The indictment handed up lists murder, stalking and firearms charges against Vance Boelter.
A federal grand jury indicted a man Tuesday on charges that he fatally shot a prominent Minnesota state representative and her husband and seriously wounded a state senator and his wife while he was allegedly disguised as a police officer.
The indictment handed up lists murder, stalking and firearms charges against Vance Boelter. The murder counts in the deaths of former Democratic House Speaker Melissa Hortman and her husband, Mark, could carry the federal death penalty.
“This political assassination, the likes of which have never occurred here in the state of Minnesota, has shook our state at a foundational level,” acting U.S. Attorney Joseph Thompson said.
He said a decision on whether to seek the death penalty “will not come for several months” and will be up to U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi. Minnesota abolished its state death penalty in 1911, but President Donald Trump’s administration says it intends to be aggressive in seeking capital punishment for eligible federal crimes.
Prosecutors initially charged Boelter with the same counts. But under federal court rules they needed a grand jury indictment to take the case to trial.
Boelter’s federal defender, Manny Atwal, did not immediately return messages seeking comment on the indictment and the new allegations.Political extremism as a motive
Thompson also disclosed new details at a news conference. He said investigators had found a handwritten letter by Boelter addressed to FBI Director Kash Patel in which he confessed to the shootings and made bizarre claims.
“In the letter, Vance Boelter claims that he had been trained by the U.S. military off the books and he had conducted missions on behalf of the U.S. military in Asia, the Middle East and Africa,” Thompson said.
