Wife Of Death Row Prisoner Richard Glossip Holds Forum In Tulsa

The wife of death row prisoner Richard Glossip is speaking out with the help of church and state leaders ahead of his latest December 8th execution date.

Glossip was convicted of a 1997 murder.

This was a public forum about Glossip's case in Tulsa tonight.

Richard Glossip's wife said you don't have to take her or her husband's defense attorney's word for it. Lea Glossip said the recent 343-page Independent Report from the Reed Smith Law Firm speaks for itself.

"The evidence of his innocence is now at the point where I believe it's irrefutable," said Lea Glossip.

For 25 years, Richard Glossip has cried out his innocence.

"He's survived three brutal execution dates. Now narrowly escaped a fourth. Is now facing a fifth," said Lea Glossip.

“Before this execution date, he had a trust in God that it was not his time to go. That God had more for him to do. And that he wasn’t gonna be put to death, even though every sign was, ‘[T]his is it. Today’s the day,'” said Rev. David Wiggs.

Court records show Glossip was convicted twice and sentenced to death for hiring a motel handyman, Justin Sneed, to kill Barry Van Treese in 1997.

Van Treese owned the Oklahoma City motel where Glossip worked.

Sneed testified against Glossip and was given life without parole.

"Richard is more than a case. He's a human being. He's a father, he's a son, he's a brother. He's my husband and as my husband, he's the love of my life. He's my best friend and my entire world," said Lea Glossip.

Lea Glossip said is a law student who has spent more than a decade fighting to put an end to the death penalty. She sends Christmas cards to prisoners each year and added Richard Glossip to that list. That turned into letters which turned into phone calls. Now they're going on two years of marriage; they talk every day and see each other weekly.

Last week, Governor Kevin Stitt pushed back Glossip’s execution date by 60 days.

"Many pro-death penalty Republicans are leading the charge," said Lea Glossip.

This comes after more than 60 state legislators called for a new hearing after Glossip’s attorney said an independent investigation led to new evidence.

"The Reed Smith Investigation, I don't think it's been said enough how unprecedented that is. That has never happened in another capital case. There has never been an independent team of over 30 attorneys who spend over 3,000 hours reviewing a case and they are not the defense council. They do not represent Richard. So, if the evidence pointed the other way, believe me when I say they would have said so," said Lea Glossip. "[...] It outlines everything from the destroyed evidence and what happened in his trials. It's egregious but it's there for anybody who wants to understand it and I encourage anyone to read it."

Boston Avenue United Methodist Church where Glossip and his wife are members held the public forum.

"Every Sunday when I come here, he walks me in the door over the phone," said Lea Glossip. "That's always what he says. At some point, he will be walking through those doors with me, and I believe that day will come."

Senior Pastor David Wiggs said Glossip watches his televised worship service from a cell at the Oklahoma State Penitentiary.

"He said, '[W]ould it be possible for me to be a member even though I'm on death row,' and I said, 'I think that is possible,'" said Rev. David Wiggs, Senior Pastor at Boston Avenue United Methodist Church. “I’m not sure that if I’d been unjustly in prison for 25 years that I would be a person of hope and still trust that God was at work in my life. I think I would easily become bitter, angry, and resentful. He has not become any of those things.”

Wiggs said the church denounces the death penalty, saying it’s not our role as humans.

"Believing that's the wrong solution, even if a person were guilty, that's the wrong solution. And theologically for us, we believe that God can redeem any human at any time and so we sort of move out of our, we believe. Our role as humans to actually put someone to death moves into the realm and at least in this life God can't redeem you if you've been put to death," said Rev. David Wiggs. "Plus, we think it's problematic just in terms of the inhumanity and cruelty of taking someone else's life. So, we're not against law enforcement. We're not against incarcerating someone who is guilty, but particularly in Richard's case, to have someone who has been locked up for 25 years who has maintained innocence from the beginning where it's clear there was evidence that was lost and evidence that was destroyed, that law enforcement didn't do everything the way they should have done. Everything, you basically have someone who has confessed to the murder, it's just very problematic the way this has unfolded. I felt like it was time for the church to go a little more public.”

Rev. David Wiggs said he hopes this surfaces what he believes is a bigger issue.

“I really hope that not only can we exonerate Richard but that we can bring enough public awareness to the fact that our government is getting ready to put a person to death every month for the next basically 24 months if everybody that’s on the list is executed. That will probably make us the most barbaric place in terms of state executions in the whole world at this point. That’s a terrible place for our state to be. I don’t want that as an Oklahoman. I hope that this work with Richard, not only can we help him but perhaps we can help some of the other death row inmates," said Rev. David Wiggs.

Van Treese's widow told us previously she wants Glossip to be held accountable for taking away her husband and leaving their five children without a father.