JUST IN: Minnesota Man Learns His Fate in Fatal Shooting of Melissa Hortman and Her Husband

The Minnesota man who pleaded guilty to ambushing and fatally shooting a state lawmaker and her husband will spend the rest of his life behind bars.

Vance Boelter, who pleaded guilty to killing Democrat Melissa Hortman and her husband Mark in June 2025, was sentenced to two consecutive life terms, plus 40 years in prison.

Boelter also shot state Sen. John Hoffman (D) and his wife Yvette, both of whom survived.

Clad in an orange jumpsuit and with shackles on his ankles, Boelter never looked at Hoffman or relatives of the Hortmans who appeared in at the Thursday sentencing to give victim impact statements, according to the Associated Press.

The Minnesota man admitted last month he had spent weeks stalking the lawmakers before unleashing chaos in the dark, driving to their homes in the middle of the night and pounding on the door while wearing a creepy rubber mask and disguised as a police officer.

He first knocked on the Hoffman’s door, but failed to kill the couple.

“The defendant looked me in the eyes and pulled the trigger. The defendant looked at my wife and chose to do the same,” Hoffman said in court Thursday, according to the AP. “My wife and I now live with injuries. We live with our bodies remembering the gunfire.”

The shooting left Yvette Hoffman too traumatized to work, she told the court.

“I fought him, your Honor, with everything I had. And I finally got him out of our home. I will never forget looking down and watching my blood slowly stream down that white washing machine as I felt myself sinking to the floor,” she said. “We always have an escape plan now. This isn’t how people should live.”

Boelter then went on to execute the Hortmans, as well as their dog, a Golden Retriever named Gilbert.

This is a breaking news story and has been updated.

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