By Parker Perry
McAlester News-Capital
MCALESTER, Okla. — The scheduled Sept. 16 execution of Richard Glossip at the Oklahoma State Penitentiary in McAlester was the topic of a national television talk show this week.
Actress Susan Sarandon — an outspoken death penalty opponent — appeared on the “Dr. Phil” show Monday afternoon to discuss Glossip’s case. The host of the show, Dr. Phil McGraw, dedicated an entire episode to the scheduled Glossip execution and a discussion about the use of the death penalty in the United States.
Glossip is scheduled to die for orchestrating the murder of Barry Van Treese in Oklahoma City in 1998. Sarandon advocated for Oklahoma Gov. Mary Fallin to intervene and stop the execution. Sarandon claims Glossip is innocent.
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“I think (this case is) near and dear to everybody’s heart that believes in this land and this system and wants to see justice fixed and our way of dealing with these situations better,” Sarandon said.
“The justice system is broken,” Sarandon said. “He’s been sitting there for 17 years.”
The governor, however, has said she feels justice will be served once Glossip is put to death.
“Richard Glossip has been convicted of murder and sentenced to death by two juries,” Fallin said in a statement. “His conviction and death sentence have been reviewed and upheld by four courts, including the Supreme Court of the United States. His actions directly led to the brutal murder of a husband and a father of seven children. The state of Oklahoma is prepared to hold him accountable for his crimes and move forward with his scheduled execution.”
Glossip was convicted in Oklahoma City in 1998 of first-degree murder for orchestrating the killing of his then boss, Van Treese. Prosecutors said he paid a man named Justin Sneed to kill his Budget Inn motel boss before Treese could confront Glossip about $6,000 missing from the business. Justin Sneed is serving a life sentence in the killing.
The show featured four guests working to free Glossip: Sarandon, Sister Helen Prejean, Glossip’s defense attorney, Don Knight, and former death row inmate Nate Fields.
Knight said Glossip has a team of investigators working to prove his innocence. Knight said the team is looking for Sneed’s daughter, O’Ryan Justine Sneed, who once wrote a letter asserting her father told her he lied about Glossip’s role in Van Treese’s death. Knight said he believed O’Ryan Sneed is hiding.
McGraw, who was born in Oklahoma, looked into the camera and pleaded with her to contact Knight.
“If you’re watching this, you know, please come froward,” McGraw asked. “Please contact Mr. Knight. You don’t even have to tell him where you are. Just get on the phone and talk to him.”
Prejean contended on the show there is no forensic evidence linking Glossip to the crimes.
The News-Capital previously spoke with one of the prosecutors on the case, Gary Ackley, in January. He said Glossip is clearly guilty and deserves to have his sentence carried out.
“I put my reputation and my name behind the case,” Ackley said. “I do believe Glossip got a fair trial, that he was guilty, and deserves to have his sentence carried out.”
Ackley said there was lots of evidence, along with Sneed’s testimony, that makes clear Glossip was a main perpetrator in Treese’s death.
“He lied to the widow,” Ackley said. “He lied to her the entire day about where Barry was. He replaced the window that was broken during the murder.”
McGraw also said Glossip had trouble explaining why he did not call the police when he realized Van Treese was missing.
Oklahoma’s capital punishment procedures came under scrutiny following the April 2014 execution of Clayton Lockett at OSP. Lockett did not immediately die after being injected with drugs, prompting the Oklahoma Department of Corrections to revise its protocol for capital punishment. The botched execution halted further ones until January when Charles Warner was executed.
The United States Supreme Court agreed to hear the case of Glossip and other death row inmates who contend the lethal injection method used by the state is cruel and unusual punishment. The Supreme Court, however, ruled against Glossip and the inmates by deciding the use of the drug midazolam in the executions was legal.
Oklahoma has two more executions scheduled following Glossip’s on Sept. 16. Those are Benjamin Robert Cole Sr. on Oct. 7 and John Grant on Oct. 28.