TRUE CRIME NETWORK INVESTIGATION DISCOVERY GREENLIGHTS FOLLOW-UP EPISODE OF ACADEMY AWARD®-NOMINATED AND EMMY®-WINNING FILMMAKER JOE BERLINGER’S DOCU-SERIES “KILLING RICHARD GLOSSIP”
-- As Execution Date for Richard Glossip Looms, ID Greenlights All-New Episode of Documentary Series to Reveal New Leads in the Investigation --
-- Produced by RadicalMedia in Association with Third Eye Motion Picture Company,
The First Four Episodes of KILLING RICHARD GLOSSIP Premiere Starting Tonight at 9/8c on the Crime and Justice Network --
(Silver Spring, Md.) – Is the state of Oklahoma about to execute an innocent man? That chilling question is at the heart of Investigation Discovery’s (ID) all-new real-time documentary series, KILLING RICHARD GLOSSIP, created and directed by acclaimed filmmaker Joe Berlinger. As new developments come to light in Richard Glossip’s case, ID announced today it has greenlit a fifth episode of the docu-series that is in production now and will air later in 2017. The first four episodes are set to premiere exclusively on ID in a two-night event beginning tonight, Monday, April 17 at 9/8c. The new installment will pick up where the series leaves off.
“With our cameras capturing both the work of Glossip’s legal team as well as our own investigation, we have documented several important new discoveries and leads that are critical to Richard Glossip’s legal case,” said Berlinger. “As the clock ticks down to what could be the final days of Glossip’s life, we are gratified that ID will air a fifth episode later this spring to give viewers – and the State of Oklahoma – the latest developments on this ever-evolving case, and to provide deeper exploration into some of the leads uncovered in the first four episodes, in order to help prevent a tragic miscarriage of justice.”
KILLING RICHARD GLOSSIP follows the story of two men convicted of murder – one on death row, and the other sentenced to life without parole – who give two very different accounts of what led to the slaying of Barry Van Treese on January 7, 1997 at the Best Budget Inn in Oklahoma City. Richard Glossip, a man with no prior felony convictions, has consistently maintained his innocence, insisting that he had no knowledge that anyone planned to kill Van Treese. Justin Sneed, who admitted to killing the victim and whose fingerprints were found in the room, cut a deal to receive a life sentence instead of risking the death penalty by telling the police that Glossip hired him to do it. As Glossip continues to narrowly avoid execution by the state of Oklahoma, Berlinger’s cameras are embedded with his legal team in real-time as they race against the clock to uncover new evidence that proves his innocence.
Berlinger has dedicated his career to exposing abuses in the criminal justice system, most notably with Academy Award®- nominated, Peabody-and Emmy®-winning Paradise Lost trilogy of documentaries famously helped lead to the release of one man from death row and two others from life in prison. Every second counts as Glossip sits on death row awaiting execution, and now Berlinger’s cameras are there with exclusive access to capture each moment as the clock ticks down. With support growing worldwide for Glossip, the docu-series also features interviews with high-profile supporters including Academy Award®-winning actress Susan Sarandon, billionaire entrepreneur and social activist Richard Branson, and anti-death penalty activist and author Sister Helen Prejean (Dead Man Walking) who, at the eleventh hour, heroically pursued attorneys Don Knight and Mark Olive, convincing them to devote their time to the Glossip case pro-bono.
KILLING RICHARD GLOSSIP, a world premiere two-night event, kicks off tonight, Monday, April 17 at 9/8c exclusively on ID. Full episode descriptions for the premiere include:
KILLING RICHARD GLOSSIP: This is Pointing to Me
Docu-Series World Premiere: Monday, April 17 at 9/8c
The series premieres with Richard Glossip's most recent stay of execution on September 30, 2015. The state of Oklahoma prepares to execute Richard Glossip by lethal injection, for a murder Glossip maintains he had nothing to do with. But, just as he was scheduled to die, officials at the Department of Corrections realize they had procured the wrong drugs. This is Glossip's third stay of execution – his third close brush with death. Over the course of the episode, filmmaker Joe Berlinger tells the story of Glossip's epic odyssey through the criminal justice system. The story begins in 1997, when Best Budget Inn motel owner Barry Van Treese is brutally murdered by his maintenance man Justin Sneed. Sneed claims Glossip put him up to the crime, and Glossip finds himself facing a change of murder for hire, and a potential death sentence. Today, Glossip sits on death row, having exhausted all legal recourses. Once he is given a new execution date, he will be put to death unless his current lawyer, Don Knight, can prove Glossip's innocence. Knight and his paralegal Meri Wright walk viewers through the chronology of the crime and examine questions they are struggling to answer before it's too late. Did Justin Sneed, the murderer, act alone? And why did the police so quickly jump to the conclusion that Glossip masterminded the murder? In addition to his legal support, Glossip has thousands of supporters around the world who are fighting to save his life, including Sister Helen Prejean, a nun known for her book Dead Man Walking. She, along with many others around the world, wholeheartedly believe in Glossip's innocence. But time is ticking. Is the state of Oklahoma about to execute an innocent man?
