Suspects charged with “targeted” shooting by Minnesota Sen.
Vance Boelter faces six charges, including murder and stalking, after being told he had “targeted” two Minnesota state legislators at his home.
The man accused of assassinating Minnesota lawmakers and assassinating others, claimed in a letter to the FBI director that he was threatened with distant conspiracy allegations that prosecutors called him “delusions.”
According to a US lawyer for the Joseph Thompson area of Minnesota, the letter written by Vance Luther Belter, 57, is unsealed. Belter was accused of shooting and killing Minnesota Rep. Melissa Hortman, her husband Mark and their dogs, and wounding Sen. John Hoffman and his wife Yvette.
The indictment and newly released court records reveal additional details of the horror night unfolding early in the morning of June 14th. Thompson said at a press conference on July 15th.
“This political assassination has rocked our state on a basic level, though something like that never happened in Minnesota,” Thompson said.
Beltar was charged with six counts, and Thompson said he stalked on July 15 with intent to file a murder and firearms charge, including two counts of murder. Each count is subject to fines for living in prison, and two capital murder charges also have the death penalty on the table. Prosecutors will not decide whether to pursue the death penalty until later, Thompson said. USA Today contacted the office of the federal defender who represented Boelter for comments on the accusation.
What happened to the shootings by Minnesota Senators?
He was wearing a “hyper-realistic” silicone mask, pretending to be a police officer, and running around the Minneapolis suburbs of Congress in the early hours of June 14th, authorities said, impersonating a police officer with a flashing SUV.
At Hoffman’s home in Shamplin, Bolter cried around 2am, “This is the police. Open the door,” according to a previously released affidavit. He shot John and Yvette Hoffman multiple times, according to the affidavit.
Belter is said to have since driven to two more state legislators’ homes. One not in the house, but in the other, I met law enforcement and left.
At about 3:30am he arrived at Holtiman’s house. According to the affidavit, officers who knew about the shooting at Hoffman’s house also went to Hortman’s house, conducted welfare checks and saw Bolters who had swapped the shootout before fleeing on foot. Melissa and Mark Hortman were killed.
The shooting began a two-day manhunt, which authorities described as the largest in state history.
Bolter tried to kill Hoffman’s daughter, prosecutors say
New details from the investigation revealed that Belter not only shot and hurt John and Yvette Hoffman, but he also tried to shoot his adult daughter, Hope told reporters on July 15.
Thompson said Hope Hoffmann had not been shot “miraculously.”
“John and Yvette acted incredibly bravely to put themselves between the bullets of Bolter and their daughter,” Thompson said.
Hope Hoffman told USA Today in a statement that he was relieved that the perpetrators were being charged “to the fullest extent of the law.”
“I wasn’t physically shot, but I’m now coexisting forever with PTSD, where I’m almost shot in front of me and seeing my parents in the face, looking at my guns in front of my life,” she said.
New security footage reveals details of Hortman Murders
Additional footage from security cameras and police vehicles at Hortmans’ home revealed new details about what happened during Melissa and Mark Hortman’s murder, Thompson said.
Before 3:30am, Bolters were pulled up into the house and disguised in an SUV designed to look like a police vehicle with illuminated lights. He approached the door, rang the doorbell and cried out “Police. Welfare check,” Thompson said.
Mark Hortman answers the door, Boerter makes his flashlight shine in his eyes and tells him there are reports of shots fired at the house. Mark Hortman said he was asleep and had no idea about the shooting. He asked for his name and badge number, and according to Thompson, Beltar replied, “Nelson, 286.”
Officers from the Brooklyn Park Police Station arrived while Belter still spoke to Mark Hortman at the door. After a while, Belter fired a “volley” shot at the house, Thompson said.
The officers then exchanged gunshots with Bolters. The camera captured the sound of another round of the shooting. Thompson said Belter shot and killed Mark Hortman at the entrance of the house before overtaking him and saying that he “shot Melissa Hortman several times at close range and killed her as he tried to escape the stairs.”
“In the same moment, you can hear Boerter kill the Hortmans dog. Their Golden Retriever Gilbert,” Thompson said.
The contents of the letter to the FBI Director have been revealed
Thompson said a key part of the investigation is determining whether Boerter is acting alone and what his motivation is. He said investigators were “confident” that Boerter had acted alone and there was no evidence that no one had helped him.
The investigation “confirmed that this was an act of political extremism,” Thompson said. “Vance Belter set out that night to commit a targeted political assassination.”
Although Bolter left no writings describing his political beliefs, he left a letter in an abandoned car near the farm house. Thompson said the car had a cowboy hat on its hood.
The letter addressed to Patel includes a confession that Boerter was the man who shot Hoffmans and Hortman, Thompson said. In the letter, Belter claimed he was trained “from the book” by the US military and that Minnesota Governor Tom Waltz “climbed” to kill other lawmakers, Thompson said. The letter also alleged that the unnamed people “threatened to hurt their families if he didn’t participate.”
Thompson said conspiracy theories are fantasy.
“Was it a delusion that he believes, or was it a delusion designed as an effort to mislead our investigation, or frankly, excuse his crime? That’s a good question. It certainly seems to be designed to excuse his crime.”
Contributions: Marina Pitovsky and Corey Schmidt
