This episode looks inside Minnesota’s prison and parole system during the years when Brian Lee Hendrickson was behind bars—and how shifting attitudes toward rehabilitation vs punishment helped lead to his early release. We hear from Brian’s brothers, Mark and Gary, about the shock of seeing him walk free after just five years for murder, and how he soon ended up working for the State of Minnesota at the Minnesota Home School in Sauk Centre.

Through interviews, records, and careful investigative journalism, Dakota Spotlight examines the Minnesota parole experiment that failed to protect the vulnerable and reveals how the optimism of reform collided with the realities of crime and manipulation.

A Dakota Spotlight true crime podcast that uncovers how one man’s early release exposed deep flaws within Minnesota’s corrections system—and how the consequences still echo decades later.

Meanwhile in Mankato was written, researched, edited, and produced by James Wolner. Additional research assistance by Mari Zoerb Hansen.

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