An unsettling handwritten note has revealed the truth about a murder case that saw an innocent man convicted for 27 years.
On September 4, Bryan Hooper Sr. walked free from prison after spending almost three decades serving time for a crime he did not commit.
For 27 years, Hooper, his family and his legal team had been advocating his innocence, but it was a handwritten letter from the true culprit that led to his release.
Hooper's wrongful conviction began in 1998 when the body of 77-year-old Ann Prazniak was found in a cardboard box inside her bedroom closet in an apartment in Minneapolis. Her cause of death was found to be asphyxiation.
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At the time, it was reported that Prazniak was killed up to one month before her body was discovered, and in that time, neighbors reported multiple people entering and leaving the apartment, which was said to be being used for drugs and prostitution.
Hooper was believed to have entered the property, after his prints were found on a beer can and two sandwich bags.
However, a woman named Chalaka Young's prints were also found on pieces of tape similar to tape found on Prazniak's body.
Hooper admitted he had been in the house, but always denied the murder and any involvement.
During the investigation, Young became the case's key witness. Although she at first denied any knowledge, The Great North Innocence Project claim that during her fourth interview, Young changed her story and blamed Hooper, claiming she acted as lookout while Hooper committed the murder.
Young was facing other charges at the time but received a shorter sentence after co-operating with police over Hooper's prosecution.
It was a similar story with four other witnesses, who made statements against Hooper allegedly in exchange for incentives.
Years later, these witnesses would retract their statements as false.
However, the damage had already been done and in 1998, a jury convicted Hooper of three counts of first-degree murder.
It would be almost 30 years later before Hooper would walk out of jail as a free man.
His freedom came after Young wrote a letter, confessing to the crime herself.
She wrote: “I am not okay any longer with [an] innocent man sitting in prison for a crime he did not commit.
"Soul [sic] purpose here is not to make any excuse but to take responsibility for two innocent lives that I have destroyed and... to make true amends for once in my life."
Speaking on the day of her father's release, Bri'ana Hooper told press: “Twenty-seven years of missed birthdays, missed milestones, holidays. 27 years of lost opportunity and time that we can’t get back. But today we don’t have to lose, we don’t."
Meanwhile, Hennepin County Attorney Mary Morarity said in a statement: “Ms. Prazniak’s death was senseless, and it deserves justice. But we are convinced that Bryan Hooper did not commit that crime; he has been in prison for 27 years for something he didn’t do.
"We can never return what was taken from Mr. Hooper in 1998 and for that, I am sorry. However, we can do the right thing today, and today we are joining the petition to vacate Mr. Hooper’s conviction.”
Topics: Crime, News, US News, True crime
Lucy Devine