Oklahoma | Supported by unlikely allies, Richard glossip prepares for third trial

Freedom for Richard Glossip cost $50,000. It also cost 29 years of his life.

The former death row inmate convicted of murdering the owner of the motel he managed walked out of jail Thursday for the first time since 1997, after 10% of his $500,000 bond was paid by celebrity and criminal reform advocate Kim Kardashian, her publicist told The Oklahoman.

As Glossip’s case stretched on, the documentary “Killing Richard Glossip” raised many questions about his convictions – and the eyebrows of Republicans in Oklahoma’s government, including supporters of capital punishment.

“Considering the facts we uncovered, and that there exists no physical forensic evidence or credible corroborating testimony linking Glossip to the crime, our conclusion is that no reasonable juror hearing the complete record would have convicted Richard Glossip of first‐degree murder,” said the law firm of Reed Smith after interviewing three dozen witnesses and reviewing more than 145,000 pages of evidence.

In response, Republican state Rep. Kevin McDugle – a death penalty supporter – said the case forced him to question the justice of capital punishment in his state.

“If we put Richard Glossip to death, I will fight in this state to abolish the death penalty simply because the process is not pure,” he said at the time.

More pushback came the following year, when Gentner Drummond – the state’s self-proclaimed “rule of law” Republican attorney general who is now running for governor – ordered a special prosecutor to conduct another investigation.

“I believe Glossip was deprived of a fair trial in which the State can have confidence in the process and result,” special prosecutor Rex Duncan wrote in his report.

“(Drummond’s) decision to seek a stay of execution and more thoroughly examine this case may be the bravest leadership decision I’ve ever witnessed, and it was absolutely the correct legal decision,” Duncan added.

Drummond asked the Oklahoma Court of Criminal Appeals to overturn the conviction, but the court denied the request, saying there wasn’t enough evidence of misconduct to allow it to reconsider the guilty verdict.

With the attorney general’s support, the case moved to the US Supreme Court in 2024. The victim’s family told the high court they remained convinced Glossip is guilty.

“The Court should consider the effects of further delay on Barry Van Treese’s family and bring this case to a rapid conclusion,” attorneys for the Van Treese family wrote in a filing.

But in a 5-4 decision written by Justice Sonia Sotomayor, the court overturned Glossip’s conviction again, saying prosecutors had allowed Sneed to give false testimony about his mental health during the trial.

“Had the prosecution corrected Sneed on the stand, his credibility plainly would have suffered,” Sotomayor wrote. “That correction would have revealed to the jury not just that Sneed was untrustworthy … but also that Sneed was willing to lie to them under oath.”

As the case dragged on, Drummond took another step to shield Glossip from execution, asking the Oklahoma Pardon and Parole Board for clemency and saying Glossip’s prosecution had been indefensible.

Tulsa County District Attorney Steven Kunzweiler – who took office in 2014, long after Glossip’s convictions – attended the hearing, where clemency was denied.

McDugle – who has since left the legislature – and current Republican Rep. Justin Humphrey say they believe Kunzweiler  was working behind the scenes to lobby against clemency. They filed a lawsuit Tuesday under the state Open Records Act, demanding more records be released about how the DA has been involved in efforts to stop Glossip’s release and keep him on death row.

“Records show that District Attorney Kunzweiler and multiple district attorneys mobilized to intervene and advocate for the execution of Richard Glossip even in the face of prosecutorial misconduct,” Humphrey said in a statement.

Kunzweiler said it was appropriate for him to attend the clemency hearing but declined to comment on the lawsuit.

“As with any pending civil litigation case, this matter will be referred for representation through the Office of the Oklahoma Attorney General, and all inquiries should be directed to the designated counsel for any comment,” he told CNN affiliate KOKI Thursday.

Glossip prepares for third trial

Although the attorney general had argued for clemency for Glossip, Drummond also says the final verdict – both at trial and the court of public opinion – is still not in.

“While it was clear to me and to the US Supreme Court that Mr. Glossip did not receive a fair trial, I have never proclaimed his innocence,” Drummond said in a statement last year. “Unlike past prosecutors who allowed a key witness to lie on the stand, my office will make sure Mr. Glossip receives a fair trial based on hard facts, solid evidence and truthful testimony.”

But the biggest threat hanging over Glossip’s head for decades is no longer on the table. Drummond said this time, prosecutors will not seek the death penalty.

The date for that trial has not yet been set. Glossip’s attorney Don Knight is convinced the passage of time that has been his client’s enemy while sitting in one prison cell after another will now work in his favor.

“This was a bad case in 1997. It was a worse case in 2004. It’ll be a disaster for the state in 2027 or whenever it’s going to be tried,” Knight told CNN’s Jake Tapper Thursday.

Source: CNN, Staff, May 17, 2026

"One is absolutely sickened, not by the crimes that the wicked have committed,
but by the punishments that the good have inflicted."
— Oscar Wilde

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