Accused assassin makes ‘disgusting’ attempt to paint himself a victim over jail conditions: Sheriff

Accused Minnesota assassin Vance Luther Boelter will likely find it much more difficult to complain about lack of sleep due to alleged poor jail conditions when he faces a federal magistrate judge for a rescheduled preliminary hearing July 3.

Boelter was granted a six-day continuance on June 27 after he complained about alleged deplorable jail conditions and an inability to sleep for nearly two weeks.

‘He was resting peacefully, with his eyes closed.’

The sheriff of the jail where Boelter is being held fired back at the facility’s most infamous resident, saying security video showed Boelter with his eyes closed “resting peacefully” for more than seven hours the night before his last court hearing.

“He is not in a hotel. He’s in jail, where a person belongs when they commit the heinous crimes he is accused of committing,” said Sherburne County Sheriff Joel Brott. “Lights are on 24-7 and need to be so correctional officers doing welfare checks can see that the inmates are OK.”

Sherburne County operates a 732-bed jail in Elk River, Minn., about 40 miles from the Warren E. Burger Federal Building and U.S. Courthouse in St. Paul.

The jail houses federal pretrial detainees under a contract with the U.S. Marshals Service. The facility holds an average of 500 federal detainees and inmates per day for the marshals, Immigration and Customs Enforcement, the Bureau of Indian Affairs, and other agencies.

RELATED: ‘The face of evil’: What do we know about accused assassin Vance Luther Boelter?

  The public filed past the caskets of murdered Democratic House Speaker Emerita Melissa Hortman, her husband, Mark Hortman, and an urn with the remains of their slain dog at the Minnesota state Capitol June 27, 2025.Photo by Joshua Lott/The Washington Post via Getty Images

At the hearing, Boelter complained that the lights were on day and night. The loud sound of clanking doors and the smell of feces from a nearby cell made it difficult to sleep, he said. There was only a mat to sleep on with no pillow, he told the judge.

“His cell is spotless clean and so is his mattress, which has a pillow sewn into it,” Brott said. “Every day he is offered access to the phone and the shower. He has not missed a meal since his arrival.”

Boelter waived his right to have a preliminary hearing within 14 days of his June 16 initial appearance. The July 3 hearing will serve as a preliminary hearing and a detention hearing before U.S. Magistrate Judge Douglas Micko.

Brott said after Boelter returned to the jail from his June 27 hearing, “jail personnel checked live security camera footage of the alleged assassin’s cell and he was resting peacefully, with his eyes closed.”

Boelter’s complaints about jail conditions and alleged insomnia came on the same day that the couple he is accused of murdering were lying in state a mile away at the Minnesota Capitol in St. Paul.

‘All three of us were lined up at gunpoint.’

Thousands of Minnesotans filed past the caskets of Democratic House Speaker Emerita Melissa Hortman and her husband, Mark Hortman, and the urn with the remains of their beloved golden retriever, Gilbert.

Brott said it was “offensive and disgusting” that Boelter stood before a judge complaining about jail conditions while long lines of people waited to pay their respects to his alleged victims at the Capitol.

The Hortmans were laid to rest after a June 28 funeral Mass attended by more than 1,500 people at the Basilica of St. Mary in Minneapolis.

Boelter is charged in federal court with the stalking and assassination of the Hortmans at around 3:30 a.m. June 14 at the couple’s home in Brooklyn Park, Minn.

Boelter was dressed as a police officer, driving a Ford SUV painted like a police vehicle with emergency lights flashing, the FBI said. Boelter visited the homes of four Democratic lawmakers that night “with the intent to kill them,” acting U.S. Attorney Joseph Thompson said.

RELATED: Vance Boelter’s wife speaks out for first time since June 14 shooting rampage

  Vance Luther Boelter is charged with the assassination of a Minnesota lawmaker and her husband and the wounding of a state senator and his wife.Photos by FBI/Alpha News/Hennepin County Sheriff via Getty Images

Boelter is also charged with the attempted killing of state Sen. John Hoffman and his wife, Yvette Hoffman, who were shot repeatedly at the front door of their home in Champlin, Minn., about 90 minutes earlier.

The Hoffmans, who watched the Hortman funeral on livestream, expressed their “profound sadness” over the deaths.

“We all watched the service; it was heartbreakingly beautiful,” the Hoffmans said in a statement. “Our hearts are with the Hortman family in this time of immense grief.”

The Hoffmans were shot a total of 17 times as they tried to push the suspect out of the front door of their home. Their adult daughter, Hope, managed to shut and lock the door on him and call 911 after her parents were shot.

“All three of us were lined up at gunpoint,” the Hoffmans’ statement said. “We’re continuing to recover from physical injuries and emotional trauma from this senseless act of violence. All of us are now in stable condition but face a long road ahead.

“Hope’s bruises from the attack continue to heal,” the statement said. “We’re so grateful she happened to be at our house that night. There’s no doubt her call to 911 saved the lives of others.”

After allegedly shooting the Hoffmans, Boelter visited the home of state Rep. Kristin Bahner (DFL-Maple Grove), but she and her family were not home, the FBI said.

  Mourners embrace after the funeral Mass of slain Democratic House Speaker Emerita Melissa Hortman and her husband, Mark Hortman, at the Basilica of St. Mary in Minneapolis June 28, 2025.Photo by Stephen Maturen/Getty Images

Boelter then parked his vehicle down the block from the home of state Sen. Ann Rest (DFL-New Hope), but was apparently scared off after a New Hope police squad briefly pulled up next to his vehicle before that officer drove away to check on the senator, police said.

Officers from the Brooklyn Park Police Department who pulled up to the Hortman home reportedly spotted Boelter on the front porch. When the officers exited their vehicle, Boelter apparently opened fire on them. The officers returned fire, Thompson said.

Boelter “rushed into the house through the front door, firing into it,” Thompson said. “He repeatedly fired into the house and when he entered, he murdered Representative Hortman and her husband, Mark.”

Police say they found a “hit list” in Boelter’s vehicle with the names of more than 50 Democratic public officials from Minnesota, Iowa, Illinois, Wisconsin, Michigan, and Texas.

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