TULSA, Okla. — It was less than three weeks ago that 2 News covered the most positive update in years for Richard Glossip.
Oklahoma Attorney General Gentner Drummond had motioned to vacate his conviction after independent investigations reported numerous errors.
But two of the four voting members of the Oklahoma Pardon and Parole Board put that motion out of reach Wednesday.
“It’s stunning to me, probably even more so than Richard that we keep running into these obstacles," Glossip's spiritual adviser Rev. David Wiggs told 2 News reporter Samson Tamijani. Wiggs serves as senior pastor at Boston Avenue United Methodist Church in downtown Tulsa.
"But I would tell you from talking to him that his faith does not waver.”
Wiggs said he got to know Glossip’s faith through letters they exchanged over several years.
He believes the board made the wrong decision to keep Glossip on death row.
"It’s stunning to me that we can’t find within our own justice system someone who will step in and try to make this right,” Wiggs said.
Broken Arrow State Rep. Kevin McDugle agrees, and made his opinion clear.
“It’s ridiculous and I’m appalled," Rep. McDugle told 2 News anchor Erin Christy via Zoom Wednesday.
"And I think that we have some extreme issues in the state of Oklahoma, and all Oklahomans need to pay attention to this."
The Oklahoma Coalition to Abolish the Death Penalty released the following statement:
“The Pardon and Parole Board was unmoved by the Attorney General’s joining in the request for clemency. It was unmoved by two independent investigations that concluded that Richard Glossip was entitled to a new trial. It was unmoved by character testimony that Glossip had no criminal record before he was arrested in the Barry Van Treese case and that Glossip has displayed exemplary conduct in prison the last 26 years. After today’s rejection of clemency, it is hard to imagine a case that would move this Board. It is lacking in mercy and forgiveness.
We applaud the Attorney General for having the courage and integrity to admit that errors were made at Glossip’s trial and to join in the request for clemency. We are still hoping for a miracle from the U.S. Supreme Court. We are still hoping that Glossip’s life will be spared.”
Glossip faces his latest execution date May 18, less than a month away.
Glossip’s pastor said he expects the inmate to remain positive, and hopes someone else in power will step in.
“Either because of what the legal team has filed or what the attorney general is asking for, that we could have a positive step well before the 18th,” Wiggs said.
Glossip’s defense team announced Wednesday afternoon they’re filing an unopposed application for stay of execution with the U.S. Supreme Court.
That is in addition to a separate petition to stay the execution already filed to the nation's highest court.
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