MN manhunt is over: who's the assassin who shot lawmakers?

The double murder of Minnesota State Rep. Melissa Hortman and her husband Mark Hortman has left the Land of 10,000 Lakes reeling, and the arrest of Vance Luther Boelter, the prime suspect, only deepens the mystery. This is a tragedy and a political lightning rod. 

The details coming out about Boelter are raising more questions than answers.

Boelter, 57, was nabbed after a two-day manhunt, accused of gunning down the Hortmans and attempting to kill State Sen. John Hoffman and his wife Yvette. According to Democrat possibly gay Gov. Tim Walz and law enforcement, this wasn’t random; it was political. Boelter allegedly had a hit list targeting Democratic politicians and abortion rights activists, including groups like Planned Parenthood. Not surprisingly, the intended murders would not have stopped the murdering of the unborn, but Boelter is probably mentally ill and unable to make that analysis.

So, who is this guy? Boelter’s a Minnesota native from Green Isle, a small farming town of about 600 souls, according to the Star Tribune. 

He has a background that sounds like it could’ve come from a Norman Rockwell painting with a twist: evangelical Christian college in Dallas, degree in practical theology (1990), followed by a bachelor’s in elective studies from St. Cloud State (1996). Boelter was ordained as a minister in 1993, and spent time as a missionary in central Africa, teaching farming in the Democratic Republic of Congo “on my own dime,” as he put it. 

He and his loving wife Jenny, who runs their small security firm, Praetorian Guard Security Services, LLC, raised four daughters and a son. Neighbors called the alleged killer friendly but private, and one said they “would have never expected anything like this.” Isn’t that always the way--it's always the quiet ones, right?

But here’s where it gets murky. Boelter allegedly used a company vehicle and uniform to pose as a cop during the shootings. His wife was detained after being found with a wad of cash and passports. 

Then there’s his political footprint. 

Former Gov. Mark Dayton, a Democrat, appointed Boelter to the Governor’s Workforce Development Board in 2016, a position Tampon Tim Walz re-upped in 2019. These are unpaid roles, and a board member defensively noted in the spirit of Sergeant Schultz from Hogan's Heroes, that he “did not interact with the governor on a regular basis.” 

In a 2020 state report, Boelter claimed “no party preference,” but friends paint a different picture: a “Devout Christian,” [except for the murder part] conservative, and Trump rally regular who registered as a Republican in Oklahoma back in 2004.

David Carlson, a friend of over 50 years, said Boelter was “staunchly against abortion” and “thought it [abortion] was murder,” sort of like what he did to the lawmakers.

A 2023 sermon video shows him lamenting that the U.S. is in a “bad place” spiritually because “people don’t know what sex they are” and churches aren’t vocal enough against abortion. Minnesota AG Keith Ellison confirmed Boelter’s writings named him and other Democrats, though the full manifesto hasn’t been made public. Carlson also pegged him as an ardent Trump supporter, so somehow the shootings are going to be President Trump's fault, not the mentally ill alleged shooter.

Connect the dots, and you’ve got a guy with strong ideological leanings, but the why and how of his alleged rampage are still fuzzy.

The morning of the shootings, Boelter sent chilling texts to friends: “I love you guys, I made some choices… I’m going to be gone for a while. May be dead shortly.” He added, “I wish it hadn’t gone this way.” 

To his fabulous wife, he texted, “Words are not going to explain how sorry I am for this situation.” 

He presciently paid four months’ rent in advance, suggesting he knew the endgame, whether that meant death or capture. After fleeing, he left a confession letter to the FBI in his vehicle, admitting he was “the shooter at large in Minnesota.” 

That’s not exactly the work of a mastermind covering his tracks. When you consider that he apparently holds human life sacred, as we see with his anti-abortion stance, he took two lives and attempted to take many more. That's sick.

Boelter is now in federal custody after a brief stint in Hennepin County jail on $5 million bail, with a public defender appointed. Early speculation ran wild as some thought he was a Democrat angry over votes on healthcare for illegal immigrants (Hortman voted for it, Hoffman against repealing it). That theory’s looking shaky, given the hit list and his conservative bent. 

For now, law enforcement says he acted alone, but they’re digging for possible accomplices, while Democrats are probably preparing impeachment documentation against Trump for his role in the shootings.

This case is a powder keg. A Trump-supporting, anti-abortion ex-missionary with a security company and a hit list? It’s the kind of story that fuels endless X threads and cable news shouting matches. 

But let’s stick to what we know: two people are dead, two more narrowly escaped, and Boelter’s motives, while politically tinged, are still a puzzle. Was he a lone wolf driven by ideology, or is there more to this? The maximum sentence if guilty is the death penalty. Stay tuned, because this story’s far from over.

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