Vance Boelter, suspect in Minnesota political killings, pleads guilty in federal case
An exterior view of the Hennepin County Public Safety Facility where suspect Vance Boelter is being held before court appearances on June 16, 2025 in Minneapolis, Minnesota. (Steven Garcia/Getty Images)
John and Yvette Hoffman sat in the front row of the federal courtroom as Boelter admitted to firing multiple shots at them, according to the Minnesota Star Tribune.
When Boelter admitted that he shot Minnesota state Rep. Melissa Hortman several times and then put a gun to her head and killed her, sobs broke out in the courtroom, KSTP reported.
Boelter initially pleaded not guilty to six federal counts, including murder, attempted murder and stalking.
This week, a Justice Department spokesperson said federal prosecutors would not seek the death penalty because a federal judge ruled earlier this year in an unrelated murder case that interstate stalking charges do not rise to the level to support a capital crime.
The crimes unfolded on June 14, 2025, when Boelter allegedly disguised himself as a police officer and fatally shot Melissa Hortman and her husband, Mark, at their home.
That same day he allegedly drove to the home of Minnesota state Sen. John Hoffman and shot the lawmaker and his wife, Yvette, and attempted to shoot their daughter, according to prosecutors.
Following the attacks, police said they found a notebook in Boelter’s abandoned, fake police car containing a list of elected officials who investigators suspect were targeted in a plot that the Minnesota U.S. attorney described at the time as the “stuff of nightmares.”
Prosecutors said Boelter traveled to the homes of two other state lawmakers only to find no one at those locations.
Boelter has also pleaded not guilty to state charges of murder and attempted murder.
Angela Nikolau and Ivan Beerkus who got to the top of the Empire State Building climb down the tower’s spire in New York City, July 1, 2026. (WABC)
(NEW YORK) — A daredevil couple who climbed to the top of the Empire State Building on Wednesday appeared to have broken through a door to get to the antenna, investigators revealed Thursday before the pair was given a supervised release.
Officers could not go up to the couple during their stunt, which ended with one of the climbers proposing to the other, because they had to power the antenna down for safety, investigators said.
Angelina Nikolau, 33, and Ivan Kuznetsov, 32, both Russians with a current address in East Orange, New Jersey, were charged with multiple felonies in Manhattan Criminal Court including reckless endangerment, burglary and other charges. They did not enter a plea.
“We will do supervised release. We will do it at a low level,” a judge said Thursday.
Still despite the serious charges and dangerous aspects of their stunt, the two were all smiles and kissed for cameras on Thursday as the newly engaged pair left court.
“We love New York,” Kuznetsov said after the court appearance.
Kuznetsov told detectives he had to “do something special for his engagement,” according to the complaint.
Jason Krinsky, an attorney who is representing the couple, said the district attorney’s office “overcharged” the case.
“They are trying to send a message,” Krinsky said after the court appearance about the prosecutors’ charges.
“As far as what I’ve seen, and I’m sure you have all seen, It was a message of love. You know, that’s a nice thing.”
The couple appeared in court wearing the same black outfits they had during their stunt. Their next court appearance is August 24.
They held hands and smiled after they left court and barely spoke to reporters who asked questions about the stunt and their wedding plans.
Just before the couple entered a subway, they posed for cameras with a long kiss.
The DA’s criminal complaint provided more details on how the couple allegedly climbed their way to the 1,454 foot peak of the building.
The complaint alleges that a lock on the security door to the Empire State Building’s 104th floor, which provides access to the building’s broadcast antenna, was broken.
An officer told prosecutors that there was an additional safety risk for the couple and first responders as the antenna “emits high-frequency radio signals that are powerful enough to cause harm to the human body,” the criminal complaint said.
“As a result, the antenna was powered down before members of the NYPD Emergency Services Unit could approach the two individuals on and around the broadcast antenna,” the criminal complaint said.
First responders had to wait 30 minutes while the antenna powered down before they could approach the couple, according to the complaint.
Nikolau and Kuznetsov, who have gained an online following for their death-defying skyscraper climbs around the world, stayed on top of the structure for several minutes as cameras rolled on the action before they came down the spire, the New York Police Department said.
