Justin Sneed, the state’s sole witness against Richard Glossip, returned to an Oklahoma courtroom as prosecutors push for a third murder trial despite a Supreme Court ruling citing false testimony.
The elevator doors at the Oklahoma County District Court opened on September 30 to reveal the man whose words have kept Richard Glossip on death row for nearly three decades. Justin Sneed. 49. walked into Judge Natalie Mai’s seventh-floor courtroom in orange jail attire. his waist chain and handcuffs clanging against the silence of the room. He kept his gaze fixed on the floor. avoiding the eyes of Glossip. the 63-year-old man currently facing a third murder trial for a crime Sneed admits he committed alone.
Sneed was 19 when he beat motel owner Barry Van Treese to death in 1997. He avoided a death sentence by pinning the murder on Glossip. providing the only evidence that connected him to the killing. After the U.S. Supreme Court vacated Glossip’s conviction in February 2025—citing false testimony and prosecutorial misconduct—the state stunned many by announcing it would retry the case. Now. the courtroom drama centers on whether Sneed can even be trusted to tell the same story he told juries in 1998 and 2004.
The tension in the room reflected a decade of unraveling narratives. In 2015, Glossip came within hours of execution before officials realized they had obtained the wrong drugs for his lethal injection. That near-miss triggered a decade of defense investigations. revealing a trove of withheld evidence. including notes showing former prosecutor Connie Smothermon coached Sneed to change his story regarding a knife found at the scene. While Sneed originally denied using a blade. Smothermon pressured him to pivot. writing in a note to his lawyer: “Our biggest problem is still the knife.”.
Prosecutors from the Attorney General’s office. who recently took the position that Sneed’s testimony cannot be disentangled from this coaching. now argue it is “impossible” for the witness to reliably recount his actions after so many years. This admission arrives as the state struggles to justify moving forward with a case built on a foundation the Supreme Court itself labeled as rooted in misconduct. The state’s move to block Sneed from explaining these inconsistencies suggests a waning confidence in the very witness they intend to put before a third jury.
During the September 30 hearing. Judge Mai allowed only a limited inquiry into whether Sneed had consented to the release of his public defender files—documents that contain two handwritten letters where Sneed questioned whether he could “re-cant” his testimony. On the stand. Sneed was hesitant. claiming he never consented to the release and noting he felt “actively upset” when he saw his files mentioned in media reports. The testimony was brief and offered no clarity on the core issue: the truth of the murder itself.
Defense attorney Don Knight noted the irony of the state shielding its own key witness from scrutiny. “For 29 years, this case has been marked by prosecutorial errors and misconduct,” Knight said. “And now they can’t even trust the testimony of the only witness that says Rich was involved in this murder.”.
As the hearing concluded, the trial date—already pushed back from September to December 7—remains in doubt. When reporters pressed Sneed in the hallway as he was escorted back to custody. asking if he had any regrets after all these years. he did not answer. He simply disappeared behind the closing elevator doors. leaving the state’s case as hollow as the stare he wore throughout the morning.
Richard Glossip Justin Sneed Oklahoma Supreme Court murder trial Barry Van Treese Natalie Mai death row