Shortly after news hit Saturday morning of a horrific situation unfolding in Minnesota, authorities identified 57-year-old Vance Luther Boelter as the suspect in a series of shootings that left one state lawmaker and her husband dead and another lawmaker and his wife fighting for their lives.
The story got progressively stranger and more disturbing throughout Saturday as evidence of a “hit list” emerged and a manhunt for Boelter ensued. Finally, late Sunday evening, Boelter was apprehended and charged by Hennepin County with second-degree murder and second-degree attempted murder. (Many understandably questioned why he was only charged with second-degree murder, given evidence indicating he’d planned the shootings ahead of time — more on that shortly.)
Boelter now faces federal charges in addition to the state charges, including two counts of stalking, two counts of murder, and two counts of shooting/firearms offenses.
He is charged with two counts of stalking, two counts of murder and two counts of firearm-related crimes in federal court.
In addition to the federal charges, Boelter is facing second-degree murder charges filed in Hennepin County, where he is accused of killing former Minnesota House Speaker Melissa Hortman and her husband, Mark, early Saturday morning at their Brooklyn Park home in Minneapolis, and of shooting State Sen. John Hoffman, also a Democrat, and his wife, Yvette, in their nearby Champlin home in a related attack.
As referenced above, the state charges initially were for second-degree murder, but that’s likely to change:
The Hennepin County Attorney’s Office on Monday announced that it intends to file first-degree murder charges against the suspect.
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Hennepin County Attorney Mary Moriarty said Monday that those were the charges they could file via complaint on Sunday so they could take Boelter into custody at an early point in their investigation into the suspect’s alleged actions.
Attached to the complaint setting forth the charges against Boelter, federal officials filed the affidavit of FBI Special Agent Terry Getsch, which may be viewed in full below.
The 20-page affidavit sets out a chilling chronology of Boelter’s actions in relation to the shootings/murders, including the fact that he approached two other lawmakers’ homes in between the Hoffmans’ and the Hortmans’. While the lawmakers are not named, the affidavit reveals that no one was home at one of the residences and, though he was parked outside the other, he may have been deterred by the approach of a New Hope police officer sent to conduct a safety check at that home.
There still remain so many questions regarding Boelter’s motives, the actions of his wife, the comments of his roommate — all of the pieces of this jumbled, tragic puzzle. What appears clear at this point is that, if convicted, Boelter is looking at a lifetime in prison, and possibly the death penalty.
