The Conviction Review Unit (CRU) of the Minnesota Attorney General’s Office has recommended vacating the 2001 first-degree murder conviction of Brian Pippitt in Aitkin County. This recommendation follows an extensive independent investigation conducted by the CRU, which resulted in a comprehensive 181-page report containing 987 footnotes and citing approximately 250 source documents. The investigation took over 1,100 hours to complete.
Based on the CRU's findings, Mr. Pippitt has filed a petition for post-conviction release in Aitkin County District Court, seeking to have his conviction vacated and charges dismissed. This case marks the first full exoneration recommendation by the CRU and only the second time it has recommended relief based on a wrongful conviction.
Attorney General Keith Ellison stated, “After determining that Mr. Pippitt’s application for review had merit, the Conviction Review Unit conducted a careful, lengthy, objective review of the case, during which it engaged outside experts and sought and incorporated diverse opinions. It has now issued its report: I endorse its findings and encourage everyone to read it carefully.”
Brian Pippitt was convicted on February 2, 2001, for the murder of Evelyn Malin, an 84-year-old storekeeper found beaten and strangled on February 24, 1998. The prosecution's theory suggested that Mr. Pippitt and four other men burglarized her store and killed Ms. Malin during the process. Key testimonies came from two witnesses whose reliability has since been questioned; both have recanted their statements.
The CRU's investigation revealed inconsistencies in these testimonies and flaws in the prosecutor’s theory of how defendants entered and exited the building. No physical evidence such as fingerprints or DNA linked Mr. Pippitt to the crime scene, and he had provided an alibi shortly after the murder.
Furthermore, two alternative suspects with potential motives were not thoroughly investigated or presented at trial by Mr. Pippitt’s defense counsel. The defense also failed to challenge discrepancies between photographic evidence and the prosecution's narrative effectively.
In October 2020, Attorney General Ellison announced the creation of Minnesota’s statewide CRU within his office—one of few such units operating nationwide through an Attorney General’s Office.
In January 2023, following another CRU investigation into Thomas Rhodes' convictions for his wife's death in 1998, Rhodes was released from prison after serving 25 years when medical evidence used at trial was discredited.
The petition filed by Mr. Pippitt is available under Court File Number 01-K4-99-000325 at Minnesota Court Records Online.