"I intend to live the rest of my time on Earth in peace." - Brian Pippitt

Brian Pippitt is now home after over 25 years of incarceration for a crime he did not commit!

On September 24, 2025, the Minnesota Board of Pardons voted to commute Brian's sentence, paving the way for his release. The vote followed an affirmative vote by the Minnesota Clemency Review Commission in April 2025, where the Commission emphasized the compelling proof of Brian's innocence for their decision.

Represented by two innocence organizations, Centurion and the Great North Innocence Project, Brian brought his case to the Minnesota Conviction Review Unit (CRU), an office of the Minnesota Attorney General's Office. After conducting a two year investigation including reviewing thousands of pages of materials and interviewing more than 25 fact and expert witnesses, the CRU concluded that Brian was not at the scene of the murder, nor was he involved in the crime. The CRU recommended Brian be granted post-conviction relief based on his actual innocence. This was the first time the CRU has recommended a full exoneration of an incarcerated person.

Attorney General Keith Ellison said in a statement, “Our goal is to ensure that no innocent person is serving time in a Minnesota prison for a crime they did not commit. No person or community is safer, and justice is not served when an innocent person is convicted and imprisoned.”

During his wrongful incarceration, Brian has lost almost every member of his family, endured numerous health struggles, and lost out on the ability to build a savings to support himself in his elder years. He will now be released from prison, but return to a community and society that looks very different than the one he was taken away from over two decades ago. He needs our help to ensure he focus on his physical, emotional, and mental well being without concern for his daily necessities.

Brian is most looking forward to spending time outside, looking at the stars.

An Investigation Based on Rumor and Questionable Investigative Tactics

Brian Pippitt was sentenced to life in prison for the murder of Ms. Evelyn Malin. Ms. Malin's body was discovered in February 1998 at her residence, which attached to the Dollar Lake Store in Aitkin County, Minnesota. Based on unsubstantiated rumors fueled by a reward for information, investigators developed a theory that five Native American men, many of whom who came from different families, did not like each other, and had no reason to be together, were involved in Ms. Malin's murder.

At the time of the murder, investigators theorized that these five men, including Brian, broke into Ms. Malin's store to steal beer and cigarettes, and murdered her in the process.

Upon closer inspection however, the CRU found that the State's theory was "wholly incongruous with the evidence."

The CRU investigation found new evidence demonstrating that no beer or cigarettes were stolen from the store, nor was any money missing. The store was left untouched, while Ms. Malin's personal residence was ransacked. Additionally, the supposed means of entry into the store, a very small broken basement window, was staged to appear that it was broken from the outside, but instead had been broken from the inside. Forensic testing on the window found no DNA or other evidence left behind by Brian or any of the other men accused of the crime, despite allegedly having climbed through a small window with shattered glass.

Additionally, the other means of entry or exit to the premises was a front door with a deadbolt lock. When first responders arrived to the crime scene, they found the front door still locked, suggesting the person who entered and exited the premises had a key.

Incentivized Testimonies

Mr. Pippitt was convicted largely based on testimony from Raymond Misquadace, who told the jury that he was present with Mr. Pippitt and three others as they broke into the store, stole cigarettes and beer, and murdered Ms. Malin. Mr. Misquadace testified as part of a plea deal in which he resolved other outstanding felony charges in return for his testimony. The State bolstered Mr. Misquadace’s story with testimony from a jailhouse informant, Peter Arnoldi, who claimed Mr. Pippitt confided in him about his participation in Ms. Malin’s murder. The Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension (BCA) also submitted testimony that said Brian and the other men entered Ms. Malin’s residence through the basement window and exited out the front door.

Mr. Misquadace has now admitted to fabricating his confession with the help of police. GNIP and Centurion also learned that Mr. Arnoldi was psychotic at the time of his testimony against Brian, received a secret benefit from prosecutors for his testimony, and now disavows his original testimony, which lacked any credibility to begin with. Finally, forensic evidence supplemented with new forensic analysis thoroughly disproves Mr. Misquadace’s original testimony and supports his recantation.

Additionally, two credible alternative suspects were never fully investigated, nor presented to the jury during Mr. Pippitt’s trial.

The Ongoing Fight for Exoneration

In June 2024, Centurion and GNIP, on behalf of Brian, filed a petition for post-conviction relief on the grounds of his actual innocence. Both organizations are committed to pursuing a full exoneration for Brian and will pursue all available legal options to achieve justice for him.