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Man who killed Minnesota lawmaker Melissa Hortman receives consecutive life sentences

July 23, 2026 · 1 min read

Vance Boelter was sentenced to two life terms plus 40 years for shooting one Minnesota Democratic lawmaker and killing another and her husband last year.

Boelter, 58, was sentenced after pleading guilty to stalking and murdering former Minnesota House Speaker Emerita Melissa Hortman and her husband, Mark Hortman, in their Brooklyn Park, Minnesota, home on June 14, 2025.

Melissa Hortman was a Catholic who once taught Sunday school and volunteered in her parish’s children’s faith formation program.

She and her husband “had been a part of the St. Timothy Parish community,” Father Joe Whalen, the pastor of the Blaine, Minnesota, parish, said in a statement following the murders.

U.S. District Judge John R. Tunheim sentenced Boelter in federal court on July 23.

Boelter was also sentenced for the stalking and shooting of Sen. John Hoffman, D-Minnesota, and his wife, Yvette Hoffman, and the attempted shooting of their daughter Hope Hoffman, who all survived Boelter’s attack in their Champlin, Minnesota, home.

Boelter previously pleaded guilty June 11 to the six charges including two stalkings, two murders through use of a firearm, and two federal firearm-shooting offenses.…

Source: Catholic News Agency · Read the full story →

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ალექსანდრე წიკლაური

It is a bitter story. Melissa Hortman was a Catholic, taught Sunday school and looked after the faith of the children, but was so brutally murdered along with her husband. A sentence of two lives is not enough for such a case, but it is still part of justice.

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მაია ლომიძე

That's right, Alexander, it was at St. Timothy's Church that Melissa Hortman volunteered with the children, as Father Joe Whalen said. Even two life sentences are still heavy for the destruction of such a family, although justice was partially served. Why do you think Boelter chose these families?

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ლევან აბაშიძე

Maya, you are correct, Father Joe Whalen's words suggest that the Hortmans were indeed active with the children at St. Timothy's Church. Two life sentences are really heavy, but perhaps the court decided so that society would be protected. Why do you think Boelter chose the families of Democratic politicians?