The stuff of nightmares: Boelter allegedly sought to kill 4 lawmakers
The U.S. Department of Justice charged Vance Luther Boelter with murder and stalking in the assassination of a top Minnesota lawmaker Monday and revealed he allegedly went to four state legislators’ homes Saturday intending to kill them.
Boelter, 57, of Green Isle, Minn., was captured at 9:15 p.m. Central on Sunday, June 15, after the largest police manhunt in Minnesota history. He was about a mile from his home and 60 miles from where the murders took place.
He is charged with killing Minnesota Speaker of the House Emerita Melissa Hortman (DFL) and her husband, Mark, as he burst into their Brooklyn Park home just after 3:30 a.m Saturday. About 90 minutes earlier, authorities said, he shot state Sen. John Hoffman (DFL) and his wife at their home in Champlin. The Hoffmans had emergency surgery and are expected to recover.
Boelter was charged in U.S. District Court in St. Paul with two counts of murder, two counts of stalking, and two firearms offenses related to stalking. He is being held without bond. He is also charged in Hennepin County with first-degree murder and attempted murder, but the federal charges will be prosecuted first.
“Vance Luthor [sic] Boelter went on a violent rampage against our elected officials,” said acting U.S. Attorney Joseph Thompson. “These were targeted political assassinations the likes of which have never been seen before in Minnesota. It was an attack on our state and on our democracy. We will not rest until he is brought to justice.”
The crimes “have shocked the nation and united us in grief,” said U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi. “These horrific acts of violence will not go unanswered.”
The story laid out in the criminal complaint and accompanying FBI affidavit is unprecedented in Minnesota history — literally the stuff of nightmares.
Boelter surveilled the homes of the victims and researched their lives using commercial data sites such as Been Verified, Whitepages, Intelius, and numerous others, the affidavit says.
Boelter carried out his rampage disguised as a police officer, wearing a "hyper realistic" silicone mask, a police uniform, and a black tactical vest with body armor, the complaint continued. He allegedly drove a Ford SUV detailed to look like a squad car, including emergency lights.
Screenshot of FBI affidavit
At just after 2 a.m. on June 14, Boelter allegedly drove to the Hoffman home in Champlin. He knocked on the front door and shouted, “This is the police. Open the door,” the affidavit reads.
The senator opened the door to Boelter, who said there had been a shooting reported at their address. “He asked whether the Hoffmans had any guns,” the affidavit said. “Senator Hoffman responded that there were but that all firearms were locked away.”
Although Boelter had been shining a flashlight in their faces, Mrs. Hoffman realized Boelter was wearing a mask. The couple told Boelter he was not a real police officer, to which he responded, “This is a robbery.”
Senator Hoffman tried to push Boelter back out the front door but was shot repeatedly, the complaint says. Mrs. Hoffman then tried to shut the door on the suspect, but she was also shot multiple times.
The Hoffmans’ daughter called 911 at 2:06 a.m. to report that her parents had been shot.
Boelter then allegedly left the Champlin home and drove to the home of another legislator, identified in the affidavit as “Public Official 1,” in Maple Grove. He repeatedly rang the doorbell at 2:24 a.m., shouting: “This is the police. Open the door. This is the police. We have a warrant,” the affidavit said. The lawmaker was not at home, so the suspect left the area.
Boelter then drove to the New Hope home of another lawmaker and parked down the street. A New Hope police officer saw Boelter’s vehicle and believed it “was in fact a law enforcement officer providing protection for Public Official 2,” the FBI affidavit said. The officer tried to speak to Boelter through the vehicle window, but Boelter stared straight ahead and did not respond.
The New Hope officer continued driving to the home of the lawmaker and waited for backup to arrive. By that time, the suspect had left the area.
Around 3:30 a.m., police in Brooklyn Park sent squad cars to check on Hortman and her husband. Officers saw a black Ford Explorer SUV parked outside the home with its emergency lights flashing. The license plate had been replaced with a fake plate that read "POLICE."
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The FBI said Vance Boelter used materials he bought at a Fleet Farm store to make this fake license plate.Screenshot of FBI affidavit
Officers said they spotted Boelter on the porch of the home and he opened fire on them. As Boelter “moved into the house, a second set of gunshots can be heard. At the same time, several flashes appear in the entryway window,” the affidavit says.
Brooklyn Park officers approached the front entrance, where they found Melissa Hortman, who had been shot multiple times. They tried to provide medical aid to Mark Hortman. Both died from their wounds. Boelter also allegedly shot and killed the family dog.
Boelter fled the home, leaving the SUV out front, according to the affidavit. As he ran, he reportedly ditched the silicone mask, the body armor vest he wore, and a flashlight.
