Former Oklahoma death row prisoner freed from jail as he awaits retrial in 1997 killing

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Former Oklahoma decease enactment captive Richard Glossip was released from incarceration for the archetypal clip successful astir 30 years Thursday aft posting enslaved portion awaiting retrial for a 1997 sidesplitting that enactment him connected the brink of execution 3 abstracted times.

Glossip wore a grey short-sleeved garment and jeans arsenic helium walked retired of the jailhouse hand-in-hand with his wife, Lea Glossip.

“I'm conscionable thankful for my woman and my attorneys. Just thankful,” helium said. "It's overwhelming, but it’s astonishing astatine the aforesaid time.”

Earlier Thursday, Judge Natalie Mai issued an bid mounting enslaved astatine $500,000. Glossip indispensable deterioration an physics monitoring instrumentality and volition not beryllium allowed to question extracurricular Oklahoma. He besides indispensable not interaction immoderate witnesses successful the case, oregon devour immoderate drugs oregon alcohol.

His lawyer Donald Knight had suggested Glossip was counting connected contributions to rise the money.

“Mr. Glossip has galore supporters and we are hopeful those supporters tin spend the bail,” Knight said.

Last year, the U.S. Supreme Court threw retired his conviction, and his longstanding claims of innocence person drawn enactment from Kim Kardashian and different salient figures.

Glossip had been sentenced to decease implicit the 1997 sidesplitting successful Oklahoma City of his erstwhile boss, motel proprietor Barry Van Treese, who was beaten with a shot bat successful what prosecutors person alleged was a murder-for-hire scheme.

The Supreme Court ruled past twelvemonth that prosecutors’ determination to let a cardinal witnesser to springiness grounds they knew to beryllium mendacious violated Glossip’s law close to a just trial.

Glossip has remained down bars aft Oklahoma Attorney General Gentner Drummond announced the authorities would question to retry him connected a execution complaint but not prosecute the decease punishment again.

“The tribunal afloat expects that the authorities volition rigorously prosecute its lawsuit going guardant and the defence volition supply robust practice for Glossip,” the justice wrote successful the order. “The tribunal hopes that a caller trial, escaped of error, volition provided each funny parties and the citizens of Oklahoma, the closure they deserve.”

During his clip connected decease row, courts successful Oklahoma acceptable 9 antithetic execution dates for Glossip, and helium came truthful adjacent to being enactment to decease that helium ate 3 abstracted past meals. In 2015, helium was adjacent held successful a compartment adjacent to Oklahoma’s execution chamber, waiting to beryllium strapped to a gurney and dice by lethal injection.

But the scheduled clip for his execution came and went. Behind the walls of the Oklahoma State Penitentiary, situation officials were scrambling aft learning 1 of the lethal drugs they received to transportation retired the process didn’t lucifer the execution protocols. The cause mix-up yet led to a astir seven-year moratorium connected executions successful Oklahoma.

“Mr. Glossip present has the accidental to sensation state portion his defence squad continues to prosecute justness connected his behalf against a strategy that the United States Supreme Court has recovered to beryllium blameworthy of superior misconduct by authorities prosecutors,” Knight said.

Van Treese’s household had asked the Supreme Court to permission Glossip’s condemnation and condemnation intact. Attorneys for the household did not instantly respond to emailed requests for comment.

Glossip’s lawsuit attracted planetary attraction aft histrion Susan Sarandon — who won an Academy Award for her portrayal of decease punishment hostile Sister Helen Prejean’s combat to prevention a antheral connected Louisiana’s decease enactment successful the 1995 movie “Dead Man Walking” — took up his origin successful existent life. Glossip’s lawsuit besides was featured successful the 2017 documentary movie titled “Killing Richard Glossip.”

“Both Richard and I are grateful for the court’s decision,” Glossip’s wife, Lea, said successful a substance to The Associated Press. “We person been praying for this day.”

Copyright 2026 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This worldly whitethorn not beryllium published, broadcast, rewritten oregon redistributed without permission.