He’s sat behind the bars of Oklahoma State Penitentiary for over two decades without committing the crime that put him there. Richard Glossip has proclaimed his innocence in this witch hunt since the beginning, but no one would listen…until now. He’s been served multiple last meals and given several execution dates. Each time, he barely survives, but he still stands waiting for justice.
On January 7, 1997, Justin Sneed brutally beat a man to death. The victim’s name was Barry Van Treese. He owned the Best Budget Inn located in Oklahoma City. Sneed worked as a part-time maintenance man in exchange for room and board. When interrogated by police, Sneed was pressured into taking a plea deal that would help him avoid the death penalty. If Sneed told law enforcement that the manager hired him to kill Barry, then Sneed could avoid lethal injection. After intense interrogation, Sneed caved and said that the manager of the motel hired him to kill the owner. That manager’s name was Richard Glossip.
In August 2004, a jury convicted Glossip of murder and sentenced him to die. The actual killer got life in prison. Glossip fought hard trying to get someone to listen to him, but he was ignored. It didn’t matter that Sneed’s own family believed in Richard’s innocence. It didn’t matter that there was no evidence against Glossip. No money exchanged hands for the supposed hired hit. Glossip has faced death for decades based on the word of a low-IQ, drug addict who was pressured by police.
It also didn’t matter that the police interrogation techniques of these law officers have been publicly questioned over the years. Nothing seemed to matter in the case of Richard Glossip. Oklahoma had put him away in a cage and was determined to kill him.
Finally, in January of 2024 the Supreme Court agreed to hear Glossip’s case and it was argued infront of the court in October that year. Finally on February 25, 2025 the Supreme Court vacated Richard Glossip’s conviction and ordered a new trial.
What will happen now? Will Richard get a new trial after all of these years? Will he be released? What, if anything, will be done to pay this man retribution after the state took his life from him? We will have to wait and see. I’ll keep you posted as the story unfolds.
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