A Minnesota man imprisoned for 27 years is free after a key witness says she committed the murder

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.”

Hooper reunited with his children and planned to enjoy a meal with them and spend time with family, Project spokesperson Hayley Poxleitner said. He also plans to make his home for now in the Twin Cities area, where his children live.

In 1998, a jury convicted Hooper of premeditated murder, felony murder while committing burglary and felony murder while committing kidnapping in connection with the death of 77-year-old Ann Prazniak. His conviction hinged largely on testimony from a woman who authorities say has since confessed to the crime.

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.

Hooper received three life sentences with the possibility of release after 30 years. In 2020, a judge granted his 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.

Last month, Moriarty announced her office's support of Hooper's release, saying a crucial trial witness had recanted her testimony amid the office's review of the case and confessed to killing Prazniak and hiding her body. Jailhouse informants who implicated Hooper also recanted their testimony long ago, Moriarty has said.

Moriarty's office and the Great North Innocence Project asked the court to vacate Hooper's conviction.

The judge wrote, “The Court finds that Mr. Hooper’s conviction was tainted by false evidence and that without this false testimony, the jury might have reached a different conclusion.”

With Hooper cleared and freed, the Prazniak case will go back to the Minneapolis Police Department for any additional investigation, Hennepin County Attorney's Office Chief of Staff Shawn Daye said.

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.

Dura reported from Bismarck, North Dakota.

Bryan Hooper Jr., right, puts an earring on his father Bryan Hooper Sr. outside Stillwater Prison on Thursday, Sept. 4, 2025, in Bayport, Minn. (Matt Sepic/Minnesota Public Radio via AP)

Bryan Hooper Sr. speaks to reporters outside Stillwater Prison on Thursday, Sept. 4, 2025 in Bayport, Minn. after being exonerated in the 1998 murder of Ann Prazniak. (Matt Sepic/Minnesota Public Radio via AP)

After a judge found him innocent of a 1998 murder, Bryan Hooper Sr., left, embraces his son Bryan Hooper Jr. outside Stillwater Prison on Thursday, Sept. 4, 2025 in Bayport, Minn. (Matt Sepic/Minnesota Public Radio via AP)

WASHINGTON (AP) — U.S. forces in the Caribbean Sea have seized another sanctioned oil tanker the Trump administration says has ties to Venezuela, part of a broader U.S. effort to take control of the South American country’s oil.

Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem wrote Thursday on social media, “Motor Tanker Veronica had previously passed through Venezuelan waters, and was operating in defiance of President Trump’s established quarantine of sanctioned vessels in the Caribbean.”

A social media post from U.S. Southern Command on the capture said that Marines and sailors launched from the aircraft carrier USS Gerald R. Ford to make the capture while Noem’s post noted that, like in previous raids, a U.S. Coast Guard tactical team conducted the boarding and seizure.

Noem posted a brief video that appeared to show part of the ship’s capture. The black-and-white footage showed helicopters hovering over the deck of a merchant vessel while armed troops dropped down on the deck by rope.

The Veronica is the sixth tanker that has been seized by U.S. forces as part of the effort by President Donald Trump’s administration to control the production, refining and global distribution of Venezuela’s oil products, and the fourth since the U.S. ouster of Venezuela President Nicolás Maduro in a surprise nighttime raid almost two weeks ago.

Noem, in her social media post, said that the raid was carried out with “close coordination with our colleagues” in the military as well as the State and Justice departments.

“Our heroic Coast Guard men and women once again ensured a flawlessly executed operation, in accordance with international law,” Noem added.

As with prior posts, Noem and the military framed the seizure as part of an effort to enforce the law. Noem argued that the multiple captures show that “there is no outrunning or escaping American justice.”

However, other officials in Trump's Republican administration have made clear they see it as a way to generate cash as they seek to rebuild Venezuela’s battered oil industry and restore its economy.

Last week, Trump met with executives from oil companies to discuss his goal of investing $100 billion in Venezuela to repair and upgrade its oil production and distribution. His administration has said it expects to sell at least 30 million to 50 million barrels of sanctioned Venezuelan oil.

This story has been corrected to show the Veronica is the fourth, not the third, tanker seized by U.S. forces since Maduro's capture.

U.S. Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem speaks during a press conference, Thursday, Jan. 8, 2026, in New York. (AP Photo/Yuki Iwamura)

U.S. Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem speaks at a news conference at Harry Reid International Airport, Nov. 22, 2025, in Las Vegas. (AP Photo/Ronda Churchill, File)