DOJ Drops Death Penalty Bid Against 58-Year-Old Vance Boelter in Minnesota Killings
Updated
Updated · abcnews.com · Jun 9
DOJ Drops Death Penalty Bid Against 58-Year-Old Vance Boelter in Minnesota Killings
3 articles · Updated · abcnews.com · Jun 9
Summary
Federal prosecutors said Vance Boelter will not face the death penalty over the June 2025 killings of Minnesota Rep. Melissa Hortman and her husband, Mark, and the shooting of Sen. John Hoffman and his wife.
A Jan. 30 ruling in the unrelated Luigi Mangione case undercut the capital path by finding interstate stalking is not a crime of violence and cannot support a federal death-penalty charge.
Boelter, 58, has pleaded not guilty to 6 federal counts and separate state murder and attempted-murder charges; in state court he faces life in prison if convicted.
Investigators say he posed as a police officer, wore a realistic silicon mask and body armor, and left notebooks listing elected officials and surveillance notes, suggesting a broader plot against Minnesota lawmakers.