This is the tiny, waterlogged culvert where fugitive ‘assassin’ Vance Luther Boelter hid after he was spotted traipsing across sodden marshland by a stunned neighbor, DailyMail.com can reveal.
Boelter, 57, ducked down and slid into the tiny pipe after Wendy Thomas saw him crossing a field a mile from his home in Green Isle, Minnesota.
But quick-thinking Wendy flagged down a passing cop car and moments later the accused gunman was surrounded and taken into custody.
Boelter – facing multiple stalking and murder charges – was captured Sunday evening after the biggest manhunt in the history of Minnesota.
The accused killer dressed as a cop and donned a terrifying latex mask to shoot Minnesota State Senator John Hoffman and his wife Yvette on the doorstep of their suburban Minneapolis home in the early hours of Saturday.
The pair were left in critical condition but are expected to survive.
He then headed to a second lawmaker’s residence, pumping multiple bullets into former Minnesota House Speaker Melissa Hortman and her husband, Mark, killing both.
Hortman’s beloved golden retriever Gilbert also had to be euthanized after being injured badly by the shooting.
Vance Boelter, 57, hid in a tiny, waterlogged culvert after he was spotted by neighbor Wendy Thomas in a nearby marsh, but he wasn’t able to evade capture on Sunday night
Boelter ducked down and slid into this pipe after Wendy saw him crossing a field a mile from his home in Green Isle, Minnesota
Wendy (pictured), who was on the phone with her dad when she spotted Boelter, said she originally thought he was a part of the SWAT team until he squatted down
Boelter, a married dad of five, had drawn up a chilling assassination list of 70 targets including Democrat lawmakers, abortion providers and pro-choice activists.
But his murder spree was halted in its tracks when police intercepted him leaving the Hortman’s home and engaged him a firefight.
The gunman fled on foot, triggering a massive hunt spanning multiple states and law enforcement agencies.
The search narrowed Sunday to woodland and swampy farmland close to the four-bed, $500,000 home in Green Isle where he’s lived for the last two years with his wife Jenny and kids.
Neighbor Wendy had driven to the nearby home of Kevin Effertz, 64, to pick up a book when she spotted a shadowy figure in the tall grass.
‘He had his back to me. He looked like he was sweeping through looking for something,’ Wendy told DailyMail.com.
‘At first, I thought he was part of the SWAT team. I was on the phone to my dad when I saw him squatting down.
‘I said dad, there’s somebody out here. He said hang up and tell somebody.
The stunned neighbor first spotted Boelter in this field before he tried to hide in the marshland nearby
The marshland where Boelter tried to hide in a small pipe before he was apprehended by police
Wendy had driven to the nearby home of Kevin Effertz, 64, (pictured) when she spotted Vance Boelter before reversing her truck down the driveway and flagging down an officer
Wendy was told to drive away for her own safety while SWAT teams and US marshals moved in to collar the wanted man
Boelter first went to the home of Democratic State Senator John Hoffman and shot both him and his wife. They’re both expected to make a full recovery
He then travelled to the home of Democratic House Speaker Melissa Hortman and her husband Mark where he fatally shot them both early Saturday
‘I put my truck into reverse, got to the end of the driveway and flagged down a passing officer. I said, ‘there’s a person right there in the culvert’.
Wendy was told to drive away for her own safety while SWAT teams and US marshals moved in to collar the wanted man.
‘I couldn’t talk. I was hysterical. I was so distraught. In my head I was still wondering whether it was a person, could it have been an animal?’ she said.
‘I don’t think I was a threat to him. But it hit me hard, it could have gone bad.’
Wendy remembers inviting Boelter and his wife over for a hog roast to welcome them to the neighborhood.
‘I met him a few times. He was quiet but I got along with his wife. I have spoken to her but all she said was she’s safe and she’s working with the authorities.’
Effertz was out of town when the manhunt zeroed in on his farm.
He came back to find it ‘lit up like the Fourth of July.’
Images of weapons found in Vance Boelter’s vehicle that he allegedly planned to use to carry out his chilling assassination list of 70 targets including Democrat lawmakers, abortion providers and pro-choice activists
A screenshot from law enforcement footage showing Vance Boelter outside the Hortman home on the night of his shootout with police before he escaped the scene on foot
A photo of the realistic mask we wore as he impersonated a police officer to be let into the politician’s home that was found discarded in the woods
Hortman’s beloved golden retriever Gilbert had to be euthanized after being shot by suspected assassin Vance Boelter
Authorities have questioned Boelter’s wife, Jenny, who was stopped at a convenience store while driving a car with three other relatives inside near Onamia about 10am on Saturday
Vance Boelter wore an unsettling costume mask covering his entire head during the shootings. He impersonated a police officer and assassinated former Minnesota House Speaker Hortman and her husband on Saturday night
Vance Boelter has been charged with two counts of murder and two of attempted murder
‘Vance’s place is little over a mile away. It’s all cropland and woods between,’ he told DailyMail.com.
‘There’s a clear path where he slivered out to the road when they surrounded him.’
The farmer, born and raised in Green Isle, added: ‘I knew Vance for two years. He was always a friendly guy. I don’t know what possessed him to do this.
‘He was a church goer, a normal caring neighbor. His wife was nice.
‘I couldn’t believe it. I thought it’s not the same person. It can’t be. His picture came out and I thought oh my God it’s him.’
Boelter crawled to officers in surrender Sunday after they located him in the woods near his home, bringing an end to a massive, nearly two-day search that put the entire state on edge.
He was arrested and booked into Hennepin County custody early Monday on state charges early Monday morning, jail records show.
On Monday morning, it was announced that Hennepin County had charged Boelter with two counts of murder two and attempted murder.
Those charges will soon be upgraded as the state ‘intends to pursue first-degree murder charges’ against Boelter, county attorney Mary Moriarty said.
And Department of Justice officials are also mulling federal charges against Boelter, a source told CNN Monday morning.
If convicted on a federal murder or terrorism charge, Boelter could end up being executed. Minnesota abolished the death penalty for state charges in 1911.
