Suspect in Minnesota political killings expected to plead guilty in federal case after death penalty taken off table, court filings show

Vance Boelter, the man charged in the attacks against lawmakers in Minnesota last summer, is expected to plead guilty in his federal case on Thursday after the Justice Department agreed not to pursue the death penalty against him, according to court filings. 

The Justice Department informed U.S. District judges John Tunheim and Dulce Foster of Boelter's intent to change his plea in a letter on Wednesday. 

Judge Tunheim subsequently set a change-of-plea hearing for Thursday at 10 a.m. local time. 

Boelter was arrested nearly a year ago after a two-day manhunt. He is accused of disguising himself as a police officer and fatally shooting Minnesota state Rep. Melissa Hortman, a Democrat, and her husband, Mark, at their home on June 14, 2025.

He is also accused of traveling that same day to the home of Minnesota state Sen. John Hoffman, also a Democrat, and shooting the lawmaker and his wife, Yvette, and attempting to shoot their daughter, prosecutors said. Both John and Yvette Hoffman survived the shooting.

Boelter previously pleaded not guilty to six federal counts, including murder, attempted murder, stalking and other firearms-related charges.

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A Justice Department spokesperson said this week that federal prosecutors will not seek the death penalty against him.

Prosecutors declined to pursue the ultimate punishment because a federal judge ruled earlier this year in an unrelated murder case that interstate stalking charges do not rise to the level to support a capital crime, officials said.

Boelter has also pleaded not guilty to murder and attempted murder in state court, where he faces life in prison if convicted.

Following the attacks, police say they discovered a notebook in Boelter's abandoned, fake police vehicle containing a list of elected officials who investigators suspect were targeted in a plot that the Minnesota U.S. attorney described at the time as the "stuff of nightmares."

Prosecutors said Boelter also traveled to the homes of two other state lawmakers only to find no one at those locations.