‘Dumbfounded’: Zachary Svendsen, man who bought Vance Boelter’s Saint Paul home, stunned by connection to Minnesota political murders

When 57-year-old Vance Luther Boelter was identified by authorities as the suspect who gunned down two Democratic state lawmakers in Minnesota this past weekend – killing one and grievously wounding the other – tech executive Zachary Svendsen says he found himself “dumbfounded.”

Svendsen, his wife, and their young children now live in Boelter’s former home in Saint Paul, having bought the 6-bed, 3.5-bath property a little over three years ago from the accused political assassin.

“It definitely did not make sense,” Svendsen told The Independent Monday. “All in all, he was a really nice guy, from what I could tell. You could tell he had a good relationship with his kids. He seemed like a good husband, a good father.”

Making matters even more surreal, Svendsen, 44, soon found his own address plastered all over the internet by armchair sleuths unaware that Boelter, a reported Trump-loving born-again Christian who railed against abortion and LGBTQ+ rights, no longer lived there.

“I was concerned for my family, more than anything,” Svendsen went on. “The things people put online are insane, so I was concerned about [misguided] retaliation from people out there.”

Svendsen said he never got to know Boelter all that well, but that he would text occasionally, for example, when a piece of mail arrived for him at his old residence. Still, he conceded, seeing Boelter named as the shooter “definitely was surprising… I was dumbfounded. It’s all just super surprising.”

In the early hours of Saturday morning, cops say Boelter – who was dressed in a police uniform and wore a mask, according to a probable cause affidavit unsealed Sunday night – fatally gunned down state Rep. Melissa Hortman, a Democrat, and her husband, Mark, at their home in Brooklyn Park. That was after Boelter showed up at the Champlin home of state Sen. John Hoffman, also a Democrat, and took aim at him and his wife, Yvette, who were shot nine times and eight times, respectively, but survived the “politically motivated” attack.

Responding police officers in Brooklyn Park exchanged fire with Boelter, who managed to escape on foot, the probable cause affidavit states. It says a search of Boelter’s Ford SUV, which he left behind when he fled the scene, turned up three AK-47 assault rifles, a 9mm handgun, as well as a “hit list” of other public officials, many of whom are said to have been outspoken in their support for reproductive rights. Cops also reportedly found body armor, a gold police badge, and a Taser nearby.

The Hortmans’ dog, Gilbert, was shot in the attack and later had to be euthanized.

“We are gutted and devastated by the loss of Melissa and Mark,” Yvette Hoffman said in a statement shared by Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D-MN) on Sunday evening. “We have no words. There is never a place for this kind of political hate.”

Following a two-day manhunt, which authorities described as the largest in Minnesota history, an armed Boelter was taken into custody in a wooded area near his home in Green Isle, about 50 miles southwest of Minneapolis.

“Thank you to all in law enforcement who worked relentlessly to locate and arrest this suspect,” Klobuchar posted on X after Boelter was arrested. “It was a mammoth and heroic effort.”

A father of five, Boelter has traveled to the Democratic Republic of Congo to preach, according to video posted online. The website for a security company called Praetorian Guard Security Services lists Boelter as its “director of security patrols,” and claims he has experience working in Eastern Europe, Africa, North America and the Middle East, “including the West Bank, Southern Lebanon and the Gaza Strip.”

However, his LinkedIn profile shows jobs at, among other things, a sausage factory and a five-year stint as the general manager of a Minneapolis 7-Eleven. His most recent position, according to LinkedIn, was CEO of an entity called the Red Lion Group, whose website is defunct and whose activities are unclear.

Whatever claims Boelter may have made about his resume, a longtime friend and occasional roommate said the idea of working in security was little more than a pipe dream.

“That was some fantasy,” his close friend David Carlson told Fox 9. “There was talk about it, but there was no movement.”

Last month, Boelter posted, “Hi everyone! I’m looking to get back into the U.S. Food Industry and I’m pretty open to positions. Other Leadership positions outside of the Food Industry I’m willing to hear about as well.”

Speaking at a press conference on Saturday, Gov. Tim Walz, who ran for vice-president in 2024 as a Democrat, described the shootings as “an act of targeted political violence,” and vowed that justice “will be served.”

“Peaceful discourse is the foundation of our democracy,” said Walz, who described Hortman the “most consequential” statehouse speaker in Minnesota history. “We don’t settle our differences with violence or at gunpoint.”

Boetler now faces state murder charges and federal stalking charges.