Former House Speaker Melissa Hortman and her husband, Mark Hortman, will lie in state on Friday in the Minnesota Capitol rotunda in St. Paul, along with their golden retriever, Gilbert.

Gov. Tim Walz announced on Tuesday that the rotunda will be open from noon to 5 p.m. for the public to pay their respects to the Hortmans, who were fatally shot in a politically motivated attack at their Brooklyn Park home on June 14. Their dog also was gravely wounded in the shooting and had to be euthanized.

The suspected assassin, Vance Boelter, who authorities say also shot and injured state Sen. John Hoffman and his wife, Yvette, in their home in Champlin, was apprehended the next day and is now facing state and federal murder charges. He is also suspected of targeting two additional Democratic lawmakers on June 14.

Hortman was first elected to the state House in 2004 and served as speaker from 2019 to 2025.

Last week, hundreds of people gathered outside the state Capitol for an evening vigil to remember Hortman and her husband.

A private funeral for the Hortmans will take place at 10:30 a.m. Saturday. A livestream will be available on the Minnesota Department of Public Safety’s YouTube channel.A GoFundMe account (gofund.me/08964165) has been set up to assist the Hortmans’ adult children, Colin and Sophie, after losing their parents.

Another GoFundMe account (gofund.me/f82790ae) has been established for the Hoffmans as they recover from their injuries.

19 have lain in state at Capitol

Hortman will be the first woman to join the fewer than 20 Minnesotans who have lain in state at the Capitol, the governor’s announcement said.

Beginning with Civil War veteran William Colvill in 1905, 19 people have been honored in this way, including eight governors, four state legislators and several U.S. senators.

Among them are Gov. Floyd B. Olson, U.S. Sen. Frank B. Kellogg and former Vice President Hubert Humphrey.

The last person to lie in state in the Capitol was Gov. Al Quie in 2023.

Newest details

Federal prosecutors allege Boelter, 57, also stopped in the predawn hours of June 14 at the homes of two other Democratic lawmakers, who have identified themselves as Sen. Ann Rest, of New Hope, and Rep. Kristin Bahner, of Maple Grove. Prosecutors also say he had dozens of other Democrats as potential targets, including officials in other states.

State investigators seized 48 guns from Boelter’s home in Green Isle, Minn., including 20 rifles, 19 handguns, nine shotguns, two tubs of extra magazines and ammunition, a notecard with the names of public officials, and $17,940 in cash, according to search warrant documents unsealed Friday. They also found a duffel containing five body bags at a storage locker that Boelter had rented in Minneapolis.

A separate FBI agent’s affidavit describes how law enforcement stopped Boelter’s wife as she traveled with her four children north of the Twin Cities in Onamia on the day of the shootings. She told investigators that Boelter texted her and their children that they needed to get out of their house.

“Boelter and his wife had been ‘preppers,’ or people who prepare for major or catastrophic incidents,” the affidavit said. “At some point, Boelter had given his wife a ‘bailout plan’ — i.e., a plan of where to go in case of exigent circumstances — to go her mother’s residence in Spring Brook, Wisconsin.”

She consented to a search of her vehicle, and law enforcement found a safe, passports for all their kids and him, at least $10,000 in cash, and two handguns, the affidavit said. She has not been charged.

Boelter could face death penalty

Boelter surrendered near his rural Sibley County home more than 40 hours after the shooting, following what authorities have called the largest manhunt in Minnesota history. He is charged in both state and federal court with murder and other counts. His next court appearance is Friday.

Boelter’s federal public defenders have declined to comment on the allegations. He remains jailed and has not entered a plea.

A lifelong friend, David Carlson, told the Associated Press last week that Boelter had been struggling to find work and was wrestling with a “darkness that was inside of him.” He said Boelter did not hold back when it came to his distaste for Democrats but that he never seemed threatening or talked to him about any of the officials whom he allegedly targeted.

Two of the six federal counts against Boelter can carry the death penalty, which Minnesota abolished in 1911.

The chief prosecutor for Hennepin County, Mary Moriarty, is moving forward separately in state court and plans to seek an indictment for first-degree murder, which would carry a mandatory sentence of life without parole.

Bipartisan tributes in Washington

In Washington on Monday, members of Minnesota’s congressional delegation paid a bipartisan tribute to the Hortmans and Hoffmans before they observed a moment of silence on the House floor.

“She knew how to get things done and she did it with determination, respect and pragmatism,” said Democratic Rep. Kelly Morrison. “She built bridges across the aisle and she kept her diverse caucus together to usher through some of the most consequential legislation in our state’s history.”

Hortman helped to pass an expansive agenda of liberal initiatives like free lunches for public school students in 2023 as the chamber’s speaker, along with expanded protections for abortion and trans rights. With the House split 67-67 between Democrats and Republicans this year, she yielded the gavel to a Republican under a power-sharing deal, took the title speaker emerita and helped break a budget impasse that threatened to shut down state government.

“There is no place in our country for politically motivated violence. None,” Republican Majority Whip Tom Emmer said. “The fact that the Hortman and Hoffman families are being forced to endure the consequences of inexplicable evil is heartbreaking, devastating and infuriating for us all. But it is through tragedies like this that we are reminded that we are stronger together.”

This report includes information from the Associated Press.