Surprise confession could free man after 27 years in prison

Hennepin County Attorney seeks to vacate 1998 conviction

Hennepin County Attorney Mary Moriarty is seeking to vacate the 1998 conviction of Bryan Hooper in the murder of 77-year-old Ann Prazniak after one of the key witnesses who testified against him confessed to the crime.

(FOX 9) - For Bryan Hooper’s daughter, Briana, there is nothing that can replace the past 27 years that her father spent in prison. But to her, proving his innocence and setting him free is now within reach.

"We have an opportunity to shed light on my father's story," she told FOX 9's Rob Olson, clearly emotional. "And shed light on the other people who are sitting behind bars for crimes that they did not commit."

Shocking crime

The backstory:

The decomposing body of 77-year-old Ann Prazniak was found bound with tape and stuffed in a box in the closet of her Minneapolis apartment in early 1998.

Bryan Hooper admitted being in the apartment, his fingerprints found on plastic bags and a beer can, but denied killing Prazniak.

But several witnesses testified that he confessed to them.

The star witness, whose fingerprints were also found at the crime scene, is now the woman who says she committed the murder.

Star witness confession

What we know:

In late July, the Hennepin County Attorney's Conviction Review Unit was told a woman serving time in a Georgia prison had confessed to the murder.

In several more interviews with law enforcement over several weeks, including with a Minneapolis Police investigator, she repeated the confession - that her sobriety and newfound faith pushed her to clear her conscience.

"These recorded confessions from someone with nothing to gain and a great deal to lose are extraordinarily compelling," said Hennepin County Attorney Mary Moriarty, "and make it impossible for us to stand behind the conviction of Bryan Hooper.

Moriarty said the woman fully expects to be charged with murder and accept the much longer sentence that comes with it, even though she has four years left on an aggravated burglary conviction in Georgia.

Charging the woman will wait, Moriarty says, until the process to free Hooper is finished.

Asking to vacate conviction

What's next:

The Hennepin County Attorney now joins the Great North Innocence Project in petitioning to have Hooper’s conviction vacated.

Once a judge is assigned, there is a 90-day window to review the petition, Moriarty said, so a decision won’t be immediate. But they hope to get a hearing as soon as possible.

Moriarty also does not fault the prosecution in 1998, saying the case relied on witnesses who, in hindsight, were not truthful.

"We are always called upon to make judgments," she said. "Very often the evidence that we see is not terribly clear-cut."

"Our system makes mistakes," added James Meyer of the Great North Innocence Project.

"A strong criminal legal system is not one that insists on its own infallibility. A strong system is one that faces up to and confronts its failures.