Accused Minnesota assassin Vance Boelter has been hit with federal murder and stalking charges and could face the death penalty, prosecutors said Monday — as they detailed how he carried out the cold-blooded shootings that rocked the Land of 10,000 Lakes.
Acting US Attorney Joseph Thompson gave a rundown of the six federal charges against Boelter at a press conference Monday morning, stemming from Sunday’s ambush attack of the Minnesota lawmakers and their spouses, which he called “the stuff of nightmares.”
Included among the charges are two counts of stalking, two firearms offenses for the non-fatal shootings of Sen. John Hoffman and his wife Yvette, and two counts of murder for the killings of former state House Speaker Melissa Hortman and her husband Mark.
The penalties for the six counts range from 20 years in prison to life, with the death penalty on the table for the federal murder charges, despite Minnesota abolishing it in 1911.
Thompson said Boelter meticulously planned his attack, researching the victims and their families and conducting surveillance of their homes.
When police searched his black SUV — which was outfitted with police lights and a police license plate — they found five additional firearms, including assault-style rifles and a “large quantity” of ammunition.
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