An Oklahoma judge approved bond Thursday for Richard Glossip, a former death row prisoner who will now be released from custody while he waits for a retrial in a 1997 homicide case.
Glossip spent nearly three decades incarcerated and came within hours of execution on multiple occasions, receiving final meals three times during 2015. He has consistently maintained his innocence in the slaying of Barry Van Treese, who owned an Oklahoma motel where Glossip worked. The nation’s highest court overturned his conviction and death sentence last year.
The following timeline details significant developments in Glossip’s legal proceedings and appeals.
Jan. 7, 1997: Barry Van Treese suffers fatal injuries from a beating at his Oklahoma City motel property. Authorities arrest two workers, Justin Sneed and Richard Glossip, for their alleged involvement in the homicide.
Aug. 14, 1998: A jury finds Glossip guilty of murder and imposes a death sentence. The prosecution presented evidence of a contract killing arrangement during the proceedings. Maintenance worker Sneed provided testimony claiming he murdered Van Treese after Glossip offered him $10,000 for the crime.
July 17, 2001: Oklahoma’s highest criminal court overturns Glossip’s murder conviction and mandates a retrial.
Aug. 27, 2004: Following a second trial that results in another murder conviction, Glossip receives a death sentence once more.
April 29, 2014: Oklahoma employs the surgical sedative midazolam for the first time during Clayton Lockett’s execution, who writhes and groans on the gurney. Officials stop the execution process, but Lockett dies 43 minutes later. State officials later attribute the complications to a poorly positioned intravenous line rather than the new drug combination.
Nov. 20, 2014: Officials postpone Glossip’s planned execution to give Oklahoma time to secure drugs and educate personnel on a revised protocol.
Jan. 28, 2015: Following Glossip’s consumption of what should have been his final meal, the U.S. Supreme Court stops his execution along with two other Oklahoma inmates while reviewing their legal challenge to the state’s midazolam use in executions.
June 29, 2015: The U.S. Supreme Court, in a split decision, allows Oklahoma to continue using midazolam in executions.
Sept. 15, 2015: Glossip receives his supposed last meal for the second time: chicken fried steak with mashed potatoes and a dinner roll, fish and chips, a bacon cheeseburger and a strawberry malt.
Sept. 16, 2015: Just hours before his scheduled execution, the Oklahoma Court of Criminal Appeals provides Glossip with a two-week delay to examine claims of fresh evidence supporting his innocence.
Sept. 29, 2015: Glossip consumes what officials intend to be his final meal for the third time: a medium pizza, two orders of fish and chips, a bacon cheeseburger and a strawberry malt.
Sept. 30, 2015: As prison staff prepare to carry out Glossip’s execution, Oklahoma’s governor halts the procedure because one of the lethal drugs didn’t comply with the state’s execution protocol.
Oct. 2, 2015: Following a request from the state’s attorney general, the Oklahoma Court of Criminal Appeals suspends all executions indefinitely while officials examine Oklahoma’s execution procedures.
Feb. 13, 2020: Oklahoma reveals intentions to restart executions using a three-drug lethal injection protocol.
May 5, 2023: The U.S. Supreme Court stops Glossip’s execution once again, originally scheduled for May 18, following a request from Oklahoma’s Republican attorney general, who determined Glossip’s trial was “unfair and unreliable.”
Feb. 25, 2025: The U.S. Supreme Court overturns Glossip’s murder conviction and death sentence, determining prosecutors violated his right to a fair trial by permitting Sneed, their primary witness, to provide testimony they knew was false.
June 9, 2025: Oklahoma Attorney General Gentner Drummond announces plans to prosecute Glossip again for murder. Despite acknowledging his previous trial was unfair, Drummond states he doesn’t believe Glossip is innocent.
May 14, 2026: An Oklahoma judge sets a $500,000 bond for Glossip, providing him an opportunity to be released from custody while awaiting trial.
