Judge to issue temporary gag order in Vance Boelter state murder case

Liz Sawyer, Star Tribune on Sep 30, 2026

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MINNEAPOLIS — A Hennepin County judge signaled his intent Wednesday to issue a temporary gag order in the state murder case against Vance Boelter, barring the convicted killer and all witnesses from public statements prior to trial.

The decision comes just two days after public defenders Bryan Leary and Raissa Carpenter filed a motion asking Judge Juan Hoyos to silence Sen. John Hoffman, his wife, Yvette, and their daughter, Hope, to prevent “any further extrajudicial statements” to the media until a verdict is issued in the case.

Boelter’s trial is scheduled to begin Nov. 2, but his defense team is seeking to delay the start date so they have more time to prepare.

The request for a gag order followed a number of fiery comments to reporters by the Hoffmans, who survived the assassination plot that killed Rep. Melissa Hortman and her husband, Mark, last year. They referred to Boelter as a “piece of shit” and derided to the court process as a “clown show.”

Hennepin County prosecutors Krista White and Paige Starkey responded in court filings that they had “no objection” to a gag order, but emphasized that it should include all parties — especially Boelter and “anyone speaking, writing, or posting publicly on his behalf.”

Boelter, 59, remains in the Hennepin County Jail and has been writing extensively on an online blog that is being posted through an unknown intermediary. The posts are laden with conspiracy theories about the case.

White asked that a gag order include any statements previously written by individuals involved in the case but not yet published, seemingly an attempt fend off further “prejudicial” comments by Boelter.

It’s not clear how long such a gag order is meant to last. Hoyos said he expects to address a number of motions at a hearing Monday, during which he could choose to make it permanent.

Boelter pleaded guilty in federal court earlier this year to shooting the Hoffmans and killing the Hortmans at their homes. He was given two consecutive life sentences plus 40 years in prison. His state trial features several additional charges and, according to Hennepin County Attorney Mary Moriarty, seeks to add another layer of criminal accountability should Boelter ever be pardoned for his federal crimes.

On Tuesday, Boelter’s defense attorneys also filed a formal request for a continuance in the case, saying that given the amount of evidence more time is needed to “mount a constitutionally adequate defense.”

Less than a month ago, Boelter demanded a “speedy trial.”

“Mr. Boelter was charged with these offenses in June 2025. He does not want to delay the proceedings and would like a prompt and just determination,” Carpenter wrote in a six-page court filing. “However, it is not feasible for his attorneys to adequately prepare his defense in just three months’ time, particularly when discovery is still ongoing.”

In a lengthy statement — issued prior to the filing of the temporary gag order — the Hoffman family again blasted the defense team’s tactics.

“You cannot demand that the justice system move faster and then complain when it moves too fast,” the Hoffmans wrote. “Meanwhile, victims are expected to wait. Again.”

They lamented that, 15 months after the state’s most shocking act of political violence, the system “continues to revolve around the rights, requests and timetable of the defendant while victims are told to be patient, and now potentially to be quiet.”

“We understand that every defendant has constitutional rights. Those rights matter. Due process matters. But victims have rights too, and those rights cannot become an afterthought.”

“We want the truth heard in a courtroom,” they added. “We want accountability. And after everything our family and the Hortman family have endured, we believe Minnesota’s victims deserve a justice system that remembers they are part of this process too. We have waited long enough.”

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(Jeff Day of the Minnesota Star Tribune contributed to this report.)

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