A Minnesota man who spent 27 years behind bars walked free Thursday after a judge vacated his first-degree murder conviction following a confession by the witness whose testimony helped secure his conviction, the Hennepin County Attorney’s Office said.
Bryan Hooper Sr. was released from the Stillwater correctional facility and reunited with family one day after the judge vacated the conviction, the Great North Innocence Project said. Prosecutors said the key witness who helped the prosecution in the original trial has since confessed to the killing.
Hooper had been convicted in the 1998 death of 77-year-old Ann Prazniak, who was found bound and asphyxiated inside a cardboard box in the bedroom closet of her Minneapolis apartment. Prosecutors said Thursday that the witness who had testified against Hooper has admitted to the crime, prompting the Hennepin County Attorney’s Office to support vacating the conviction.
Hennepin County Attorney Mary Moriarity, whose office helped prosecute the original case, issued an apology to Hooper and his family. "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," Moriarity said in a statement. "I want to again apologize to him and his family for our office’s role in that injustice. We wish Mr. Hooper all the best as he begins to navigate a world that is barely recognizable from the world he knew in 1998."
The Great North Innocence Project, which had advocated for Hooper, said the vacatur and his release culminate decades of work on his behalf. Legal advocates and the prosecution said the recent confession by the former witness was central to the court's decision to overturn the conviction.
Court records and the prosecutor’s statement did not provide immediate public detail about the witness’s confession or the circumstances that led to it. The judge’s order vacating the conviction came after lawyers presented new evidence and arguments that called the original verdict into question.
Hooper's release adds to a series of high-profile post-conviction exonerations that have prompted renewed scrutiny of witness testimony, investigative practices and prosecutorial decisions in long-ago cases. The Hennepin County Attorney’s Office said it would continue to review the matter and cooperate with any further proceedings related to the case.
Family members and advocates who had campaigned for Hooper's release described the moment he left prison as emotional, saying he was embraced by relatives after his transfer from Stillwater. Hooper now faces the personal and practical challenges of reentering a society that has changed markedly since his trial nearly three decades ago.
The case will likely draw continued attention from legal advocates and local officials as prosecutors and defense attorneys provide more detail in filings and court hearings following the vacatur. For now, Hooper has been released from custody and his first-degree murder conviction has been set aside pending any further legal action.