ST PAUL, Minn. — A man who has served 26 years after being convicted of murder will soon be free after the Minnesota Pardons Board voted to commute his sentence on Wednesday.

Brian Pippitt insists he did not kill an Aitkin County convenience store owner back in 1998, and two of three members of the pardons board apparently agree. Governor Tim Walz and Attorney General Keith Ellison voted to release Pippitt from prison, while State Supreme Court Justice Natalie Hudson did not, saying she worried about the precedent for others seeking to be released. Judge Hudson added that the case should be playing out in the district courts, especially with new evidence being introduced.

While the vote will give Pippitt his freedom, it does not exonerate him or wipe his record clean.

"I am glad Mr. P

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