Richard Glossip survived nine execution dates and three last meals. Now the state wants a third trial but won’t say why
29 years later.
Richard Glossip, the former death row inmate who survived nine execution dates and three last meals, is set to walk out of prison on a $500,000 bond while he awaits his third trial for a 1997 murder. Oklahoma County District Judge Natalie Mai granted the bond on May 14, 2026, marking a dramatic shift in a case that has dragged on for nearly three decades.
Glossip will be released under strict conditions, but for the first time in 29 years, he’ll taste freedom outside prison walls. According to The Hill, the decision comes after a long legal battle that saw Glossip’s convictions overturned twice – in 2001 due to ineffective counsel and in 2025 when the Supreme Court ruled prosecutors had committed misconduct by allowing false testimony from the key witness against him.
That witness, Justin Sneed, admitted to beating motel owner Barry Van Treese to death with a baseball bat but claimed Glossip orchestrated the killing in a murder-for-hire scheme. Sneed avoided the death penalty by testifying against Glossip, who was sentenced to death in both of his previous trials.
Judge Mai wasn’t convinced of Glossip’s guilt
Her 13-page order made this clear. According to The Oklahoman, Mai wrote that bail is not meant to be punishment but a way to ensure a defendant shows up for trial. Under Oklahoma law, she could only deny bail if there was “clear and convincing evidence” of guilt but she found the case against Glossip far from airtight.
The judge pointed to serious flaws in the prosecution’s handling of Sneed’s testimony, including the fact that prosecutors failed to correct false statements he made about his psychiatric treatment. The U.S. Supreme Court had already ruled that this misconduct undermined the fairness of Glossip’s trial.
Oklahoma Attorney General Gentner Drummond, a Republican, has taken an unusual stance in the case. While he doesn’t believe the death row inmate is innocent, he supported overturning the conviction due to prosecutorial misconduct. Drummond’s office has made it clear they intend to retry Glossip for murder but won’t seek the death penalty this time.
That’s because Sneed is already serving life without parole. Shauna Peters, a spokesperson for Drummond’s office, said the state remains focused on securing a third conviction, insisting that a jury, not a judge, should decide Glossip’s fate.
Glossip’s legal team celebrated the bond ruling as a major victory
Lead attorney Don Knight called it a rejection of the state’s claim that there was overwhelming evidence of Glossip’s guilt. For Glossip, who has spent nearly three decades behind bars, the ruling offers a glimmer of hope after years of legal limbo.
He’s had nine execution dates scheduled, three last meals, and countless appeals, with each execution called off at the last minute. The closest he came was in 2015, when he was three hours away from lethal injection before officials realized the wrong drug had been supplied.
If Glossip posts bond, he’ll be released to his wife, Lea Glossip, whom he married in 2022 while still incarcerated. The judge’s order imposes strict conditions: he must stay at their marital home in Oklahoma County, wear an ankle monitor, observe a nightly curfew, and avoid alcohol, drugs, and out-of-state travel.
Historically, Oklahoma judges have been reluctant to grant bail in murder cases, but Mai cited the state constitution and a 1998 appeals court decision in her ruling. She noted that the evidence against Glossip, particularly the testimony of Sneed, was shaky at best.
The case has drawn national attention
This is partly because of Glossip’s high-profile supporters, including celebrities like Kim Kardashian. His legal team claims Sneed later considered recanting his testimony but never followed through. The Oklahoma Court of Criminal Appeals described the evidence supporting Sneed’s testimony as “extremely weak” in 2001, and even Drummond himself admitted in a 2023 letter that the record doesn’t prove Glossip’s guilt beyond a reasonable doubt.
Last year, his original judge for the third trial denied him bond, and five other Oklahoma County judges recused themselves from the case before Mai took over in December. In April, Mai rejected Glossip’s attempt to enforce a potential plea deal that could have led to his immediate release.
Drummond had discussed a deal with Glossip’s attorneys, but it fell apart when the victim’s family wasn’t consulted. Under the proposed agreement, Glossip would have pleaded guilty to accessory after the fact to first-degree murder and received a 45-year sentence, but with credit for time served, he would have walked free.
This case has reignited debates about death penalty and prosecutorial misconduct
The U.S. Supreme Court’s decision to overturn his conviction last year was a rare win for a death row inmate, with Justice Sonia Sotomayor writing the majority opinion. Justice Clarence Thomas dissented, joined by Justice Samuel Alito, while Justice Neil Gorsuch didn’t participate, likely because he had been involved in one of Glossip’s earlier appeals as a lower court judge.
The case also reignited scrutiny of Oklahoma’s lethal injection protocols after the 2015 mix-up that nearly led to Glossip’s execution with the wrong drug. For now, Glossip’s future hinges on his third trial. If he’s convicted again, he could face life in prison, but without the death penalty looming over him.
If he’s acquitted, he’ll finally be free after nearly three decades of legal battles. Either way, the case has exposed deep flaws in the justice system, from unreliable witness testimony to prosecutorial misconduct. Judge Mai ended her order with a hopeful note, writing that a new trial “free of error” could finally bring closure to everyone involved.
(Featured image: Charles Duggar Derivative work MagentaGreen)
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