OKLAHOMA CITY — Richard Glossip, convicted in the murder-for-hire plot of Barry Van Treese, is set to executed for the crime on May 18 unless Gov. Kevin Stitt or a federal court intervenes. Glossip, who has spent more than 24 years on death row has had three reprieves or stays of execution.
Last week the Oklahoma Parton and Parole Board voted 2-2 to deny Glossip’s clemency request. The board’s fifth member, Richard Smothermon, recused himself because his wife was a prosecutor in Glossip’s trial.
The clemency vote was the latest twist in the Glossip case.
Glossip, 60, was convicted of ordering the killing of his boss Barry Van Treese. Van Treese’s family said they oppose clemency. Justin Sneed admitted to killing Van Treese with a baseball bat at the Oklahoma City motel. Sneed received a life in prison sentence in exchange for his testimony against Glossip.
Prior to the parole board vote, Oklahoma Attorney General Gentner Drummond released the results of an investigation into Glossip’s case. Drummond, a Republican who took office in January, requested the review of the case. That examination, which was done by former District Attorney Rex Duncan, found “multiple and cumulative errors” and concluded that Glossip’s conviction should be vacated, and he should be granted a new trial.
An earlier examination of the case, produced by the law firm of Reed Smith, revealed that the state had intentionally destroyed evidence in the case before the trial.
After the release of the studies, Drummond appeared before the board and said he supported Glossip’s request for clemency.
“I want to acknowledge how unusual it is for the state to support a clemency application of a death row inmate,” Drummond to the board. “I’m not aware of any time in our history that an attorney general has appeared before this board and argued for clemency. I’m also not aware of any time in the history of Oklahoma when justice would require it.”
Drummond said Glossip did not murder anyone, adding that a death sentence would be excessive.
“One of the facts in this dispute – the one that everyone can agree on – is that the man who did brutally murder Barry Van Treese is in prison for the rest of his life. He’s never going to get out,” Drummond said. “To the extent that anyone should be executed for the murder of Barry Van Treese, the wrong individual is scheduled for the death chamber.”
Drummond was “disappointed” by the board’s decision.
“Public confidence in the death penalty requires that these cases receive the highest standard of reliability,” the attorney general said in a media statement. “While the State has not questioned the integrity of previous death penalty cases, the Glossip conviction is very different. I believe it would be a grave injustice to execute an individual whose trial conviction was beset by a litany of errors.”
Drummond wrote that his “heart truly hurts for the Van Treese family and what they have experienced over the past 26 years. It has been my privilege and honor to visit with them a number of times since my taking office. The grief and frustration they have endured is unfathomable and deeply unfortunate.”
On April 6, Drummond asked the state’s Court of Criminal Appeals to vacate Glossip’s conviction and the case to be returned to the district court. But in a 5-0 decision last week, the judges denied all requests.