The man accused of killing a lawmaker and her spouse had given sermons about valuing human life. Motives for his alleged crime spree are being probed.
Wendy Thomas knew that Minnesota’s largest-ever dragnet was trained on her neighbor, Vance Luther Boelter, the suspect in a crime that has shocked Minnesota and the nation.
“I thought he was long gone,” Thomas said as police searched for Boelter, the man accused of ambushing two state lawmakers at their suburban Minneapolis homes.
State Rep. Melissa Hortman and her husband, Mark, were fatally shot. State Sen. John Hoffman and his wife, Yvette, survived multiple gunshot wounds early on June 14.
A tip from Thomas led police to Boelter near his home, even though she doubted her own eyes in the fading evening light of June 15.
Thomas, 43, gave The Epoch Times a detailed description of the events that unfolded before Boelter’s arrest on the night of June 15. She and others also provided more insights about the suspect and his possible motives, as did police statements, public records, and videos featuring Boelter’s own words.
Before tipping off police, Thomas was in her truck near her home. She spotted a person in dark clothing crawling through the high grass of her rural neighborhood in Green Isle, Minnesota.
She initially thought that the dark-clad individual was among the police force that had been scouring the area for Boelter.
But Thomas realized that it made no sense for a lone officer to be there with no backup or police vehicle nearby. She said she “drove right past him,” and then saw the person hide in a culvert. She did not know whether the man saw her. Her concerns grew.
Thomas spotted a police cruiser, apparently part of the manhunt. She waved her arms to get the officer’s attention, and relayed her observations.
Her mind raced. Thomas worried that she might have been “wasting everyone’s time.”
Soon, officers surrounded the area, flushing Boelter out. Officers said he crawled toward them to surrender, about a mile away from his family home. The 57-year-old suspect faces multiple federal and state charges, including murder and attempted murder.
Thomas had limited contact with the Boelters, who live a few doors away. She described the family as “very Christian.”
“They came to a party we had last year,“ Thomas said. ”They were very appreciative, respectful.” She detected nothing amiss.
As to why Boelter came so close to his family home, knowing that the police were following his trail, Thomas said she and another neighbor believe that “he wanted to die at home.”
When Boelter appeared in federal court in St. Paul, Minnesota, on June 16, he told a judge that he could not afford an attorney. Court records show that a federal public defender, Katherian Roe, is the lead attorney representing him. The Epoch Times has sought comment from Roe and a second lawyer. Boelter’s next federal court hearing is set for June 27.
He also faces state charges, but the Minnesota court website lists that case as “dormant,” while the federal case proceeds.
