MINNEAPOLIS — The assassin Vance Luther Boelter as sentenced to two consecutive terms of life plus a consecutive 40-year term for the stalking and murders of state House Speaker Melissa and her husband. The sentence also covered the stalking and attempted murders of state Senator John Hoffman, his wife and their daughter Hope. These crimes were last summer. Boelter avoided a death sentence through a plea feal. Boelter was sentenced by U.S. District Judge John Tunheim, a Bill Clinton appointee. Judge Tunheim said the sentence was the longest he’s ever imposed. The sentencing was n was on Boelter’s 59th birthday. Noted the judge: “This is truly a life sentence.”
Not done with him yet
The Hennepin County’s attorney, Mary Moriarty is moving forward with its casef or first-degree premeditated murder. Conviction would also carry a mandatory sentence of life. The state sentence also woud preclude the possibility of release.
A season of violence
The Minnesota shootings were amid growing political violence that has characterized the Trump era in American life A month earlier an arsonist firebombed the home of Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro. In September, a gunman fatally shot conservative activist Charlie Kirk at an event at Utah Valley University.
Where next
Through his attorney, Boelter requested to serve his sentence at the 1,200-inmate Coleman federal prison 50 miles northwest of Orlando, Florida. Although a maximum security facility, the prison has an adjacent mnimum security camp.