Gov. Stitt grants 60-day stay of execution for Glossip
August 17, 2022
OKLAHOMA CITY (KFOR) – Oklahoma Governor Kevin Stitt announced a 60-day stay of execution for death row inmate Richard Glossip.
Richard Glossip has been on death-row for 25 years for the murder of Barry Van Treese.
The case goes back to 1997, when Glossip and Justin Sneed were convicted of killing Glossip’s boss and owner of the Best Budget Inn, Barry Van Treese.
Sneed confessed to beating Van Treese with a bat. However, Sneed testified that Glossip hired him to kill Van Treese.
In exchange for his testimony, Sneed was given a life sentence. Glossip was sentenced to death.
Earlier this year, Texas-based law firm, Reed Smith, agreed to independently investigate the case for free.
After 3,000 hours of work and a nearly 350-page report, they determined “no reasonable jury would have convicted Richard Glossip.”
Investigators pointed to flawed interrogations, lack of crime scene logs, and missing evidence.
On Wednesday, the law firm released newly discovered evidence in the case, citing an urgent need for a new evidentiary hearing.
Officials say they have a handwritten statement from Sneed from 2007, implying that his testimony implicating Glossip “was a mistake.”