The US Federal Prosecutor’s Office admits that a man accused of murdering a prominent politician from the state of Minnesota and her husband and injuries to other people could face the death penalty, TASR reports, according to AP report. The State of Minnesota itself abolished the death penalty in 1911 – the last execution took place in 1906 – it was an unsuccessful hanging.
AP pointed out that in the case of the murder of the politician and her husband, the prosecutor’s office is conducting proceedings at both state and federal levels. It was the federal prosecutors that announced an allegation on Monday, on which the accused Vance Boelter may be imposed on the death penalty.
The process at the federal level
However, the prosecutor of the relevant district Hennepin Mary Moriathy stated before the media that on behalf of the State of Minnesota, she would demand an indictment for the murder of the first degree for which he would be sentenced to life without the possibility of conditional release.
Boelter is accused of murdering the former chairwoman of the State House of representatives of Melissa Hortman and her husband Mark, who occurred on Saturday, June 14, in their house in the northern suburb of Minneapolis.
More victims and planning
Previously, Boelter – according to the authorities – shot and injured another Democrat, Senator John Hoffman, and his wife Yvette, who lived a few kilometers from the first place of the crime. On Sunday evening, Boelter surrendered to the police.
The federal indictment contains six points, two of which are qualified for the death penalty, and the aggravating circumstance is also the finding that Boelter had the attack carefully planned and has also been selected by dozens of other Democrats, including officials in other countries, as potential goals.
Boelter’s federal advocates refused to comment on the case and he did not admit to himself.
Criticism of death penalty
Lawyer Mark Osler, Death Expert at the Faculty of Law of the University of Sts. Tomáš in Minneapolis, in an interview with AP, pointed out that if the federal officials are in the Boelter case the death penalty, they will face an unusual challenge in Minnesota. He explained that “the jury selected from the citizens of the state, which refused the death penalty for more than 100 years … This is not the same as the jury in the state where there is support for absolute punishment.”
In February 2025, on the first day, US General, US -General, canceled the Moratorus to “federal” executions, which was introduced in 2021 during the reign of President Joe Biden. At the federal level, only three convicts remain in the death cell. In the case of another 37 ex -president Joe Biden, he mitigated the death penalty for life imprisonment.
Federal executions for Trump
Bondi has already ordered the federal prosecutors to ask the death penalty in at least three cases, including the case of Luigi Mangione, the accused of killing UnitedHealth CEO Brian Thompson. In the next two cases it is the murder of fellow prisoners.
The AP recalls that 13 federal executions were carried out during the first administration of President Donald Trump – more than in any other president in modern history.
