camera, saying she was there to support the Hortmans and Hoffmans, whom she calls her friends. Klevorn added it's important that the victims remain at the center of it all.
Boelter's motivations still unclear
Prosecutors say Boelter was disguised as a police officer and driving a fake squad car early June 14 when he went to the Hoffmans' Champlin home. He shot the senator nine times, and his wife eight times, officials said. Both survived.
Boelter later went to the Hortmans' home in nearby Brooklyn Park and killed both of them, authorities said. Their dog was so gravely injured that he had to be euthanized. Boelter surrendered the next night.
As they announced the indictment last month, prosecutors released a rambling handwritten letter they say Boelter wrote to FBI Director Kash Patel in which he confessed to the June 14 shootings. However, the letter doesn't make clear why he targeted the Hortmans or the Hoffmans.
When Boelter was indicted last month, federal defender Manny Atwal said the weighty charges did not come as a surprise, but she has not commented on the substance of the allegations or any defense strategies.
"The investigation of this case arose out of the largest manhunt in Minnesota's history," Atwal wrote. "Accordingly, the discovery to be produced by the government will include a substantial amount of investigative material and reports from more than a dozen different law enforcement agencies at the federal, state, and local levels."
Boelter's motivations remain murky. Friends have described him as an evangelical Christian with politically conservative views who had been struggling to find work. Authorities said Boelter made long lists of politicians in Minnesota and other states — all or mostly Democrats.
In a series of cryptic notes to The New York Times through his jail's electronic messaging service, Boelter suggested his actions were partly rooted in the Christian commandment to love one's neighbor.
"Because I love my neighbors prior to June 14th I conducted a 2 year long undercover investigation," he wrote.
In messages published earlier by the New York Post, Boelter insisted the shootings had nothing to do with his opposition to abortion or his support for President Donald Trump, but he declined to elaborate.
"There is little evidence showing why he turned to political violence and extremism," Thompson told reporters last month, reiterating that prosecutors consider Hortman's killing a "political assassination."
John Hoffman spoke about the shootings at a national legislative conference earlier this week.
"What happened in Minnesota on June 14 was awful and tragic and will impact me and my family forever," John Hoffman said. "But as a Minnesotan and as an American, I do know this — we can't let the evil of the night win, and we must redouble our efforts and reclaim the reason we are all public servants."