Former Minnesota House Speaker Melissa Hortman became the first woman to lie in state at the Minnesota Capitol rotunda on Friday, hours after her suspected killer appeared in court.
Hortman and her husband were killed in what authorities described as a "politically motivated assassination" at their Brooklyn Park home on June 14. Hortman, a Democrat, received the honor alongside Mark Hortman and their golden retriever, Gilbert, who was wounded in the attack before being euthanized.
Thousands are expected to pay their respects at the Capitol rotunda on Friday afternoon.
Former Vice President Kamala Harris will travel to Minnesota to attend the funeral services for the Hortmans, according to a source familiar with her plans.
Harris spoke to the Hortmans’ children in the past week to express her condolences and offer her support, according to the source. She also spoke with her 2024 vice presidential running mate, Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, who extended an invitation to the services on behalf of the family.
About an hour before the rotunda opened to the public, the man who has been charged in their killings, Vance Boelter, 57, appeared in court.
Boelter entered the St. Paul, Minnesota, courtroom wearing an anti-suicide smock and surrounded by U.S. Marshalls.
Magistrate Judge Douglas L. Micko was scheduled to determine whether Boelter will be allowed bail before trial.
However, the hearing was postponed at the request of Boelter's attorney, Manny K. Atwal, a public defender, due to the attorney's “deep concerns about the conditions he’s been held."
Atwal said Boelter has been in the anti-suicide smock since his arrest on June 16, held in a jail cell where the lights are on all day and night, and has been sleeping on "a mat with no pillow."
Prosecutors did not object to Atwal's request. The hearing will now take place on July 3.
Boelter has pleaded not guilty to multiple counts of second-degree intentional murder and attempted murder.
In addition to the Hortmans’ slayings, Boelter has also been charged with wounding Democratic state Sen. John Hoffman and his wife, Yvette Hoffman, at their nearby home the same day.
Authorities said Boelter impersonated a law enforcement officer to gain access to the lawmakers' homes. He wore a vest, a blue long-sleeve shirt and what appeared to be a badge on the day of the shootings, according to officials.
Boelter was found two days later, armed and crawling in a field in a sparsely populated stretch of Minnesota, according to officials
The manhunt was the largest in state history, with nearly 200 law enforcement officers, including members of 20 regional and local SWAT teams, deployed in eastern Sibley County, about an hour outside Minneapolis, according to officials.
Officials said they found a notebook that belonged to Boelter with a hit list of other politicians, particularly those who have vocally supported abortion. The list included politicians from Wisconsin, Illinois, Michigan, Nebraska and Iowa, according to authorities.
Boelter's wife spoke out for the first time since the shootings on Thursday, calling the attack "a betrayal." In a statement issued through her attorneys, she said that she and her children wanted to express their "deepest sympathies" to the Hortman and Hoffman families.
"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. We are appalled and horrified by what occurred, and our hearts are incredibly heavy for the victims of the unfathomable tragedy."
The Hortmans' adult children, Sophie and Colin Hortman, said in a statement that they are "devastated" by the loss of their parents.
"They were the bright lights at the center of our lives, and we can’t believe they are gone," the pair said. "Their love for us was boundless. We miss them so much."
