Vance Boelter changes plea in murders of Melissa and Mark Hortman as prosecutors agree not to pursue death penalty The man charged in the political assassinations of the top Democrat in the Minnesota house and her husband, as well as the nonfatal shootings of a state senator and his wife, pleaded guilty in federal court on Thursday after prosecutors said they would not seek the death penalty. Vance Boelter was charged with murdering Melissa Hortman, the Minnesota house speaker, and her husband,