Oklahoma man was next in line for execution; still lives on death row 5 years later
OKLAHOMA CITY (KOKH) - There are 47 people on death row right now in Oklahoma, and one of them is Richard Glossip.
He has now seen three execution dates come and go and is still living within jail walls.
Back in 2015, when state leaders put a temporary stop to lethal injection, Glossip was next in line.
In fact, his first execution date was postponed on the day of, after Gov. Mary Fallin, found out the wrong drug was going to be used in his injection.
Glossip, and those who know him, maintain his innocence, but court documents show he was sentenced to death back in 2004 after his boss was beaten to death with a baseball bat.
Glossip was convicted of paying a co-worker, Justin Sneed, to do it.
Our investigations over the years have shown Sneed may have gotten himself out of the death penalty by telling the court he was played by Glossip to kill their boss.
Sneed is now serving a life sentence.
Fox 25 spoke exclusively to Glossip about this, back in 2014. He said, "They wanted a conviction, and they, they got it. Because of Justin Sneed. But Justin knows without a doubt I didn’t do this, his daughter knows without a doubt, I didn’t do this, just by talking to her dad. My attorneys know without a doubt I shouldn’t be here, attorneys in other states know that I shouldn’t be here, and I mean, I understand where they're coming from with what they're saying. But you should have given me the stuff I needed to defend myself properly. Because if you ain’t got money and you can’t afford a good attorney, you don't stand a chance. You really, truly don’t. In a situation like this, with a capital crime."
Glossip, mentioning there his attorneys know he shouldn't be there. Fox 25 reached out to them Thursday. One of them, Don knight, who said, "The Oklahoma Department of Corrections announced today that it is ready to begin executing people again – but gave no explanation of how they will fix a system with deep failings at every stage of the process. Our client, Richard Glossip, who is widely believed to be innocent, has already suffered through three execution attempts for a murder he did not commit. We believe, as do all Oklahomans, that executing an innocent person would be a tragic mistake, no matter which method of execution is used. So while the state says it’s charging ahead towards more executions, we ask how it plans to ensure that it won’t execute an innocent man."
State leaders said they would not set any execution dates for at least 150 more days.
It's unclear if Glossip will be first.
https://okcfox.com/news/local/oklaho...-5-years-later
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