A Minnesota man imprisoned for 27 years is free after a key witness says she committed the murder
By Associated Press
September 5, 2025
https://www.cnn.com/2025/09/05/us/bryan-hooper-sr-prison-release-minnesota
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.”…
…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.
After a judge found him innocent of a 1998 murder, Bryan Hooper Sr., left, embraces his son Bryan Hooper Jr. outside Stillwater Correctional Facility in Bayport on Thursday.
Hennepin County Attorney Mary Moriarty announces Bryan Hooper Sr. would be freed after 27 years, after another prisoner confessed to the the murder, in Minneapolis on August 12.
Bryan Hooper Sr.
By Associated Press
September 5, 2025
https://www.cnn.com/2025/09/05/us/bryan-hooper-sr-prison-release-minnesota
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.”…
…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.
After a judge found him innocent of a 1998 murder, Bryan Hooper Sr., left, embraces his son Bryan Hooper Jr. outside Stillwater Correctional Facility in Bayport on Thursday.
Hennepin County Attorney Mary Moriarty announces Bryan Hooper Sr. would be freed after 27 years, after another prisoner confessed to the the murder, in Minneapolis on August 12.
Bryan Hooper Sr.
