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Oklahoma death row inmate Richard Glossip spent around a quarter of a century in jail for his boss’ death back in 1997. On Thursday, the state attorney general said that Glossip’s conviction and death sentence must be thrown out, and thus has filed a motion to vacate it as well. The request came across after a recommendation to vacate the murder conviction was recommended by a special counsel.
Richard Glossip spent almost 26 years in prison after he was convicted of ordering the murder of Barry Van Treese. However, the murder was committed by another employee, Justin Sneed, who was then 19 years old. Sneed was given a life sentence in exchange for a testimony against 60-year-old Glossip.
According to Richard Glossip’s defense team, several shreds of evidence prove that the death row inmate is innocent. International law firm Reed Smith, along with Richard’s attorney has also tried to gather evidence in the case.
Oklahoma death row inmate Richard Glossip was convicted of hiring Sneed to kill his then-boss Van Treese
In a tragic incident on January 7, 1997, Barry Van Treese was beaten to death by Justin Sneed. The murder reportedly took place in Oklahoma City’s Best Budget Inn. Van Treese was the owner of the establishment, while Sneed was the maintenance man and Richard Glossip was the then-manager.
Sneed confessed to the crime and chose to testify against Glossip in exchange for life imprisonment. He told cops that it was Richard Glossip who instructed and “hired” him to kill Van Treese. He further said that Glossip agreed to pay him a lumpsum amount of $10,000 if he could execute the plan. Glossip, however, maintained his innocence until he was declared guilty and sentenced to death in July 1998.
Three years later, in 2001, the conviction was thrown out unanimously by the Oklahoma Court of Criminal Appeals as they claimed that the case was “extremely weak.” On Thursday, a motion was filed requesting to vacate the murder conviction, adding that a new trial should take place. Attorney General Gentner F. Drummond wrote in the motion:
“While the State has previously opposed relief for Glossip, it has changed its position based on a careful review of new information that has come to light.”
Drummond further mentioned that the state is not claiming that Richard Glossip was innocent, but pointed out that the primary factor is that Sneed, who was the key witness in the case, lied to the jury about his psychiatric treatment. Drummond stated:
“After thorough and serious deliberation, I have concluded that I cannot stand behind the murder conviction and death sentence of Richard Glossip. This is not to say I believe he is innocent.”
He continued:
“However, it is critical that Oklahomans have absolute faith that the death penalty is administered fairly and with certainty. Considering everything I know about this case; I do not believe that justice is served by executing a man based on the testimony of a compromised witness.”
Glossip’s execution has been scheduled to take place in May 2023
According to Glossip’s legal team, Sneed was using meth at the time he committed the murder. He also had a record of breaking into cars at motel parking lots. Glossip’s conviction raised many eyebrows as he was solely convicted based on Justin Sneed’s testimony. Don Knight, Richard Glossip’s attorney said,
“It is now clear that it would be unconscionable for the State to move forward with Mr. Glossip’s execution when there is so much doubt surrounding his conviction.”
Knight continued:
“We thank (Attorney) General Drummond for his courage to take a deeper look at this difficult case and urge the Court of Criminal Appeals to quickly grant the Attorney General’s request and remand Mr. Glossip’s case to the trial court for further proceedings.”
Following an independent investigation conducted by law firm Reed Smith and Glossip’s legal team, the former stated that the investigation “revealed the state’s intentional destruction of evidence before trial and an inadequate police investigation.” They also discovered letters that Justin Sneed reportedly wrote in jail. In one of them, he wrote:
“Do I have the choice of recanting my testimony at any time during my life…”
Another letter was found that Sneed’s public defender wrote in response to his letters. It read:
“I can tell by the tone of your letter that some things are bothering you… Had you refused (to testify against Glossip) you would most likely be on death row right now.”
Attorney Knight further mentioned that he knew that Sneed wanted to “tell the truth” at some point, but it could be concluded from the letters that his lawyer did not let him do that.
The decision of whether Richard’s conviction should be vacated or not lies in the Oklahoma Court of Criminal Appeals. Till then, the death row inmate is scheduled to be executed on May 18, 2023.
He was originally scheduled to be executed on July 1, 2022, but Oklahoma Gov. Kevin Stitt ordered a 60-day stay. The execution was then scheduled for September 2022. After another stay order, the execution was postponed to February 16, 2023. In January, however, it was rescheduled to May.
