Vance Boelter pleaded guilty and the death penalty was taken off the table.July 23, 2026, 10:05 AMVance Boelter, who pleaded guilty to stalking and shooting Democratic lawmakers in Minnesota, is expected to be sentenced to life in prison at a federal court hearing Thursday.Boelter pleaded guilty last month to all six federal charges against him: two stalking counts, two murder counts and two federal firearm-shooting offenses.In this June 15, 2025, file photo, Vance Luther Boelter, the man charged with killing the top Democrat in the Minnesota House and her husband, and wounding a state senator and his wife, is arrested.Ramsey County Sheriff's Office via AP, FILEFederal prosecutors said they told Boelter they would take the death penalty off the table if he pleaded guilty and served two consecutive life sentences plus 40 years."We now expect Vance Boelter will spend the rest of his natural life in prison without parole," U.S. Attorney for Minnesota Daniel Rosen said in a statement in June.In court last month, Boelter admitted to gunning down Minnesota state Rep. Melissa Hortman and her husband, Mark Hortman, at their house in the early hours of June 14, 2025.In this June 28, 2025, file photo, pictures of Mark and Melissa Hortman are set up inside the sanctuary at the Basilica of St. Mary's during funeral services for Mark and Melissa Hortman in Minneapolis, Minn.Alex Kormann, Pool via Star Tribune via AP, FILEThat same day, Boelter drove to the home of Minnesota state Sen. John Hoffman and shot and wounded the lawmaker and his wife, Yvette, and attempted to shoot their daughter.In this March 6, 2024, file photo, Sen. John Hoffman speaks at a Minnesota Senate Human Services Committee hearing, in St. Paul, Minn.Glen Stubbe/The Minnesota Star Tribune via Getty Images, FILEProsecutors said Boelter, who disguised himself as a police officer, drove to the homes of two other state lawmakers only to find no one at those locations.Popular ReadsBoelter also faces state charges. He has pleaded not guilty and the Hennepin County Attorney's Office said last month that it would move forward with the state case.