By Taylor Romine, Andy Rose, Rob Kuznia, CNN
Minneapolis (CNN) — The man who killed a former Minnesota House Speaker and her husband, and who seriously injured another lawmaker and his wife, agreed to a deal with federal prosecutors Thursday, ensuring he will not be put to death.
Vance Boelter entered guilty pleas to murder and stalking charges along with firearms offenses during a court hearing Thursday in Minneapolis, nearly a year after he committed the political assassinations of Democrat Melissa Hortman and her husband and, in a separate shooting, wounded Minnesota State Sen. John Hoffman and his wife.
The Hoffmans were among the spectators who filled the courtroom gallery Thursday, along with several members of Boelter’s family.
The government recommended a sentence of two consecutive life terms plus 40 years, which was accepted by Judge John R. Tunheim.
The plea agreement was approved by Acting US Attorney General Todd Blanche, according to a court filing Wednesday. The filing did not provide specifics but said the decision to take the death penalty off the table was “in accordance with the terms” of the agreement.
Boelter previously entered not guilty pleas to the charges with Acting US Attorney Joseph Thompson saying one day after Boelter’s arrest at least two of the charges carry the possibility of the death penalty.
The day of the shootings, Boelter was dressed like a police officer, wearing tactical armor, a police-style badge and a silicone mask when he showed up heavily armed at the lawmakers’ homes, authorities said.
After the shooting of the Hoffmans, police conducted a welfare check on the Hortmans’ home and encountered Boelter standing outside near the front door, where he began firing shots into the home. He got away by opening fire on officers, prosecutors said, leaving behind a hit list with nearly 70 names and three AK-47 assault-style rifles and a 9mm handgun in his vehicle.
Boelter was finally captured after a frenzied 43-hour search in what has been described as the largest manhunt in the state’s history. Police caught up to Boelter in a field in Green Isle, Minnesota, arresting him a mile from his home.
Between the shootings at the Hoffman and the Hortman homes, Boelter went to the homes of two other state lawmakers but was not able to make contact with the families, according to investigators.
Boelter ran “a planned campaign of stalking and violence, designed to inflict fear, injure, and kill members of the Minnesota state legislature and their families,” federal prosecutors said in an affidavit. The attacks were highly planned, authorities said, with Boelter possibly spending months to gather information about his targets and buy supplies.
Authorities recovered both guns used in the shootings, as well as a handwritten letter to FBI Director Kash Patel found inside Boelter’s abandoned car, authorities previously said.
“Bringing justice to the families and loved ones of victims of violence is the number one priority of the Department of Justice,” a spokesperson for the Department of Justice said in a statement to CNN affiliate WCCO on Monday. “Prosecutors worked hard on this case to make sure he was held accountable to the fullest extent possible.”
Boelter still faces state charges, including two counts of first-degree premeditated murder and four counts of attempted first-degree murder. The longest sentence he faces if convicted in the state case is life in prison without parole. Minnesota abolished its death penalty more than a century ago.
A spokesperson for the Hennepin County Attorney’s Office told the Associated Press the federal plea deal would not affect Boelter’s state charges.
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This story was written by Taylor Romine in Los Angeles and Andy Rose in Atlanta with reporting from Rob Kuznia in Minneapolis.
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