Barry Van Treese Murder: Where Are Justin Sneed and Richard Glossip Now? – Barry Van Treese was killed by Justin Sneed on January 7, 1997, using a baseball bat. The murder occurred at the Best Budget Inn in Oklahoma City, where Richard Glossip was the manager, Justin Sneed was the maintenance worker, and Van Treese was the hotel’s owner. Sneed confessed and admitted to the police that Richard Glossip had given him the order to kill the victim in exchange for being spared the death penalty.
The documentary “Killing Richard Glossip: This Is Pointing to Me” describes the horrifying murder and demonstrates how one of the suspects continues to maintain his innocence. Let’s examine the circumstances of the crime in more detail to learn more.
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Who Was Barry Van Treese and How Did He Die?
Barry Van Treese, who lived in Oklahoma City, was well-liked by his neighbours. People who knew him described him as a kind, humble, and welcoming person who always welcomed everyone with a smile. He was also a devoted father to five children. In addition, Barry was the proprietor of the Best Budget Inn in the area, and the money he made from the business was sufficient to support his family. Barry had no idea, though, that his workplace would ultimately become the location of his passing.
On January 7, 1997, police discovered Barry’s body inside his business, where they discovered him to be unconscious and had fallen. After a quick medical check, he was pronounced dead, and the police suspected a heavy object may have struck him in the head. According to an autopsy, Barry had suffered blunt force injuries, and the police confirmed via their investigation that the murderer used a baseball bat as a murder weapon.
Who Killed Barry Van Treese and Why?
Due to a lack of witnesses and appropriate leads, the early investigation into Barry Van Treese’s murder proved to be rather difficult. Despite conducting a comprehensive investigation of the crime scene and numerous interviews with the victim’s friends and acquaintances, law enforcement officials could not uncover any clues or leads.
Detectives also searched the neighbourhood for potential witnesses, but no one came forward. Surprisingly, even the hotel’s visitors stated they were unaware of the homicide and had not noticed any strange activity at the time of the death.
But after being questioned by officials, the inn’s manager, Richard Glossip, appeared to suggest that the 19-year-old janitor, Justin Sneed, might have been the murderer. It’s interesting that the show claimed Justin stole money from some of the customers and had a meth habit. The police hauled the 19-year-old in for questioning because they reasoned that he would have a good reason for wanting to kill Barry.
Justin decided to remain silent early in the interrogation and did not appear to reveal much. Nevertheless, Justin admitted to killing Barry with a baseball bat and said that Richard Glossip had asked him to carry out the murder when officials indicated that other people held him accountable for the crime. Surprisingly, the authorities could only rely on Justin’s testimony as there was no proof connecting Richard to the crime. However, they decided to believe their gun and detained Justin and Richard for Barry’s murder.
Where Are Richard Glossip and Justin Sneed Now?
When Justin Sneed was introduced in court, he consented to testify against Richard Glossip and, to avoid the death penalty, pled guilty to first-degree murder. He was consequently given a life term in jail in 1998 and is now being held in solitary confinement at the Joseph Harp Correctional Center in Lexington, Oklahoma.
Richard, however, persisted in claiming his innocence, and the Oklahoma Court of Criminal Appeals overturned his conviction in 2001, although he had been convicted of the murder and given a death sentence in 1998. Richard’s joy, however, was short-lived because he was again found guilty of first-degree murder and given the death penalty in an August 2004 retrial.
Richard has since made every effort to overturn his conviction, but his appeals have been unsuccessful. As a result, his execution in October 2014 was postponed because the State of Oklahoma lacked the necessary medications for the lethal injection. Since the state of Oklahoma encountered criticism over the use of potassium acetate over potassium chloride for execution, Richard’s execution has been postponed twice in 2015.
Richard subsequently became the main plaintiff in a lawsuit filed against Oklahoma over the use of midazolam in lethal injections in June 2015. Richard was chosen as one of the inmates set to be killed on September 22, 2022, after Oklahoma broke its moratorium on the death penalty. However, a new evidentiary hearing caused the execution to be postponed once more. As a result, Richard is still currently serving a death sentence at the Oklahoma State Penitentiary in McAlester, Oklahoma, and his execution date is set for December 8, 2022.
