Attorney General’s Office, 2 nonprofits back Aitkin County man’s bid to overturn conviction in 1998 murder

An Aitkin County man convicted of first-degree murder in the 1998 death of a shopkeeper is seeking to overturn his conviction and win release from prison, the Minnesota Attorney General’s Office and two nonprofits said Thursday.

Brian K. Pippitt’s request has the support of the Attorney General’s Conviction Review Unit (CRU), as well as Centurion Ministries and the Great North Innocence Project.

Pippitt filed a memo and petition in Aitkin County District Court on Wednesday.

The CRU and the nonprofits spent two years reviewing thousands of documents and interviewing witnesses in connection with the murder of Evelyn Malin, 84, of rural McGregor, Minn.

They concluded that Pippitt’s trial for first-degree murder was unfair and he should be exonerated, according to their joint news release.

“Mr. Pippitt has been wrongly incarcerated for 25 years,” Centurion Ministries attorney Jim Cousins said. “It is an unconscionable injustice that anyone would now block his immediate release.”

The CRU and Great North Innocence Project have worked together on several case reviews, including that of Thomas Rhodes who was convicted of murdering his wife in 1996. Rhodes was freed in January 2023 after nearly 25 years in prison. The 64-year-old has since sued authorities.

Brenda Horner was 13 when Malin, her great-grandmother, was killed. Horner remembers Malin as the sweetest person in her childhood, with a bright smile when family and friends walked into her Dollar Lake Store. She recalled the pinball machine nestled in the store’s corner, and goodie bags of candy Malin always gave her.

Horner said family learned of the petition as news spread Thursday. For them, news of Pippitt possibly being released is like “our hearts are being torn open again.”

“Our family had closure for this hideous crime to a innocent person when he was sentenced and put behind bars. Now he wants to be let out and all the hurt and sadness and memories all come back,” Horner said. “She was taken too soon and for what?? A few things of cigarettes and a small amount of cash. I believe he should stay where he is.”

A jury convicted Pippitt in 2001 of Malin’s murder. She was found dead on the floor of her bedroom; she had suffered blunt force injuries and been strangled.

Raymond Misquadace testified that he, Pippitt and the others broke into Malin’s Dollar Lake Store in Aitkin County to steal cigarettes and beer. Misquadace said the group killed Malin, whose home was attached to the store. In addition, jailhouse informant Peter Arnoldi said Pippitt confessed to him.

According to testimony from the Bureau of Criminal Apprehension, the intruders entered Malin’s residence through a basement window and left through her front door.

Centurion Ministries and the Great North Innocence Project said in a statement that Misquadace admitted that police helped him lie for his confession. Attorneys say Arnoldi was psychotic when he testified — and that he received a “secret benefit from prosecutors” for his testimony, which Arnoldi has since disavowed.

And new evidence cited by the CRU and the nonprofits suggests that no entry was made through the store’s basement window, no cigarettes or beer were stolen and the front door was locked with a deadbolt, which required a key.

“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,” Attorney General Keith Ellison said.

“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. The only person that is served by a wrongful conviction is the perpetrator who committed the crime.”

The Aitkin County Attorney’s Office has 20 days to respond to the petition.

As for the others charged with taking part in the killing, according to the Great North Innocence Project:

Donald Hill pleaded guilty to manslaughter and, like Misquadace, received a sentence of less than five years that also resolved other felony unrelated charges.

Another man was acquitted. Misquadace entered an Alford plea to manslaughter under which he also resolved unrelated felony charges of introduction of contraband into jail, fleeing and theft of a motor vehicle, burglary, theft, criminal damage to property, and criminal sexual conduct.

Minnesotans who claim they have been wrongly convicted of a crime may apply to the CRU to have their convictions reviewed, as Pippitt did, according to the Attorney General’s office. An application does not guarantee review: Of the approximately 1,100 applications the CRU has received as of May 2024, it closed about 850 without offering relief to the applicant.

The vast majority of the remaining applications are pending further review. Upon that review, the CRU may begin a more in-depth investigation to thoroughly explore the applicant’s claim or it may close the case.

Star Tribune staff writer Rochelle Olson contributed to this story.