Federal prosecutors urged the court to sentence Vance Boelter to two life prison terms ahead of his sentencing for carrying out one of the most shocking acts of political violence in state history, as newly filed documents detail more about how he plotted the attacks and his movements in the immediate aftermath.

Boelter pleaded guilty last month to killing Rep. Melissa Hortman and her husband, Mark, and shooting Sen. John Hoffman and his wife, Yvette, in the early morning hours of June 14, 2025. In exchange for his plea, he will not face the death penalty. He is scheduled to be sentenced 10 a.m. Thursday in a Minneapolis federal courtroom.

In a 31-page sentencing position filed Tuesday, federal prosecutors argued Boelter should “never be free again.” The records also reveal that, prior to the attacks, Boelter repeatedly searched for information online about the “No Kings” protest scheduled later that day at the Minnesota State Capitol and about the closely divided Minnesota Legislature. And in the hours after his attacks, Boelter went to a Brooklyn Park gas station to buy a cowboy hat and a north Minneapolis McDonald’s to search online for any news about what he had done.

“Boelter’s crimes are among the most serious ever committed in the District of Minnesota. He shattered the lives of his victims. He terrified Minnesota’s public servants. He threatened police and pointed a gun at an officer. He viciously attacked the organs of Minnesota’s representative government,” federal prosecutors wrote.

Manny Atwal, Boelter’s federal defender, said her client has shown remorse by pleading guilty and agreeing to serve the maximum penalties.

“Vance Boelter cannot take back his actions from the early morning hours of June 14, 2025, or his actions leading up to that day. What he can give the victims of his crime is finality to the federal case by taking responsibility for his actions and agreeing to recommend to this Court that he be sentenced to the statutory maximum,” Atwal wrote.

She asked that Boelter serve his sentence at a prison in Florida.

In their recommendation filing, prosecutors wrote that two days before the shootings, Boelter viewed a map of the Minnesota State Capitol grounds and a flyer for the No Kings rally. They also said Boelter frequently texted about the balance of power between the political parties in Minnesota, sending articles to friends about the Republican U.S. House majority being “in danger” and that “Democrats steal enough elections to tip the balance of power.”

The closely divided Minnesota Legislature frequently came up in his internet history, including searches for “How many members are there from each party” in the Minnesota House of Representatives and the “ratio of republicans to democrats in the MN house.”

Prosecutors said Boelter knew his plot to kill four Democratic state lawmakers — Hortman, Hoffman, Rep. Kristin Bahner and Sen. Ann Rest — would result in a “shift in the balance of power in both legislative houses.”

Eleven hours before Boelter arrived at the Hoffmans’ door, prosecutors said Boelter sent his family a rambling text expressing concern about the No Kings rally and asked his family to “pray that something takes the wind out of these protest sails.” He also complained about Democrats and people who criticize President Donald Trump’s views on a range of topics, including the Iran conflict, election integrity and theft of government funds.

While pleading guilty last month, Boelter admitted to many of the details of the attacks carried out that morning. He acknowledged that he first went to the home of the Hoffmans and ordered them downstairs with their hands up. Inside, he shot John and Yvette Hoffman and fired at their daughter, Hope Hoffman, who was not physically harmed.

Boelter then drove away in his SUV to the homes of two more lawmakers: Bahner in Maple Grove and Rest in New Hope. Neither Bahner or her family were home when Boelter arrived and a New Hope police officer intercepted him outside Rest’s residence.

Boelter fled to New Hope and arrived at the Hortmans’ home in Brooklyn Park. Disguised as a law enforcement officer and wearing a wig and realistic mask, Boelter rang the doorbell and shouted “Police, welfare check.”

When Mark Hortman opened the door, Boelter asked if anyone was home. After a brief exchange, Boelter shot Mark Hortman multiple times. He then shot Melissa Hortman inside the home as she attempted to flee up the stairs.

After the shootings, federal prosecutors in the sentencing documents say that Boelter went to a gas station in Brooklyn Center and bought a cowboy hat to disguise himself.

Boelter then returned to a home he rented in north Minneapolis and broke into another SUV he owned to retrieve a backpack with a laptop inside. He then texted his family and apologized for what he had done, according to the court records. Prosecutors said he shut the phone off and discarded it into a stranger’s pickup truck parked on the street.

According to the sentencing records, Boelter went to a McDonald’s and searched “mn news” on Google and also visited YouTube and the far-right website InfoWars. Prosecutors said Boelter’s laptop contained spreadsheets listing personal addresses and phone numbers of Minnesota Representatives.

Boelter abandoned the laptop in a Buick he bought with cash from a stranger at a bus stop. He also left a letter addressed to FBI Director Kash Patel admitting that he carried out the shootings. In his letter, he complained his crimes did not receive enough news coverage, prosecutors said.

Boelter abandoned his new car on a rural road in Sibley County. He was arrested in a field in Green Isle nearly 43 hours after the shootings.

Federal prosecutors said the attacks shocked the state but also personally impacted the Hortman and Hoffman children.

“Boelter chose to commit his murders at these lawmakers’ homes — the places where their spouses and children lived and where they were entitled to feel safest," attorneys for the U.S. government wrote.

After his federal sentencing, his state court case will begin. Boelter is scheduled to appear in Hennepin County District Court Aug. 3 to face charges of two counts of first-degree premeditated murder for killing the Hortmans and four counts of attempted first-degree murder for shooting the Hoffmans, including firing at Hope Hoffman, and for attempting to kill Bahner.

Boelter is also charged with felony animal cruelty for shooting the Hortmans’ dog, Gilbert, who was later euthanized, and one count of impersonating a police officer.

His first-degree murder charges carry the potential of life in prison without parole.

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(Jeff Day of the Minnesota Star Tribune contributed to this report.)

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