Vance Boelter, the suspected shooter of two Minnesota lawmakers and their spouses, told the judge during a court hearing Thursday he’s “looking forward” to the facts coming out at trial.
Boelter, 57, is facing both state and federal charges related to the deadly shootings of Democratic State House Speaker Emerita Melissa Hortman, and her husband Mark, on June 14. He’s also been charged over the shootings of Democratic State Senator John Hoffman and his wife, Yvette, who both survived the attack. Boelter is yet to enter a plea.
During the federal court hearing, Boelter waived his right to a detention hearing, where prosecutors provide evidence supporting the suspect’s charges, and told the judge he was “looking forward to court,” where the truth would come out, The New York Times reported.
Boelter said this included events related to “what happened before the 14th,” seemingly referring to the date of the shootings.
During the hearing, the judge ordered Boelter to remain in jail while awaiting trial.
At his last hearing in late June, a sleep-deprived Boelter complained to a judge over the treatment he had received at the Sherberne County Jail.
Boelter’s lawyer, Manvir Atwal, said her client had been placed on suicide watch and was living in a cell with only a mat and a pillow. She also claimed the lights were kept on all day and night and another inmate in Boelter’s unit had been spreading feces on the wall.
Boelter told the judge he hadn’t slept for 12 or 14 days and he’d “appreciate” delaying proceedings, “So I can get some sleep.” The judge agreed and postponed the hearing until Thursday.
The suspect said in court Thursday the lights were still being kept on 24/7, and it has made it difficult to “know if it’s day or night,” the NYT reported.
Sherburne County Sheriff Joel Brott called Boelter’s complaints “absurd” in a statement made after the suspect’s June 27 hearing.
“He is not in a hotel. He’s in jail, where a person belongs when they commit the heinous crimes he is accused of committing,” the sheriff said. “Lights are on 24-7, and need to be so correctional officers doing welfare checks can see that the inmates are okay.”
Federal prosecutors say Boelter disguised himself as a police officer to carry out the attacks, which occurred at the lawmakers’ Minneapolis-area homes in the early morning hours. Boelter was arrested near his rural Minnesota home after a two-day manhunt.
Authorities called the shootings “politically-motivated.”
Prosecutors say handwritten notes were found in Boelter’s car with the names of dozens of Minnesota state and federal elected officials which included some of their home addresses.
Boelter’s wife, Jenny, said in a statement through her lawyer late last month she and her family are “appalled and horrified” by the shootings.
“We are absolutely shocked, heartbroken and completely blindsided,” she said. “This violence does not at all align with our beliefs as a family. It is a betrayal of everything we hold true as tenets of our Christian faith.”
