Crimeupdated 29m ago3 min read
Richard Glossip Pleads Guilty to Accessory to Murder, Avoids Third Trial
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Plea to accessory after the fact in the 1997 murder; first-degree murder charges dropped. Avoided a third murder trial.
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Plea Ends Third Trial
Richard Glossip, the Oklahoma man who spent nearly 30 years on death row before the US Supreme Court overturned his murder conviction last year, pleaded guilty Thursday to accessory to murder after the fact, avoiding a third murder trial. Glossip’s attorney Don Knight told CNN’s Jake Tapper that the plea agreement came during what was expected to be a pretrial hearing ahead of a retrial scheduled for December, but sentencing is scheduled for December 17 and 18. The plea agreement followed the state’s decision to drop the first-degree murder charge against Glossip in exchange for his guilty plea to accessory to murder, with the state set to proceed with sentencing on December 17.
The case traces back to the 1997 killing of Oklahoma City motel owner Barry Van Treese, and the sources describe Justin Sneed as the motel employee who admitted to killing Van Treese with a baseball bat while testifying that Glossip put him up to it. Justice Sonia Sotomayor wrote for the majority that prosecutors violated their constitutional obligation, and the Supreme Court ordered a new trial after citing Sneed’s false testimony and the prosecution’s withholding of evidence from the defense.
State Seeks More Time
Oklahoma Attorney General Gentner Drummond told CNN affiliate KOKH that accepting the lesser charge for Glossip was a “difficult decision,” while Drummond said the path “ensures a conviction related to Mr. Van Treese’s murder and gives us the best chance to secure additional prison time for Glossip.”
Don Knight told Tapper that the plea had “nothing at all to do with the murder of Barry Van Treese,” and Knight said Glossip “didn’t know there was going to be a murder, he didn’t take part in the murder.”
Judge Natalie Mai accepted the plea to accessory after the fact and dismissed the murder charge, while the maximum punishment for accessory after the fact was 45 years under Oklahoma law in place at the time of the killing.
The plea deal did not include an agreement on punishment and Glossip will be back in front of Judge Natalie Mai for sentencing on Dec. 17 and 18.
The decision left it to Mai to decide whether Glossip should be sentenced to time served or if additional punishment is warranted.
What Happens Next
Glossip’s plea shifts the case from a third murder trial to sentencing, with sources placing sentencing dates on December 17 and 18 and describing the state’s plan to proceed with sentencing after the murder charge was dropped. Judge Natalie Mai set Glossip’s bail for $500,000 and determined the court could not deny bail while adhering to the Oklahoma Constitution, and the state was set to go to trial on December 7 before the plea. The maximum punishment for an accessory crime is 45 years and Glossip will remain out on bond until sentencing, while it is not yet clear whether he would have to return to prison even if the judge gave him the maximum time.
Glossip’s attorneys planned to ask for time served, while defense lawyers did not reach an agreement with the state as to a proposed sentence. The sources also frame the stakes around whether Glossip’s guilty plea affects his long-running claims of innocence, with Knight saying Glossip acknowledged the prosecution’s allegations only as to accessory conduct while insisting he had “nothing to do with the murder, none of the planning, or carrying it out.”