Ellison recommends exoneration of man convicted in 1998 murder
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The Minnesota Attorney General’s Office said Thursday that a man serving a life sentence for first degree murder in connection with a 1998 homicide is innocent and should be released from prison.
Attorneys with the Great North Innocence Project and Centurion, nonprofits that advocate for people who are wrongfully convicted, filed a petition in Aitkin County Court asking a judge to vacate the conviction of Brian K. Pippitt following a review by the attorney general’s conviction review unit.
A jury convicted Pippitt, now 61, of killing 84-year-old storekeeper Evelyn Malin inside the home attached to her convenience store in McGregor.
Attorneys James Mayer and James Cousins write in their 402-page petition that “not a shred of reliable evidence” connects Pippitt to the crime. They note that the two key prosecution witnesses have recanted their 2001 trial testimony, “which was not credible to begin with.”
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Prosecutors charged Pippitt and three other men with Malin’s killing. One, Neil King, was acquitted at trial.
The two others, Raymond Misquadace and Donald Hill, signed plea deals that resulted in sentences of less than five years for manslaughter and also resolved other felony charges. Misquadace’s agreement required that he testify against the others.
At trial, Misquadace testified about details of the murder that conflicted with other evidence. Twenty years after testifying, Misquadace admitted under oath that he lied to investigators about his involvement and knowledge of the crime.
The other key witness, Peter Arnoldi, claimed to have met Pippitt at the Minnesota Security Hospital, and testified that Pippitt confided in him about the crime. Pippitt’s attorneys write in their petition that Arnoldi, who was “psychotic at the time he testified” now admits that Pippitt never confessed to killing Malin.
At trial, prosecutors also allegedly failed to disclose to the defense that Arnoldi was to have received assistance from the Aitkin County Attorney in seeking a lighter sentence on a federal bank robbery charge in exchange for his testimony against Pippitt.
In its report, which is included in the petition, attorneys with the conviction review unit argue that Pippitt’s defense counsel for the 2001 trial was “underprepared, under-experienced, and overburdened” and was unable to provide competent representation.
Conviction review investigators also later determined that the crime scene was “staged” to make it appear as though the killers entered Malin’s home through a basement window in order to bolster the prosecution’s theory of the case.
The investigators say that it would have been impossible for any of these “large men” to squeeze through an 18-inch by 34-inch window while intoxicated “without leaving trace evidence.”
The attorney general’s report says that the killer was likely someone with a “personal vendetta” against Malin who likely had a key to her property, because the killer appears to have entered and exited through the front door and locked the deadbolt on the way out.
At trial, prosecutors said that Pippitt and the other assailants intended to steal beer and cigarettes, but evidence showed that nothing was taken from the store.
In 2007, the Minnesota Supreme Court disbarred Bradley C. Rhodes, the county attorney who prosecuted Pippitt, for professional misconduct related to his private practice, including the mishandling of client funds.
The Aitkin County Attorney’s Office has 20 days to respond to the Pippitt’s petition for postconviction relief.
