Oklahoma
Oklahoma judge allows former death row prisoner to be released on bond while awaiting retrial
An Oklahoma judge on Thursday allowed former death row prisoner Richard Glossip to be released on bond while awaiting retrial over a 1997 killing that put him on the brink of execution three separate times.
The decision clears the way for Glossip, 63, to leave a lockup for the first time since his arrest nearly 30 years ago. Last year, the U.S. Supreme Court threw out his conviction, and his longstanding claims of innocence have drawn support from Kim Kardashian and other prominent figures.
READ MORE: Supreme Court throws out Oklahoma man Richard Glossip’s murder conviction and death sentence
Judge Natalie Mai issued an order setting bond at $500,000. Glossip must wear an electronic monitoring device and will not be allowed to travel outside Oklahoma. He also must not contact any witnesses in the case, or consume any drugs or alcohol.
It was unclear Thursday when Glossip would be released. He will have to post only 10%, or $50,000, and the process could take two or three days, said his attorney Donald Knight.
Knight also suggested Glossip is counting on contributions to raise the money.
“Mr. Glossip has many supporters and we are hopeful those supporters can afford the bail,” Knight said.
Protestors and family members embrace after hearing the news of Governor Mary Fallin issuing a stay for death row inmate Richard Glossip outside the Oklahoma State Penitentiary in McAlester, Oklahoma, September 30, 2015. Oklahoma Governor Mary Fallin on Wednesday granted inmate Richard Glossip a 37-day stay of execution to give the state time to address whether its execution protocols comply with procedures approved by the federal court. Glossip, 52, was found guilty of arranging the 1997 murder of Barry Van Treese, the owner of an Oklahoma City motel that Glossip was managing. Photo by Nick Oxford/Reuters.
Glossip had been sentenced to death over the 1997 killing in Oklahoma City of his former boss, motel owner Barry Van Treese, in what prosecutors have alleged was a murder-for-hire scheme.
The Supreme Court ruled last year that prosecutors’ decision to allow a key witness to give testimony they knew to be false violated Glossip’s constitutional right to a fair trial.
Glossip has remained behind bars after Oklahoma Attorney General Gentner Drummond announced the state would seek to retry him on a murder charge but not pursue the death penalty again.
“The court fully expects that the state will rigorously prosecute its case going forward and the defense will provide robust representation for Glossip,” the judge wrote in the order. “The court hopes that a new trial, free of error, will provided all interested parties and the citizens of Oklahoma, the closure they deserve.”
During his time on death row, courts in Oklahoma set nine different execution dates for Glossip, and he came so close to being put to death that he ate three separate last meals. In 2015, he was even held in a cell next to Oklahoma’s execution chamber, waiting to be strapped to a gurney and die by lethal injection.
But the scheduled time for his execution came and went. Behind the walls of the Oklahoma State Penitentiary, prison officials were scrambling after learning one of the lethal drugs they received to carry out the procedure didn’t match the execution protocols. The drug mix-up ultimately led to a nearly seven-year moratorium on executions in Oklahoma.
“Mr. Glossip now has the chance to taste freedom while his defense team continues to pursue justice on his behalf against a system that the United States Supreme Court has found to be guilty of serious misconduct by state prosecutors,” Knight said.
Glossip’s case attracted international attention after actress Susan Sarandon — who won an Academy Award for her portrayal of death penalty opponent Sister Helen Prejean’s fight to save a man on Louisiana’s death row in the 1995 movie “Dead Man Walking” — took up his cause in real life. Glossip’s case also was featured in the 2017 documentary film titled “Killing Richard Glossip.”
“Both Richard and I are grateful for the court’s decision,” Glossip’s wife, Lea, said in a text to The Associated Press. “We have been praying for this day.”
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Governor Kevin Stitt signed an executive order on Sunday, declaring a disaster emergency for Creek, Okfuskee, and Tulsa counties following damage caused by floods in parts of eastern Oklahoma.
“The State and local emergency managers continue to assess damage after significant flooding in eastern Oklahoma,” said Governor Stitt. “Keep an eye out for neighbors that might need help. Thank you to the first responders who are working quickly to clear roads and keep Oklahomans safe.”
This executive order will activate the State Emergency Operations Plan, which directs state agencies to make resources available to protect those impacted. These efforts will be coordinated by the Oklahoma Department of Emergency
Anyone with a home or business impacted by damage should report damage at damage.ok.gov.
The governor said additional counties are still being assessed and may be added to the declaration.
A pedestrian was killed early Sunday morning after being struck on I-235 Northbound in Oklahoma City.
Oklahoma Highway Patrol troopers say 49-year-old Corey L. Williams of Oklahoma City was walking across the interstate when he was hit in the middle of the roadway around 1 a.m. at the junction of NW 23rd Street.
Two other vehicles were involved in the collision. Neither driver nor any passengers were injured.
One driver is a 19-year-old woman from Edmond. The other is a 23-year-old woman from Oklahoma City.
This remains an active investigation.
Editor’s note: We used AI tools to help with editing and formatting this story. A human journalist reviewed everything before publication.
The Sooners got half of the job done on Saturday.
Oklahoma defeated No. 15 Kansas 8-1 in Game 1 of the Super Regional series between the Sooners and the Jayhawks. OU can clinch its first College World Series appearance since 2022 with a win over KU on Sunday.
The Sooners controlled the game at the plate, on the mound and in the field.
Almost all of OU’s offense came in the middle of the contest.
Outfielder Dasan Harris scored the game’s first run on a fielder’s choice in the fourth inning. And one at-bat later, infielder Dayton Tockey blasted a three-run home run to left-center field to make it a 4-0 game.
The Sooners were able to separate themselves even further from the Jayhawks in the fifth.
Infielder Camden Johnson hit a two-run home run to give OU a 6-0 lead. And later that inning, Trey Gambill blasted a solo shot to center field.
OU got one more insurance run in the seventh, when Brendan Brock singled and drove Deiten Lachance across to score.
The Sooners combined for 11 hits as a team. Eight of the nine batters in OU’s starting lineup registered at least one base hit.
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On the mound, freshman Cord Rager controlled the Jayhawks throughout his six innings.
Rager gave up only one hit, and it came in the first inning. The left-handed pitcher struck out six Jayhawks and allowed only four baserunners during his outing.
LJ Mercurius pitched the rest of the game for the Sooners. He allowed Kansas to score its only run on a solo homer in the eighth. Mercurius allowed the one run on three hits in three innings.
Oklahoma’s Game 1 win follows its heroics at the Atlanta Regional last week. After losing to Georgia Tech in the 1-0 game, the Sooners won three games in a row — against The Citadel and twice against the Yellow Jackets — to advance to the Super Regionals.
OU improved to 37-22 overall with the win. The Sooners are 5-1 in the 2026 NCAA Tournament. Their recent success is a total flip from how they performed in the weeks preceding the tourney, as OU lost four series in a row to end the regular season and dropped its SEC Tournament opener to LSU.
Kansas dropped to 45-17 after losing Game 1. The Jayhawks won both the Big 12 regular-season and tournament titles and defeated Arkansas, Missouri State and Northeastern in their home regional last week. Dominic Voegele collected the loss for KU, as he surrendered seven runs — three earned — on seven hits and a walk.
The second game of the Super Regional series will begin at 5 p.m. on Sunday.
If the Sooners win Game 2, they will go to Omaha. If they lose, they’ll be forced to play a winner-take-all Game 3 on Monday, with first pitch time to be determined.
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