A US man who spent almost three decades on death row has said that his newfound freedom feels ‘overwhelming’ but ‘amazing at the same time.’
Richard Glossip, 63, was previously housed at the Oklahoma State Penitentiary after he was convicted of orchestrating the 1997 murder-for-hire of his boss, Barry Van Treese, the owner of an Oklahoma City motel where he worked as a manager.
During Glossip’s time on death row, he was served three last meals before the execution was halted at the last minute.
However, last month, he was released following the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision to overturn his conviction and grant a new trial.
Kim Kardashian’s publicist confirmed that she had helped secure the release of the former death row inmate, who has maintained his innocence since his conviction.
Kim, who is a major advocate for criminal justice and prison reform, helped to pay the $50,000 deposit needed for Glossip’s bail. His bond had been set at a cool $500,000.
Now, the former inmate has opened up about what life has been like on the outside, having not been a free man since the last century.
In an exclusive interview at Glossip’s home in Oklahoma City, where he lives with his attorney wife, Lea, the 63-year-old revealed that his body is still unaccustomed to anything other than concrete.
Speaking with The Intercept, a US progressive nonprofit news organisation, Glossip said that he nearly fell over in Oklahoma County Courthouse’s carpeted courtroom last year.
‘You’re not balanced for that,’ he said, stating that one of his lawyers had to catch him.
‘You’re balanced for walking on very hard floors. It’s just really weird to, like, walk on carpet and stuff again.’
Glossip then stated that in prison he’d developed painful swelling in his legs. However, being out, he said that his ‘leg hasn’t been swollen since.’
Physicalities aside, one of the first things Glossip and his wife did after his release was dine at an Italian restaurant in Lea’s neighbourhood.
The couple began corresponding after Lea watched the 2017 documentary series ‘Killing Richard Glossip.’ They eventually married in March 2022, while Glossip was still in prison.
Glossip stated that Lea had regularly eaten at the restaurant while the pair spoke on the phone. He said these exchanges made the place feel somewhat familiar to him and part of their story.
After indulging in a simple dish of spaghetti and meatballs, Glossip said the experience was ‘kind of weird’ after listening to Lea ‘describe these restaurants.’
‘Now I’m sitting at them,’ he said.
Glossip also told the outlet that he had difficulty sleeping during his first night out of prison.
For one, he said his bedroom at home was too quiet compared to prison.
He also spotlighted other simple things that many people living in a regular society take for granted.
One example was running water in the bathroom. While in prison, the water would turn off automatically after only running for a few seconds; at home, he kept forgetting to turn the tap off.
‘I keep waiting for the water to go off. I’ve even walked out of that bathroom and the water was still going, and I keep forgetting I have to turn it off.’
Emotionally, Glossip explained how these simple things he’s had to adjust to have affected him more than he thought they would. But, he also stressed that they remind him of how much he has survived over the years.
He said: ‘I always think that “Nah, none of that stuff’s gonna bother me.” But when it really actually happens, it does bother you more than you think.
‘You start remembering things. Or something will trigger something that will bring you back to when this all happened, when it all began.’
Glossip added that, once you’re ‘out,’ you ‘see all the things that were taken away from you — and all the times they almost took everything away from me, my life and everything — you see all of it now.
‘And it kind of still makes me angry at times because none of this should have ever happened. And this should have never been taken from me in the first place.’
After Glossip’s original conviction, prosecutors alleged that he offered co-worker Justin Sneed $10,000 to carry out the murder of their boss on his behalf.
Sneed admitted to killing Van Treese with a baseball bat. He later testified against Glossip as part of a plea deal that spared Sneed 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.