Vance Boelter wore a hyper-realistic silicone mask that covered his entire head, the FBI said.Screenshot of FBI affidavit
Police began tracking the locations of cell phones “known to be used by Boelter and his wife,” the affidavit says. She was in a vehicle near Onamia, Minn., police said June 15.
Mrs. Boelter allowed officers to search her phone. Her husband apparently sent a group text message at 6:18 a.m., in which he wrote: “Dad went to war last night. … I don’t wanna say more because I don’t wanna implicate anybody.”
A short time later, Boelter reportedly sent a text to his wife: “Words are not gonna explain how sorry I am for this situation. …There’s gonna be some people coming to the house armed and trigger-happy and I don’t want you guys around.”
When police searched Mrs. Boelter’s vehicle, they found two handguns, about $10,000 in cash, and passports for her and the couple’s children, who were in the vehicle when stopped by police.
Police said Boelter was seen on security video behind a home on Fremont Avenue in North Minneapolis. A man who lives there told reporters on June 15 that Boelter rented a room in the home. The man, David Carlson, said he had known Boelter since grade school.
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David Carlson reads text messages he said he received from Vance Boelter after the shootings of two lawmakers and their spouses.Photo by Stephen Maturen/Getty Images
Security video showed a man identified by police as Boelter walking around a black SUV parked in the alley. He smashed the front passenger window with a blunt object, then opened the door.
After leaving the area, Boelter reportedly approached a man at a bus stop about 7 a.m. at 48th Avenue North and North Lyndale Avenue in North Minneapolis. The man said Boelter wanted to buy an electric bicycle from him. The men boarded a bus and traveled to the witness’ home. Boelter allegedly asked to also buy the man’s Buick sedan.
The men drove to a U.S. Bank branch in Robbinsdale, Minn., where Boelter reportedly withdrew $2,200 — all of the funds in the account. The suspect was captured on bank security video wearing a dark jacket and cowboy hat. He gave the witness $900 for the e-bike and the vehicle.
By this time, Blaze News’ Julio Rosas reported exclusively that Boelter was the person believed to have committed the Hortman murders and the Hoffman shootings.
Around 2:30 p.m. on June 15, police received a tip that someone was riding an e-bike about two miles north of the Boelter family home in Green Isle. Police could not find anyone.
At the time, tactical officers began flooding the area in Sibley County looking for Boelter.
A short time later, police discovered the Buick that Boelter reportedly purchased earlier in the day, abandoned on Highway 25, not far from the e-bike sighting. Inside, officers discovered Boelter’s cowboy hat and a letter addressed to the FBI. In the letter, Boelter allegedly admitted to being “the shooter at large in Minnesota involved in the 2 shootings the morning of Saturday June 15th [sic].”
Police located Boelter in a field in Green Isle about 9:10 p.m. June 15 and arrested him.
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Screenshot of FBI affidavit
When they searched the 2015 Ford SUV abandoned at the Hortman home, police said they found license plates for the vehicle, registered in the names of Boelter and his wife. They found five firearms, including semiautomatic rifles, “as well as a large quantity of ammunition organized into loaded magazines,” the FBI affidavit said.
Police found several notebooks in the SUV with handwritten pages. They included the names of 45 Minnesota state and federal public officials, including Hortman. Her Brooklyn Park address was written next to her name.
Police found several notebooks they said belonged to Vance Boelter.Screenshot of FBI affidavit
A Garmin GPS device found in the SUV had a trip history that included the addresses of Hortman, Hoffman, and one of the unidentified legislators in Maple Grove. The trip history included home addresses “for at least two other state officials,” the affidavit says.
Police found components of a disassembled Beretta 92 9mm semiautomatic handgun with at least three magazines "strewn across the ground a few blocks from Representative Hortman’s home." Rounds contained in the magazines had the same head stamp as those found on expelled cartridges from the Hortman crime scene. Boelter purchased the handgun in or around January 2000.
When they searched the North Minneapolis home where Boelter occasionally stayed, police found a handwritten list of names containing “many of those same public officials named in the notebooks found in Boelter’s SUV,” according to the affidavit.
Police found a receipt from a Fleet Farm store that showed purchase of a flashlight, tactical rifle case, two types of ammunition, and “materials believe to have been used to create the fake 'POLICE' license plate attached to Boelter’s SUV.”
In one of the notebooks found in the North Minneapolis home, officers found lists of names along with addresses and personal details. For Hortman, a notation read, “Married Mark 2 children 11th term.” Another notebook had more details about Hortman: “Big. House off golf course 2 ways in to watch from one spot,” the affidavit reads.
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