Vance Boelter requests gag order on witnesses ahead of state trial
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Ahead of Vance Boelter’s state trial on charges of first-degree murder and attempted murder, a judge is set to decide whether Boelter, his surviving victims and other potential trial witnesses must stop publicly discussing the case.
Boelter pleaded guilty in federal court earlier this year to murdering former House Speaker Melissa Hortman and her husband Mark, and shooting and injuring state Sen. John Hoffman and his wife Yvette in June 2025 as part of a wider plot targeting Democratic lawmakers.
Boelter appeared in Hennepin County court on Friday for a hearing on pretrial motions and discussion of Boelter’s intention to claim self-defense at trial on state charges. The Hoffmans attended the hearing and spoke with the media, including MPR News, afterward.
“I’m sitting there, and I look over at Yvette, and the moments were coming back when they said it’s (self)-defense,” John Hoffman said.
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John Hoffman was shot nine times and Yvette eight after they opened the door of their home to Boelter in the early hours of June 14, 2025, while Boelter was disguised as a police officer.
“Gun was pulled in my face as I opened the door. I mean, there’s no defense to that. I had my neck pillow on,” John Hoffman added.
Yvette Hoffman said it was "Twilight Zone-ish” to hear Boelter, through his attorneys, argue self-defense after he admitted to every charge in federal court.
“To hear blatant lies is — I have no words, really. It’s devastating, and he pleaded guilty in federal court. This should be over. This should be done. This is a clown show,” she said after the Friday hearing.
After the Hoffmans’ public comments, Boelter’s public defenders on Monday filed a gag order request with Judge Juan Hoyos. The motion requests that all potential witnesses be barred from speaking about the case — including John Hoffman, Yvette Hoffman and their daughter, Hope Hoffman.
“If left unchecked, continued extra-judicial statements by potential witnesses to the news media about this case will increase the risk of tainting the jury pool,” the motion reads.
In a court filing in response, prosecutors said they have no objection to a gag order. But they requested that it apply to anyone involved in the legal proceedings — including Boelter and anyone speaking on his behalf.
Boelter, apparently with the assistance of an intermediary, has published blog posts about the case and about his supposed motivations for his actions.
In a statement, the Hoffmans criticized the idea of a gag order, saying “surviving victims and the families should not be silenced simply because we choose to speak truthfully about our own experiences.”
However, they also wrote that they “will not interfere with the judicial process or attempt to influence a jury.”
Boelter’s state trial is set to begin Nov. 2.
