Daijiworld Media Network – Oklahoma
Oklahoma, May 15: Former death row inmate Richard Glossip walked free from prison on Thursday for the first time in nearly three decades after posting bond while awaiting retrial in a 1997 murder case that brought him close to execution multiple times.
Glossip, dressed in a grey shirt and jeans, was seen leaving jail hand-in-hand with his wife, Lea Glossip.
“I’m just thankful for my wife and my attorneys. It’s overwhelming, but amazing at the same time,” Glossip told reporters after his release.
Earlier in the day, Judge Natalie Mai granted him bail set at USD 500,000. As part of the conditions, Glossip must wear an electronic monitoring device, remain within Oklahoma, avoid contact with witnesses in the case, and refrain from consuming drugs or alcohol.
Glossip’s attorney Donald Knight said supporters had helped arrange the bond amount.
The US Supreme Court last year overturned Glossip’s conviction, ruling that prosecutors violated his constitutional right to a fair trial by allowing a key witness to provide testimony they knew was false.
Glossip had been sentenced to death for the 1997 killing of his former employer, motel owner Barry Van Treese, who was beaten to death with a baseball bat in what prosecutors described as a murder-for-hire plot.
Although Oklahoma Attorney General Gentner Drummond announced plans to retry Glossip on murder charges, the state has said it will not seek the death penalty again.
In its order, the court stated that both prosecution and defence should now move forward toward a fair retrial free from earlier legal errors.
During his years on death row, Glossip faced nine execution dates and came within moments of execution on multiple occasions. In 2015, he was already placed near Oklahoma’s execution chamber before prison officials discovered a problem with the lethal injection drugs, leading to a halt in the execution process and eventually contributing to a lengthy suspension of executions in the state.
Glossip’s case attracted widespread national and international attention over the years, with support from several public figures, including actress Susan Sarandon and reality television personality Kim Kardashian.
The case was also featured in the 2017 documentary Killing Richard Glossip, which examined his claims of innocence and the legal controversies surrounding the trial.
Lea Glossip described the court’s decision as a deeply emotional moment, saying the family had “been praying for this day.”