Richard Glossip: Execution delayed in Oklahoma after concerns arise

The governor of Oklahoma has issued a stay of execution for Richard Glossip who was scheduled to be killed today at 3 p.m.

Fallin issued the following statement:

“Last minute questions were raised today about Oklahoma’s execution protocol and the chemicals used for lethal injection,” said Fallin. “After consulting with the attorney general and the Department of Corrections, I have issued a 37 day stay of execution while the state addresses those questions and ensures it is complying fully with the protocols approved by federal courts.”

“My sincerest sympathies go out to the Van Treese family, who has waited so long to see justice done,” said Fallin.

The new planned execution date is Nov. 6.

Fallin said the stay was ordered because the Department of Corrections received potassium acetate as the third-drug involved in the execution protocol. The stay will give officials time to decide if potassium acetate is compliant with execution protocol, Fallin said.

Earlier in the day, the U.S. Supreme Court had denied Richard Glossip’s request for a stay of execution.

Glossip was convicted in the murder of Barry Van Treese, whose killer, Justin Sneed, testified that Glossip hired him to beat the motel owner to death with a baseball bat in 1997.

He was sentenced to death in 2004 and was scheduled to receive a three-drug execution cocktail on Wednesday at the Oklahoma State Penitentiary in McAlester.

People gathered outside the Oklahoma Governor’s Mansion in protest of the execution.

Glossip was also granted a stay of execution Sept. 16.

The American Civil Liberties Union of Oklahoma released the following statement:

“Today, the state has, once again, demonstrated its incompetence,” Kiesel said. “That said, as much as this is evidence of the state’s incompetence, we are grateful Oklahoma has stepped away from the error, avoiding another potentially botched execution.”

Agencies/Canadajournal