New details reveal accused Minnesota assassin Vance Boelter extracted eyeballs from corpses at a funeral home for a living, according to a pal.
Vance Boelter, a 57-year-old married father, is charged with murdering Democratic state Rep. Melissa Hortman and her husband, Mark, and attempting to kill state Sen. John Hoffman and his wife, Yvette, during a violent spree early Saturday morning. Now, new revelations about his background are painting a chilling portrait of the man behind the crime.
According to longtime friend and occasional roommate David Carlson, Boelter’s most recent job involved extracting eyeballs from corpses at a funeral home, a task he performed as part of an organ donation program. Carlson said Boelter frequently emphasized the need to be mentally sharp on the job, which required precision and focus.
“I knocked on his door around 7 p.m. Friday and said, ‘Hey Vance, are you there?’” Carlson recalled. “He told me, ‘Yeah, I’m in bed, trying to rest for work.’ He always made a point to get extra sleep before a shift. Extracting eyeballs isn’t something you can do half-asleep.”
Boelter worked six days a week for two separate funeral homes, including on-call duties between 6 p.m. and 6 a.m. On the night of the murders, he was allegedly on call when he carried out the deadly attacks. He had also previously worked in the food industry and had a stint as a manager at a 7-Eleven.
Chillingly, just hours before the shootings, Boelter reportedly thanked his roommates for their friendship—a gesture that seemed out of place at the time but now looks ominously like a farewell.
The accused killer had taken mortuary science courses in 2023 and 2024 at Des Moines Area Community College (DMACC) in Iowa.
A college spokesperson confirmed his enrollment but declined to say whether the courses were taken online or in person, citing federal privacy laws. He is no longer a student at the institution as of 2024.
At the time of the incident, Boelter had recently left a position at a funeral home in Savage, a suburb south of Minneapolis. His former employer, Metro First Call, released a statement expressing condolences to the victims’ families.
“This is devastating news for all involved,” the company said. “Vance Boelter worked for our company from August 28, 2023, until he voluntarily left on February 20, 2025.”
Following his arrest, investigators uncovered notebooks in Boelter’s vehicle detailing meticulous planning of the attack, including targets, logistics, and handwritten messages. Prosecutors said that after the rampage, Boelter sent a message to family members reading, “Dad went to war last night.”
Authorities are still investigating Boelter’s motive. The politically charged nature of the attack—targeting elected officials—has sparked concern among lawmakers. Some have begun calling for increased security around public officials.
While Boelter’s reasons remain unclear, his unsettling work history, recent behavior, and well-documented planning suggest that this act of violence was far from spontaneous. The tragedy has rocked the state and left many questioning whether signs of danger were missed—or ignored—before it was too late.