Vance Luther Boelter, the man accused of killing former Minnesota House Speaker Melissa Hortman and her husband, Mark, voiced complaints about his jail cell during a court hearing on Thursday.
Boelter is facing multiple charges related to a violent rampage that began on June 14 in Brooklyn Park, Minnesota. Authorities allege he shot Minnesota State Sen. John Hoffman and his wife, Yvette, before killing Hortman and her husband roughly 90 minutes later. Prosecutors say Boelter was dressed as a police officer and driving a vehicle made to resemble a law enforcement car during the attacks.
At the hearing, Judge Douglas Micko set Boelter’s bail at $5 million. Boelter told the court he could not afford the amount, but added, “I’m looking forward to court and I’m looking forward to the truth and facts of the 14th to come before you. I think Minnesotans want to know what’s going on.”
U.S. Attorney Joseph Thompson responded bluntly: “As I said a couple weeks ago, this isn’t just a murder case—it’s a political assassination.”
As the hearing concluded, Boelter made several requests regarding his detention conditions. He asked the court to ensure he is placed in a jail cell without 24-hour lighting and requested a pencil so he could take notes. Judge Micko told him those matters fall under the jail’s jurisdiction, not the court’s.
Boelter’s public defender, Manny Atwal, said the lights in his client’s cell at Sherburne County Jail remain on constantly because Boelter is under suicide watch. Atwal also relayed Boelter’s complaints about the smell of feces from a nearby cell, which he claims is preventing him from sleeping.
Sherburne County Sheriff Joel Brott dismissed those complaints, calling them “offensive and disgusting.”
“He is not in a hotel,” Brott told The New York Times. “He’s in a jail, where a person belongs when they commit the heinous crimes he is accused of committing.”
Boelter is facing both federal and state charges, including two counts of second-degree intentional murder and two counts of second-degree attempted murder. If convicted on federal charges, he could face the death penalty.
