The attorney general of Oklahoma, has filed a motion to stop the execution of death row inmate, Richard Glossip.

In an unusual move, Gentner Drummond said that while he does not believe Glossip is innocent, he said the trial he received was “unfair and unreliable”.

If the Supreme Court grants a stay of execution – which puts a pause on all legal proceedings – Glossip, 60, will have narrowly avoided death four times in total.

He is scheduled to be executed on 18 May for ordering the 1997 killing of Barry Van Treese, the owner of a motel in Oklahoma City where Glossip worked.

The motel’s handyman, Justin Sneed, admitted robbing Van Treese and beating him to death with a baseball bat, but claimed he did so only after Glossip promised to pay him $10,000 (£8,000) to do it.

Glossip has always maintained his innocence.

Read more:
US death row inmate due to be executed in May
Tears And Hugs After Richard Glossip Reprieve
US death row inmate marries anti-death penalty advocate

Mr Dummond has long supported Glossip’s efforts to get his conviction overturned and a new trial ordered.

Last month he claimed that Sneed, who was sentenced to life in prison, lied to the jury about Glossip’s mental health and drug use.

The motion to the Supreme Court, comes a week after the state’s parole board rejected his request for mercy.

Glossip has had executions called off in the past. In 2015, his execution was halted when prison officials realised they had received the wrong lethal drug.

After the mix-up, executions were halted in Oklahoma for almost seven years.

Listen Glossip speaking to Sky News in 2019

Again in 2019, three-and-a-half hours before he was due to die, there was a stay of execution.

In 2022, after escaping execution for a third time, Glossip married anti-death penalty advocate and paralegal, Lea Rodger.

Typically, stays of execution last for around 30 days.