OKLAHOMA CITY, Okla. — A capital case that has shadowed Oklahoma City for nearly three decades ended its path toward a new murder trial on Thursday, when Richard Glossip admitted a reduced charge and the murder count was dropped.
Attorney General Gentner Drummond, whose office is prosecuting the case, said Glossip entered a guilty plea in Oklahoma City to accessory to first-degree murder in the 1997 death of Barry Van Treese. Drummond said stepping down from the murder count was a hard call for him and, even more, for Van Treese’s family, but that it locks in a conviction connected to the killing and offers the state’s best chance of more time behind bars.
Drummond’s office and the family are asking Judge Mai to impose the longest term the accessory charge allows, 45 years.
The killing dates to Jan. 7, 1997, when Van Treese’s body was found in Room 102 at the Best Budget Inn in Oklahoma City. He had been badly beaten and died from blood loss and blunt trauma to the head. The killing happened in the early hours of Jan. 7, 1997, and the Oklahoma City Police Department took up the investigation. Detectives with the Oklahoma City Police Department questioned Glossip, who managed the motel, and Justin Sneed. Sneed did maintenance work at the motel and was given a room to live in. Sneed later said he struck Van Treese 10 or 15 times with a baseball bat and that Glossip had asked him to do it. In return for that testimony, Sneed received a sentence of life without parole.
Prosecutors have described the attack as a paid killing. The state has long relied on Sneed’s account; no physical evidence has tied Glossip to the room.
Glossip spent close to 30 years in custody and came within minutes of execution more than once. The murder conviction and capital sentence were vacated in 2025 by the U.S. Supreme Court. A judge then released him on bond in May while a new trial was being planned.
The hearing Thursday in Oklahoma County District Court became a plea instead of a pretrial argument. His lawyer said the deal wipes out the murder charge and that a return to prison for as long as 15 more years is possible, as is a decision that lets him remain free. The lawyer said the accessory plea accepts the state’s claim that Glossip helped put plexiglass over a broken motel window while Van Treese’s body was still inside, though the lawyer said Glossip did not realize the body was in the room and never saw it. Prosecutors have also said Glossip did not promptly tell officers that Sneed had claimed responsibility. The lawyer said Glossip did not believe that account at the time and took no part in planning or carrying out the killing.
Because of the plea, there will be no retrial. The court has set sentencing for Dec. 17 and 18, when Judge Mai will decide how much, if any, additional prison time to impose.
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