MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — A Minnesota man accused of killing a top Democratic state lawmaker and wounding another while pretending to be a police officer is now facing new and upgraded state charges under a fresh indictment announced Thursday, just a week after he pleaded not guilty in federal court.
Vance Boelter now faces two charges of first-degree murder, four counts of attempted first-degree murder and charges of impersonating a police officer and animal cruelty for shooting one family's dog. Hennepin County Attorney Mary Moriarty said the charges “reflect the weight of Mr. Boelter's crimes.”
But the state case continues to take a back seat to the federal case against Vance Boelter where he faces potentially more serious consequences. He was indicted July 15 on six federal counts of murder, stalking and firearms violations. The murder charges could carry the federal death penalty although prosecutors haven't decided yet whether to pursue that option. The maximum penalty on the state charges is life in prison because Minnesota doesn’t have the death penalty.
Boelter pleaded not guilty in federal court on Aug. 7.
Moriarty had requested the state prosecution proceed first, but federal prosecutors are using their authority to press their case, according to Daniel Borgertpoepping, Hennepin County Attorney’s Office’s public information officer.
“When Boelter returns to state custody, we will be prepared to prosecute him — to hold him accountable to our community,” Moriarty said. “We will do everything in our power to ensure that he is never able to hurt anyone again.”
Shocking case of political violence
The full extent of the political violence that officials said Boelter, 58, intended to inflict in the early hours of June 14 after months of planning alarmed the community. The Green Isle, Minnesota, resident was arrested a day later following a massive search involving local, state and federal authorities.
“The damage done to the victims — those with us, those who were taken from us and to our entire community — has opened wounds that will never heal,” Moriarty said in a statement.
The Hennepin County Attorney’s Office initially issued a warrant charging Boelter with two counts of second-degree murder for allegedly posing as a police officer and fatally shooting former Democratic House Speaker Melissa Hortman and her husband, Mark, at their home.
Boelter, authorities said, wore a uniform and a mask and yelled that he was police and told these lawmakers that he was an officer.
Authorities originally charged Boelter with two counts of attempted second-degree murder, alleging he shot state Sen. John Hoffman, a Democrat, and his wife Yvette. But officials said when the charges were filed to secure the warrant that they would likely be updated to first-degree murder charges. They also added two additional attempted murder charges Thursday.
Moriarty said the Hoffmans managed to push Boelter out of their home, shutting the door before the gunman fired nine times through the door, striking the senator nine times and his wife eight times. Both survived. Their adult daughter nearby was not hit.
Other lawmakers targeted
Federal prosecutors already revealed details of their investigation showing Boelter had driven to two other legislators’ homes in the roughly hour and a half timeline. Moriarity charged Boelter with trying to kill one of those lawmakers because he went to her door in the same way he approached the Hortmans' and Hoffmans' homes and tried to get inside. She said it doesn't matter that Rep Kristin Bahner wasn't home. Moriarty said Boelter rang Bahner's door for two full minutes while yelling it is the police and trying to open the door himself.
The state case against Boelter shows an application for public defender was filed June 16, but one has yet to be assigned. Public defenders are typically assigned in Minnesota at a defendant’s first appearance, which Boelter did not have before being taken into federal custody, Borgertpoepping said in a text message.
Controversial prosecutor
Moriarty announced last week that she would not seek reelection next year.
Moriarty, a former public defender, was elected in 2022 as the Minneapolis area and the country were still reeling from the death of George Floyd, a Black man pinned under the knee of a white officer for 9 1/2 minutes. She promised to make police more accountable and change the culture of a prosecutors’ office that she believed had long overemphasized punishment without addressing the root causes of crime.
Moriarty faced controversy during her tenure because she said she wanted to move away from punishment as the purpose of prosecution and focusing on issues that lead people to engage in violence. But her critics say she has downplayed the concerns of crime victims and damaged public trust in her office.
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Funk reported from Omaha, Nebraska, and AP writer Hannah Fingerhut contributed from Des Moines, Iowa.
Mark Vancleave And Josh Funk, The Associated Press
