Richard Glossip Pleads Guilty to Lesser Charge After Death Row Case

Richard Glossip pleaded guilty to a lesser accessory charge on Thursday, bringing a stunning close to nearly 30 years on Oklahoma’s death row after the U.S. Supreme Court threw out his murder conviction.

The plea agreement avoids a retrial on capital murder charges in the 1997 killing of motel owner Barry Van Treese. Glossip’s attorney, Don Knight, told CBS News that the deal resolves a legal battle built around a conviction the nation’s highest court ultimately found constitutionally tainted.

“We believe Rich has more than paid his debt to society by spending nearly 30 years on death row, during which time he was served three last meals and came within minutes of being executed for a crime he did not commit,” Knight said.

Richard Glossip pleads guilty to accessory charge; see his statement — The Oklahoman

Decades of Capital Trials and Near-Executions

Glossip was first convicted of murder by a jury in 1998 for the death of Van Treese, who was beaten with a baseball bat in what prosecutors alleged was a murder-for-hire scheme. That initial conviction was overturned on appeal in 2001 due to ineffective assistance of counsel.

In 2004, Glossip went to trial again and was convicted of murder and sentenced to death, largely relying on the testimony of Justin Sneed, who admitted robbing and killing Van Treese. Sneed testified that Glossip promised to pay him $10,000, and Sneed was sentenced to life in prison.

Richard Glossip pleads guilty to accessory to murder in 1997 case — KOKH – FOX 25

During his time on death row, courts in Oklahoma set nine different execution dates. Back in 2015, Oklahoma’s execution chamber held Glossip in an adjacent cell while he awaited lethal injection and being strapped to a gurney. That execution was called off when prison officials realized the lethal drugs they received did not match execution protocols, triggering a nearly seven-year moratorium on executions in Oklahoma.

Supreme Court Overturns Conviction Due to False Testimony

The turning point arrived in February 2025, when the U.S. Supreme Court threw out Glossip’s conviction in a 5-3 ruling. Justice Sonia Sotomayor wrote in the majority opinion that the prosecution failed to correct the false testimony of its key witness, Sneed, during the second trial, violating Glossip’s right to due process.

Richard Glossip enters guilty plea in decades-long murder case — KOCO 5 News

Glossip was released on bond in May to await retrial. His case drew international attention, garnering support from high-profile figures including Kim Kardashian and actress Susan Sarandon, whose advocacy echoed her role in the film “Dead Man Walking.”

With Glossip’s plea to a lesser accessory charge, the murder charge was dismissed. Knight said that Glossip accepted the prosecution claims asserting that he failed to inform authorities about Sneed being the killer, witnessed Van Treese’s body, and assisted in putting plexiglass across a broken hotel window.

Richard Glossip's murder charge dropped; he pleads guilty to accessory to murder — KFOR Oklahoma's News 4

“He had nothing to do with the murder, none of the planning, or carrying it out,” Knight said.

The State’s Position and What Comes Next

Oklahoma Attorney General Gentner Drummond had previously backed Glossip’s bid for a new trial due to errors in the first trial. While Drummond stated the state would not seek the death penalty again, prosecutors pursued a path to secure additional prison time.

Accepting the plea to a lesser charge “was a difficult decision for me and, more importantly, the Van Treese family,” Drummond said in a statement sent to media outlets. “We both recognize that this path ensures a conviction related to Mr. Van Treese’s killing and gives us the best chance to secure additional prison time for Glossip.”

A December sentencing hearing awaits Glossip, at which point he faces either potential freedom or an additional 15-year prison sentence.

Earlier coverage: Richard Glossip Pleads Guilty to Accessory Charge to Resolve Case