Indefinite Stay Of Execution For Glossip

Oklahoma has ordered an indefinite stay of execution for Richard Glossip and two other death row inmates.

The latest twist comes after Glossip's execution was halted at the last minute on Wednesday because of a mix-up with the lethal injection drugs.

Filing the request for an indefinite stay, the Oklahoma attorney general Scott Pruitt said there was a need to find out what had gone wrong when the state received potassium acetate instead of the court-approved potassium chloride.

Glossip has been twice convicted for the 1997 murder of his boss, but he claims he was framed and is innocent.

The man who actually carried out the killing claimed Glossip had paid him to do it.

In return for his testimony, he escaped a death sentence and is serving life in prison.

Glossip has now had an eleventh hour reprieve twice, being served his last meal on both occasions.

There were jubilant scenes after Oklahoma's governor, Mary Fallin, stopped the execution on Wednesday amid concerns over one of the drugs involved.

The dramatic intervention came after the US Supreme Court had rejected a final appeal.

Glossip's daughter, Erika, said: "Everybody was hugging and screaming and crying.

"We always tell him on the last phone call that we'll talk to him tomorrow - and it keeps being that way.

"I can't wait to talk to him to fight another day."

Death penalty opponent Sister Helen Prejean, who along with Hollywood actress Susan Sarandon has taken up Glossip's cause, tweeted: "The fight for #RichardGlossip is far from over. We will never give up."

Glossip's execution was to have been delayed for 37 days and rescheduled for 6 November, however the stay is now indefinite.

Justin Sneed, a handyman at the Best Budget Inn, admitted using a baseball bat to kill the motel's owner, Barry Van Treese.

But Sneed continues to blame Glossip, telling the Oklahoma news organisation The Frontier: "He kept begging and pleading until the point he pushed me over an edge."

Glossip's attorneys say Sneed is lying and point out that in the interview he made a new claim which he had never raised before, to explain why there was no physical evidence linking Glossip to the crime.

"I look back now and I notice that he put some gloves on and he made sure his fingerprints wasn't there," Sneed was quoted as saying.

But Glossip told Sky News: "He testified at my second trial. He was asked that by the DA (District Attorney): 'Was Richard wearing gloves?' He said no.

"He said 'Does Richard own a pair of gloves?' He said no. And now he's on TV saying that I did."