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Galesburg native Richard Glossip denied – then granted – stay of execution in Oklahoma

After the U.S. Supreme Court denied a stay of execution, Galesburg native Richard Glossip, was granted a last-moment stay by the governor of Oklahoma.

After the U.S. Supreme Court denied a stay of execution, Galesburg native Richard Glossip, convicted of murder for the 1997 death of motel owner Barry Van Treese, was granted a stay by the governor of Oklahoma.

The man who actually bludgeoned Van Treese to death, Justin Sneed, testified that Glossip hired him to beat the motel owner to death with a baseball bat.  Glossip was convicted.

Glossip was originally scheduled to die by lethal injection the afternoon of Wednesday, September 16, 2015.  The Oklahoma State Court of Appeals granted a two-week stay of execution for Glossip late that morning, after his lawyers asked Oklahoma Gov. Mary Fallin for a 60-day reprieve based on the new evidence of innocence they say they discovered.

The evidence was not enough to change his sentence of death by lethal injection.

"Over and over again, courts have rejected his arguments and the information he has presented to support them," Fallin wrote. "If a state or federal court grants Glossip a new trial or decides to delay his execution, I will respect that decision. If that does not happen, his execution will go forward on September 30."

"I believe that a commutation of Mr. Glossip's sentence would give clearer witness to the value and dignity of every person's life, and would contribute to a society more cognizant of the mercy that God has bestowed upon us all," Archbishop Carlo Maria Vigano wrote on behalf of Pope Francis earlier in September.

Sister Helen Prejean, on whom the movie "Dead Man Walking" is based, also pleaded for Glossip's sentence to be changed to life in prison.

"Sneed is the one who committed the murder. My uncle Ricky didn't commit the murder and he gets sentenced to the death penalty. It's unfair," said Felicia Glossip.  "He is an innocent man."

"The dying part doesn't bother me. Everbody dies, but I want people to know I did not kill this man, I didn't plan it," Glossip has said in an earlier interview from death row.

On Monday, September 28, the Oklahoma Court of Criminal Appeals denied Glossip’s request for a stay of execution.  The U.S. Supreme Court also denied Richard Glossip's request for a stay of execution; he was scheduled to receive a three-drug execution cocktail at 3 p.m. Wednesday, September 30, at the Oklahoma State Penitentiary in McAlester.

As his execution was delayed, Governor Fallin cited the need to review protocol when she issued a last-minute, 37-day stay.

"The stay will give the Department of Corrections and its attorneys the opportunity to determine whether potassium acetate is compliant with the state’s court-approved execution procedures," Fallin said.  "I have issued a 37 day stay of execution while the state addresses those questions and ensures it is complying fully with the protocols approved by federal courts."

Stay of execution granted for Richard Glossip 9-30-15 (from Oklahoma Governor’s Office)

 

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