Judge Sets $500,000 Bond for Richard Glossip

Oklahoma County District Judge Natalie Mai set richard glossip's bond at $500,000 on Thursday, putting him a step closer to release after more than 30 years tied to his murder case. Mai ordered him to live with his wife, wear an electronic monitoring device, follow a curfew from 10 pm to 7 am, and stay inside Oklahoma.

Don Knight, Glossip's longtime attorney, said after the order: "We are extremely grateful that Judge Natalie Mai has granted Richard Glossip a bond," and "In doing so, she rejected the State’s claim that there is a strong case for guilt." He also said, "For the first time in 29 years of being incarcerated for a crime he did not commit, during which he faced 9 execution dates and ate 3 last meals, Mr. Glossip now has the chance to taste freedom while his defense team continues to pursue justice on his behalf."

Natalie Mai Order

Mai's ruling keeps Glossip under court supervision instead of leaving him free without conditions. The bond order follows the U.S. Supreme Court's February 2025 decision vacating his conviction again and the June 2025 announcement by Oklahoma Attorney General Gentner Drummond that he would retry Glossip for first degree murder.

Glossip has remained in jail since Drummond announced the retrial. The new bond order changes that custody status if the required conditions are met, including the monitoring device, the curfew, and the Oklahoma travel limit.

Glossip Case Timeline

Glossip was twice convicted and sentenced to death for the January 1997 murder of motel owner Barry Van Treese. Justin Sneed admitted to fatally beating Van Treese with a baseball bat, and prosecutors told jurors at Glossip's 1998 trial that he encouraged, aided and abetted Sneed in the killing.

The Oklahoma Court of Criminal Appeals overturned Glossip's conviction in 2001 for ineffective assistance after his lawyers failed to present an interrogation video to jurors. A second jury convicted him and resentenced him to death in 2004.

The Supreme Court vacated Glossip's conviction again in February 2025, writing that "additional conduct by the prosecutor further undermines confidence in the verdict," after finding that Sneed lied on the stand during the retrial and that prosecutors failed to correct his testimony. Mai's bond ruling leaves Glossip in line for the retrial Drummond has announced, but no final outcome has been reached in the case.