A Minnesota man wrongly convicted of murder who spent nearly three decades in prison after being falsely implicated by a woman who has since confessed to the crime was released Thursday.
State District Court Judge Marta Chou had vacated Bryan Hooper Sr.’s first-degree murder conviction the day before. He was released Thursday morning from Stillwater Correctional Facility, a Great North Innocence Project spokesperson said.
“Today, the courts have affirmed what Bryan Hooper, his family, his loved ones, and his advocates have always known: Mr. Hooper is an innocent man,” Hennepin County Attorney Mary Moriarty said in a statement. “It is our duty as prosecutors to hold the correct individuals responsible for their actions, and that duty demands that we acknowledge our mistakes and make things right as quickly as we can.”
Hooper reunited with his children and planned to enjoy a meal with them and spend time with family, Project spokesperson Hayley Poxleitner said. He also plans to make his home for now in the Twin Cities area, where his children live.
In 1998, a jury convicted Hooper of premeditated murder, felony murder while committing burglary and felony murder while committing kidnapping in connection with the death of 77-year-old Ann Prazniak. His conviction hinged largely on testimony from a woman who authorities say has since confessed to the crime.
Police found Prazniak’s body in April 1998 in a cardboard box wrapped with Christmas lights in a closet in her Minneapolis apartment — her ankles, nose, mouth, wrists and head bound and her body wrapped in garbage bags, blankets and bedding. Her cause of death was ruled asphyxiation, and she died two weeks to a month before police found her body, according to court documents.
Hooper received three life sentences with the possibility of release after 30 years. In 2020, a judge granted his request to vacate two of three first-degree murder charges after he argued he was wrongly convicted and sentenced for three counts of first-degree murder against the same person.
Last month, Moriarty announced her office’s support of Hooper’s release, saying a crucial trial witness had recanted her testimony amid the office’s review of the case and confessed to killing Prazniak and hiding her body. Jailhouse informants who implicated Hooper also recanted their testimony long ago, Moriarty has said.
Moriarty’s office and the Great North Innocence Project asked the court to vacate Hooper’s conviction.
The judge wrote, “The Court finds that Mr. Hooper’s conviction was tainted by false evidence and that without this false testimony, the jury might have reached a different conclusion.”
With Hooper cleared and freed, the Prazniak case will go back to the Minneapolis Police Department for any additional investigation, Hennepin County Attorney’s Office Chief of Staff Shawn Daye said.
The woman who officials said confessed to the killing is in prison in Georgia for an assault-related crime and will be released in about four years.
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Dura reported from Bismarck, North Dakota.