Vance Boelter Sentenced to Life in Prison — Hospital Fined After Body Parts Found in Trash — July 23

[00:00:00] Speaker 1: You're listening to Four Things to Know, a WCCO Daily News podcast. [00:00:05] Maria Lizzagnoli: Today is Thursday, July 23rd. I'm Maria Lizzagnoli. Thank you for listening to and watching Four Things to Know. Today's top story. The man behind last summer's lawmaker attacks was sentenced in a federal courtroom in Minneapolis. A judge gave him two life terms plus 40 years in prison. The sentencing hearing for 59-year-old Vance Belter began at 10 this morning. Belter pleaded guilty earlier this month to murdering House Speaker Emerita Melissa Hortman and her husband Mark and shooting Senator John Hoffman and his wife Yvette. Belter admitted to trying to shoot their daughter Hope as well. The judge says Belter's sentence of two life terms plus 40 years in prison is truly a life sentence. He said, quote, I will say it's the longest sentence I have imposed after hearing thousands of cases over the years, but it is well deserved. Judge John Tunheim asked Vance Belter how he was doing this morning. Belter said, quote, I'm fine, Your Honor. Thank you. The judge then went over the sentencing guidelines and talked about the severity of impersonating an officer, targeting government officials and the use of body armor. The impact statements began with State Representative Kristen Bonner. Investigators said in between the two shootings, Belter visited Bonner's home and knocked on her door, but she was away with her family on vacation at the time. In court this morning, Bonner said, quote, Senator John Hoffman and his wife Yvette and their daughter Hope all gave impact statements. Yvette said, quote, I fought him, Your Honor, with everything I had. I finally got him out of my home and I collapsed near our entryway laundry. I'll never forget looking down and watching my blood stream down that whitewashing machine as I felt myself sinking to the floor and fading. Then family members of Mark and Melissa Hortman addressed the court. Melissa's mother said, quote, A man who could commit these heinous crimes does not deserve to be in any part of a society. One of Mark's parents said, quote, Every day I go from sad to mad. I'm sad about the unbearable loss I live with every day. This killer left a primal wound on every member of our family. The Hortman's two children also spoke. Sophie Hortman said, quote, Justice can never be served for those who lost. I miss my mom. I miss my dad. I miss my best friends. I miss believing in the goodness of humanity. Belter agreed to plead guilty last month, so federal prosecutors would not seek the death penalty. Instead, he agreed to serve two consecutive life sentences, plus 40 years. Connor White was in that courtroom today. He'll have a full report in this evening's newscasts and online at WCCO.com. Number two, four people have now been arrested in a deadly hit-and-run in Farmington. Farmington police say 13-year-old Sasha Belandon and his friend were crossing Highway 50 and Duchesne Parkway on their bikes on the evening of Tuesday, July 14th, when Sasha was fatally struck. Farmington police arrested four people, all from Farmington, in connection to the deadly hit-and-run. Investigators have also recovered the vehicle involved in this incident. The Dakota County Attorney's Office will review the case to determine formal criminal charges. But right now, we know a 30-year-old man was booked for criminal vehicular homicide and failing to stop at the scene of a traffic accident resulting in death. Two women, a 28-year-old and a 64-year-old, were booked for aiding an offender to avoid arrest. And a 36-year-old man was booked for aiding an offender, accomplice, after the fact. Police say as evidence continues to be processed, more arrests are possible. But again, so far, no one has been charged. A memorial will be held at Eagle Brook Church in Sasha's hometown, Apple Valley. A fundraiser has been created to help the family. Number three, just out of prison and back in handcuffs, police in Brooklyn Park say they arrested a man who broke into two homes and sexually assaulted two women at gunpoint. A SWAT team swarmed a Brooklyn Park townhome complex on the corner of Hampshire Avenue and Brooklyn Boulevard. Law enforcement and tactical gear moved in and out of a single unit, taking 25-year-old Darius Olson Baker into custody. Police say the first attack happened last Friday around 5 in the morning on the 7600 block of Hampshire Avenue North, inside a townhome just down from where Olson Baker was arrested. The second attack happened around 5.30 Wednesday morning, less than a mile away from the first. Here's Brooklyn Park Police Chief Mark Bruley. [00:05:07] Mark Bruley: There's a lot of