They unfurled a black banner with an apparent reference to a Jimi Hendrix quote and said in white letters, “When the power of love beats the love of power the world knows peace.”
Kuznetsov, who is also known as Ivan Beerkus, appeared to propose to his longtime girlfriend before they were taken into custody.
They posted close up photos of the proposal and the ring on social media before they were taken into custody.
Security was supposed to have been strengthened following previous attempts by trespassers to take selfies near the spire.
Officials said they believe the two may have observed building employees and used a worker entrance to get around the screening.
Luigi Mangione appears at an evidence suppression hearing at Manhattan Supreme Court on May 18, 2026 in New York City. (Photo by Jeenah Moon-Pool/Getty Images)
(NEW YORK) — Accused killer Luigi Mangione is due back in Manhattan federal court Monday after talks to resolve his case with a guilty plea stopped without a deal.
Mangione, who has pleaded not guilty to federal charges he stalked UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson before shooting and killing him in December 2024 in Midtown Manhattan, is scheduled to stand trial in federal court in early 2027.
Ahead of Monday’s hearing, defense attorneys and federal prosecutors discussed a possible plea deal, sources told ABC News, but the talks stopped without one. It’s not clear how close to a deal they came or whether they will try again. Criminal defendants can change their plea before or during trial.
On Monday, the parties are expected to discuss plans for a trial, including the questionnaire prospective jurors will complete before in-person voir dire questioning.
Mangione has also pleaded not guilty to state charges he murdered Thompson and is scheduled to stand trial in New York State Supreme Court in September.
Defense attorneys recently gave notice that they intended to mount a psychiatric defense to the state charges, arguing Mangione experienced an extreme emotional disturbance prior to shooting Thompson, but they quickly withdrew the notice before a deadline to turn over his psychiatric records.
Members of the DEA attend a press conference at the U.S. Attorney’s Office on August 25, 2025 in the Brooklyn Heights neighborhood of the Brooklyn borough in New York City. (Michael M. Santiago/Getty Images)
(NEW YORK) — Ismael Zambada Garcia, known as “El Mayo,” will be sentenced Monday in a New York City federal court on drug trafficking charges that accused him of being one of the most prolific and powerful narcotraffickers in the world.
Together with Joaquín Guzmán Loera, known as “El Chapo,” he founded the Sinaloa cartel and oversaw the shipment of millions of kilograms of lethal drugs, including cocaine, fentanyl, and methamphetamine. He employed armed sicarios who assaulted, tortured, and murdered and he paid millions in bribes at all levels of the Mexican government, officials said.
“It would be difficult to overstate the magnitude of the defendant’s crimes and scale of the corruption, violence, and other harm he spread throughout Mexico, the United States, and the world,” federal prosecutors in Brooklyn said in a sentencing memo that called for life in prison.
The sentence is not in doubt. El Mayo pleaded guilty last August to a charge of committing a continuing criminal enterprise, a catch-all that included 85 violations of the law, and agreed to the mandatory life imprisonment along with a $15 billion forfeiture.
As part of his plea, El Mayo, 76, admitted he was responsible for at least 1.5 million kilograms of cocaine and vast quantities of heroin and fentanyl.
Federal prosecutors said El Mayo represents “serious security concerns” that must be considered when the judge recommends a prison where he will serve his sentence.
“The defendant is the co-founder of one of the world’s most violent criminal organizations, and for decades directed its operations, including its violence. Moreover, many members of the Cartel remain loyal to the defendant, including one of the defendant’s sons, who remains a key leader of the defendant’s faction of the Cartel in the defendant’s absence,” federal prosecutors said.
The defense noted that El Mayo spared the judicial system a trial and “helped protect the safety of potential witnesses who will not need to be disclosed or called to testify.”
In a statement, El Mayo said he recognized the “grave harm that illegal drugs have done to the people of the United States, of Mexico and elsewhere.” He also said he recognized the “human toll of the violence and lawlessness that my criminal organization engaged in.”
El Mayo said he took responsibility for his role in all of it and apologized to “everyone who has suffered or been affected by my actions.”
