Kim Kardashian pays $50,000 to free death row inmate who was served his ‘last’ meal three times

Reality TV superstar Kim Kardashian is used to grabbing headlines, but not usually like this.

This week, Kim’s publicist confirmed that she had helped secure the release of a former death row inmate who’s spent almost three decades in prison while fighting a murder conviction that he insists was dished out unfairly.

Richard Glossip, 63, walked out of Oklahoma County Detention Center last week after Kardashian helped to pay the $50,000 deposit needed for his bail. His bond had been set at a cool $500,000.

For the first time since the late 1990s, Glossip is no longer behind bars while awaiting yet another trial in a legal saga that’s dragged on for years and years. Being bailed by an A-list star marks a stark contrast to his previous experiences, having come within hours of execution on three separate occasions.

However, he is still yet to be fully cleared of the legal process, with prosecutors planning to put him back on trial yet again.

Glossip was originally convicted over the 1997 killing of motel owner Barry Van Treese in Oklahoma. Prosecutors alleged that he offered co-worker Justin Sneed $10,000 to carry out the murder of their boss on his behalf.

Sneed admitted killing Van Treese with a baseball bat. He later testified against Glossip as part of a plea deal that spared him the death penalty, AP reports.

Glossip has always denied arranging the murder. He admitted Sneed later told him about the killing but said he only found out after it had happened.

The case has become one of the most controversial death penalty battles ever in the United States, partly because Glossip’s conviction relied so heavily on Sneed’s testimony.

Even the Oklahoma Court of Criminal Appeals previously described evidence surrounding that testimony as ‘extremely weak’ when it overturned Glossip’s original conviction in 2001.

A retrial followed in 2004. Glossip was convicted once again and sentenced to death for a second time.

Over the years, execution dates repeatedly came and went. Three times, Glossip was reportedly served a final meal before planned executions were halted at the last moment.

One of those delays came after officials discovered some problems with Oklahoma’s lethal injection drugs. Another followed yet more scrutiny around the state’s execution procedures after a series of deeply controversial lethal injections were carried out poorly.

Speaking previously about living under constant execution threats, Glossip told CNN in 2023: ‘It’s still scary, it will always be scary until they finally open this door and let me go.’

The wider legal fight around his conviction gradually picked up support from some fairly unexpected places, including – quite surprisingly – conservative Oklahoman politicians who support capital punishment in principle but who questioned whether Glossip received a fair trial.

A documentary called Killing Richard Glossip also renewed attention on the case.

Independent investigations later examined thousands of pages of evidence and interviewed dozens of witnesses. One report commissioned by lawmakers concluded there was no credible forensic evidence directly linking Glossip to the murder.

Republican attorney general Gentner Drummond later publicly stated that he believed that Glossip had been denied a fair trial, although he stopped short of declaring him innocent.

Last year, the US Supreme Court overturned Glossip’s conviction again in a narrow 5-4 ruling. The court found prosecutors had failed to correct false testimony given by Sneed about his mental health during the trial.

Justice Sonia Sotomayor wrote: ‘Had the prosecution corrected Sneed on the stand, his credibility plainly would have suffered.’

Despite the ruling, prosecutors still plan to put Glossip on trial for a third time. A date for proceedings hasn’t quite yet been confirmed, though. This time, however, prosecutors say they won’t be seeking the death penalty.

Judge Natalie Mai granted Glossip bail after pointing to statements from Oklahoma’s attorney general acknowledging reasonable doubt in the case.

Glossip left jail wearing an ankle monitor and under a mandatory curfew. Outside the detention centre, he reunited with his wife Lea after years apart.

‘I’m just thankful for my wife and my attorneys,’ he said. ‘I’m just happy.’

Film producer Scott Budnick, who has supported Glossip’s campaign for years, publicly thanked Kardashian for stepping in financially.

Writing online, he said: ‘Well, he has to be released on bail, that was GRACIOUSLY paid for immediately by @kimkardashian who’s been fighting for Rich’s freedom for years.’

Kardashian has worked on criminal justice reform campaigns for years while studying law in California. Her publicist said she had been involved in Glossip’s case since as far back as 2013.

The reality star previously failed California’s ‘baby bar’ exam before later passing it, though she has continued working towards becoming a lawyer alongside her business empire, TV career and generally remaining unavoidable on the internet.

Meanwhile, Sneed is serving life without parole. He has never publicly withdrawn his testimony against Glossip.

Glossip’s legal team has, however, presented witnesses who claimed Sneed privately suggested that Glossip was actually innocent. Lawyers also produced a handwritten prison note in which Sneed asked whether he could ‘re-cant’ testimony during his lifetime.

Attorneys for Van Treese’s family have continued to argue that they believe that Glossip is guilty and have urged courts to bring the case to a conclusion after years of delays.

For now, though, Glossip is out of prison for the first time in nearly 30 years while lawyers prepare for another courtroom battle over one of America’s longest-running death penalty cases.

Whether or not Kim Kardashian will feature in any further updates remains to be seen…