Vance Boelter set to make appearance in state court after receiving federal sentence

Vance Boelter, the man who was federally sentenced to two life terms and an additional 40 years for killing a Minnesota lawmaker and her husband, will make his first appearance in state court on Monday afternoon.

The state case against Boelter will continue, unaffected by his federal guilty plea and sentence. Monday's hearing is scheduled for 1:15 p.m.

Boelter was indicted by a Hennepin County grand jury on two counts of first-degree premeditated murder, four counts of attempted first-degree murder, felony cruelty to an animal and impersonating a police officer in Hennepin County.

"While Mr. Boelter's case has been in federal court, we have been preparing to prosecute him in state court. That time has arrived and Mr. Boelter will soon face accountability in a Hennepin County courtroom," said Hennepin County Attorney Mary Moriarty.

Boelter, 59, confessed in federal court to killing former House Speaker Melissa Hortman and her husband Mark and wounding state Sen. John Hoffman and his wife Yvette in a shooting that also targeted their daughter Hope. 

The June 14, 2025, shootings in the Twin Cities suburbs of Champlin and Brooklyn Park prompted a manhunt that lasted 43 hours and ended in rural Green Isle, Minnesota. Officials have said the attacks were politically motivated.

The U.S. Department of Justice announced in June that it would not seek the death penalty against Boelter, a decision that was criticized by Mark Hortman's family.

When he was sentenced in federal court in July, Melissa and Mark Hortman's children Sophie and Colin said their world was shattered, and they think of their parents' murders daily.

Yvette Hoffman said she "came face to face with evil" the day she was shot.

"I survived it. I will carry the memory of that day with me for the rest of my life," she said.