things about this that really bother me. The nature of the crime, the way that our victims were approached in the middle of the night in their homes, the sexual assault with a gun by an individual who lives right next door and just got out of prison. [00:05:23] Maria Lizzagnoli: The chief says Olson Baker was released from prison on July 7th, just 10 days before the first assault occurred. Olson Baker is being held at the Hennepin County Jail and hasn't been charged yet. For residents in the Hartkampf and Shingle Creek neighborhoods, there is a community meeting planned for tonight at 6 p.m. to address these assaults. This is at the Prince of Peace Lutheran Church. Frankie McLister spoke with one of the victims. He reports from Brooklyn Park. [00:05:52] Speaker 4: Now there's a lot of online chatter that is actually praising Brooklyn Park Police for their efforts. Now, Olson Baker's previous history shows that he already had three felonies. Two of those were weapons charges and another was an assault charge. According to court docs, he said that he was sentenced to five years, three years ago, but we're unsure exactly why he got out of custody on July 7th. We do know that typically in Minnesota, you only have to serve two thirds of that sentence exactly in custody. [00:06:22] Speaker 5: Please, please don't do this. I don't have money. I don't have anything, please. [00:06:28] Speaker 4: So that was the first victim that spoke with us actually herself on Friday. The thing about this case is charges could come down at any moment today, so we're going to keep you posted. [00:06:37] Maria Lizzagnoli: Number four, it's disgusting and dangerous, and workers are being forced to dig through it. Wednesday, the state announced it fined a hospital for throwing out infectious waste. As Jason Rantler reports from Stillwater, staff at the landfill say they're sick of medical centers not following the rules. [00:06:56] Speaker 6: An East Metro Waste Processing Facility says improper disposal of infectious waste is a huge problem. They say workers have come across vials of bodily fluids, even body parts. It's far from a pretty sight, but these are some of the things employees at the Ramsey Washington Recycling Energy Center came across last year. Blood-filled tubes, knee and shoulder sockets, even intestines. [00:07:19] Speaker 5: It's not just a physical harm, it's also trauma, mental health, like just the mental toll on, you know, looking at body parts or finding body parts when you're not looking for that. And just the risk of knowing, hey, this may impact my health going home and with my family. [00:07:35] Speaker 6: Wednesday, the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency said they fined Lakeview Hospital in Stillwater nearly $16,000. The agency said late last year, a load of their trash contained infectious waste, like liquid blood and other items contaminated with blood. Facility Director Sam Hall says this is one of more than 300 instances in just the past three years alone of finding infectious waste at their Newport facility. Hall says legislation passed in Minnesota this year aims to study the issue in hopes of finding a solution to this. [00:08:07] Speaker 5: What we want is compliance. We want the hospitals, the employees to be safe, we want our employees to be safe, and we want the waste to be properly managed. [00:08:16] Speaker 6: A spokesperson with health partners says they responded promptly to the issue, and they continue to strengthen processes to maintain high standards. In Stillwater, Jason Rantala, WCCO News. [00:08:27] Maria Lizzagnoli: Those are the four things to know today. Now let's check in on our forecast. [00:08:30] Speaker 7: Hey guys, next one, the meteorologist Adam Del Rosso checking in. Things remaining pretty quiet and comfortable as we head throughout our Thursday evening and into tonight. Temperatures will be going from near 80 this afternoon down to about the mid-60s for our overnight low temperatures, so not quite as cool as the last several mornings, but still not bad. Tomorrow, we'll notice a couple of changes. It's going to be a little bit warm, a little more humid, and a little bit breezy. High temperatures back near average in the mid-80s. You get into the evening hours across northern and central Minnesota. There could be a couple of spotty storms, but things look to stay dry around the metro. Our main focus as we head into the weekend, another heat wave with high temperatures getting back into the 90s. [00:09:10] Maria Lizzagnoli: This has been Four Things to Know. I'm Maria Lezzagnoli, and I'm here with the news you need every weekday afternoon by 3 o'clock. [00:09:20] Speaker 1: Listen to Four Things to Know, a WCCO Daily News podcast, wherever you get your podcasts.