Richard Eugene Glossip was born on February 9, 1963. He is an American and has spent many years in the Oklahoma State Penitentiary. 

On January 7, 1997, Justin Sneed killed Barry Van Treese at the Best Budget Inn in Oklahoma City. Sneed was the maintenance man, and Van Treese was the owner of the inn. He beat Van Treese to death with a baseball bat. To avoid the death penalty, Sneed confessed to the police and claimed that Richard Glossip had ordered him to commit the murder.

Glossip maintained that he was innocent and refused to make a plea deal. In July 1998, an Oklahoma jury found him guilty of murder and sentenced him to death. However, in 2001, the Oklahoma Court of Criminal Appeals overturned this conviction. The court described the evidence against Glossip as "extremely weak" and found issues with his legal representation.

In August 2004, Glossip faced a second trial where he was again found guilty and sentenced to death. During this trial, Glossip raised concerns that prosecutors had pressured his defense attorney to resign. In April 2007, the Oklahoma Court of Criminal Appeals confirmed the death sentence despite dissent from some judges regarding the fairness of the trial.

Many people questioned Glossip's guilt, especially since his conviction relied heavily on Sneed's testimony. Sneed, who had a history of drug addiction, was given a life sentence without parole in exchange for his cooperation. Glossip's legal team argued that there was insufficient evidence linking him to the crime. In 2015, new information came to light regarding evidence that had been destroyed, which had not been given to Glossip's lawyers during his trials.

In September 2015, Glossip's attorneys unveiled statements from witnesses who claimed Sneed had laughed about lying during the trial and that he acted alone in the murder. The Oklahoma Attorney General's Office dismissed these claims as unreliable. The court proceedings regarding Glossip's execution continued, with various stays issued due to issues with the lethal injection protocol and ongoing legal disputes.

Glossip’s case drew significant public attention, leading to appeals for clemency and a push for a review of the evidence. He was scheduled for execution multiple times, but these were delayed for various reasons, including expert reviews of his conviction. The controversy surrounding his case persisted as state officials and advocates continued to debate the merits of his conviction and the validity of Sneed's testimony.