Minnesota prosecutor seeks to overturn man's 1998 murder conviction
after a witness confesses
[August 13, 2025]
By JACK DURA
A Minnesota prosecutor said Tuesday she will seek the release of a man
imprisoned 27 years for murder after a key witness has recanted her
testimony and told authorities she committed the crime.
Hennepin County Attorney Mary Moriarty said she supports the effort by
attorneys for Bryan Hooper Sr. who are asking for a judge to vacate his
conviction.
At a press conference, Moriarty apologized to Hooper's adult daughter,
Bri'ana Hooper, saying, “I understand at the same time, ‘sorry’ doesn't
bring back those 27 years. What we're doing today, though, I hope is the
beginning of getting your father out of prison.” Moriarty was not with
the office in 1998.
Hooper now 54, was convicted by a jury at trial in 1998 of premeditated
murder, felony murder while committing burglary and felony murder while
committing kidnapping in connection with the death of Ann Prazniak, 77.
He received three life sentences with the possibility of release after
30 years. He is in prison in Stillwater.
The woman who prosecutors say has confessed is in prison in Georgia for
an assault-related crime and will be released in about four years.
Moriarty said attorneys will sort through the filing of charges against
her after seeing which judge is assigned Hooper's case and trying to get
him released as quickly as possible. The woman expects to be charged
with murder and “knows exactly what she's getting into here,” Moriarty
said.
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.
Moriarty said her office's Conviction Integrity Unit was reviewing
Hooper's case when officials learned the state's star trial witness had
come forward in late July on her own to recant her testimony against
Hooper and to confess to killing Prazniak and concealing her body.
[to top of second column]
|
Hennepin County Attorney Mary Moriarty announces that Bryan Hooper
Sr. would be freed after 27 years, after another prisoner confessed
to the the murder, in Minneapolis, Minn., on Tuesday, Aug. 12, 2025.
Bryan's daughter, Briana Hooper, is at right. (Richard
Tsong-Taatarii/Star Tribune via AP)
Bri'ana Hooper, who has advocated for her father's release, lamented
27 years of missed birthdays, holidays, milestones and lost
opportunities. “But today we don't have to lose," she said.
“We have an opportunity to shed light and use my father's story to
shed light on the other people who are sitting behind bars for
crimes that they did not commit," she said. Her father has
maintained his innocence.
Attorneys for the Great North Innocence Project, representing
Hooper, filed a petition to vacate his conviction. A judge would
have 90 days to make a decision on that, Moriarty said.
Project Legal Director Jim Mayer said, “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, fixes its
mistakes and works to repair the harm that's been caused. We are
taking a small step down that road today, but let's acknowledge that
we still have a long way to travel.”
Jailhouse informants who implicated Hooper also recanted their
testimony long ago, Moriarty said.
In 2020, a judge granted Hooper's 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.
___
Dura reported from Bismarck, North Dakota.
All contents © copyright 2025 Associated Press. All rights reserved
 |