KILLING RICHARD GLOSSIP: An Obvious Homicide
World Premiere: Monday, April 17 at 10/9c
In episode two of KILLING RICHARD GLOSSIP, filmmaker Joe Berlinger delves into many of the contradicting viewpoints surrounding the case of Richard Glossip, who is accused of master minding a murder he maintains he had nothing to do with. Glossip currently sits on death row while the confessed murderer, Justin Sneed, serves a life without parole. Archival footage from Glossip's original police interview reveals that Oklahoma detectives Bob Bemo and Bill Cook zeroed in on Glossip from the get-go. In his present day interview, retired police Detective Bemo claims that any aggressive conduct towards Glossip was a reaction to Glossip's know-it-all attitude. But Glossip claims the detectives never gave him a chance to explain his side of the story. Glossip admits that he could have been more upfront about the aftermath of the murder with the police, while reporters claim that even though Glossip could have been more straightforward, there is still not enough evidence to put him behind bars let alone on death row. As Glossip's execution date nears, his devoted legal team keeps fighting to prove his innocence. For months, they've been searching for anyone who could shed light on his case, and finally, they find someone. Roger Lee Ramsey, a cellmate of the confessed murderer, Justin Sneed, reveals his opinions about what happened in room 102.
KILLING RICHARD GLOSSIP: The Machinery of Death
World Premiere: Tuesday, April 18 at 9/8c
Episode three of the all-new docu-series KILLING RICHARD GLOSSIP explores trial mishaps, potential governmental corruption, and Richard Glossip's current lawyer's final attempts to save his life. Wayne Fournerat first represented Glossip in 1998, and had previously never tried anyone in a capital case. Fournerat's flaws were many, but chief among them was his failure to introduce the police interview tape of Justin Sneed, a move which many say robbed the jury of the opportunity to put the detective’s methods under scrutiny. Fournerat's experience with the case still haunts him, and in the years after the case he was disbarred (on another matter) and once attempted suicide. Lawyer G. Lynn Burch argues for Glossip's appeal on the grounds of ineffective council by Fournerat, and for the first time in the history of Oklahoma, Glossip wins appeal with unanimous approval of five judges from the Oklahoman Court of Appeals. Prosecutors confront Burch with evidence that he had improperly met with the confessed murderer, Justin Sneed, during a pre-trial visit. Based on Sneed's account, Burch was forced to recuse himself, Glossip is assigned two attorneys, whom critics say, offered little in defense. They call no expert witnesses to refute the state’s claims and again, fail to introduce the Sneed interview. Now, Glossip’s current lawyer Don Knight and team reveal that the police destroyed a box of evidence, which Glossip claims would have disproved the state's charges of embezzlement against him. Knight and private investigator, Ashley Cusick, track down former defense investigator Marcia Dawson, who recounts how her efforts to obtain information about the case were thwarted by the house detective at the Best Budget Inn, a man named Cliff Everhart. The episode concludes as Glossip describes what it is like to watch the execution of other inmates on death row as his execution draws nearer.
KILLING RICHARD GLOSSIP: Death Watch
World Premiere: Tuesday, April 18 at 10/9c
Episode four of KILLING RICHARD GLOSSIP follows the investigation of Oklahoma's failure to effectively carry out its last three executions. In April 2014, The Oklahoma Department of Corrections decided to test a controversial new drug, Midazolam, for the execution of convicted murderer Clayton Lockett. David Autry, Lockett’s attorney witnessed the execution and said as a result of the low dosage of Midazolam, his client suffered an agonizing 43-minute death. Glossip's first execution, in January 2015, was stayed while lawyers argued before the Supreme Court against the use of Midazolam. After they lost, Glossip was given September 16, 2015 as his next execution date. Glossip’s lawyer Don Knight procures an affidavit from the cellmate of Justin Sneed, the confessed murderer, which provided potentially exonerating evidence for Glossip. But while the Court of Criminal Appeals reviewed Knight's findings, The Oklahoma County District Attorney, David Prater, places Knight's witness under arrest, resulting in another rejection of the case. Glossip was again scheduled to die on September 30, 2015. Glossip walks us through the events of that day, when he came within hours of death. Outside the prison gates, as the debate was unfolding, Knight, Sr. Helen, family members and journalists recall thinking that Glossip was dead. But prison and state officials were prepared to give him the wrong drug, and before another botched execution attempt, Glossip is granted reprieve, and continues to fight for his innocence.
KILLING RICHARD GLOSSIP premieres exclusively on ID as a special two-night event on Monday, April 17 and Tuesday, April 18 at 9/8c. The series is also available on Investigation Discovery’s TV Everywhere app ID GO, which is available via the following platforms:
KILLING RICHARD GLOSSIP is produced for Investigation Discovery by RadicalMedia. For RadicalMedia, Joe Berlinger, Dave O’Connor, Jon Kamen and Justin Wilkes are executive producers, Betsy Wagner is the co-executive producer and Kevin Huffman is the supervising story producer. For ID, Lorna Thomas is executive producer, Sara Kozak is senior vice president of production, Kevin Bennett is general manager, and Henry Schleiff is Group President of Investigation Discovery, American Heroes Channel and Destination America.
About Joe Berlinger and Third Eye Motion Picture Company
Academy Award®-nominated and Emmy® and Peabody-winning filmmaker Joe Berlinger has been a leading voice in nonfiction film and television for two decades, with a particular emphasis on the criminal justice system. Berlinger’s films include the landmark documentaries Brother’s Keeper (PBS), a Sundance audience award winner; the Paradise Lost Trilogy (HBO), which helped lead to the release of the wrongfully-convicted West Memphis Three after 18 years of incarceration; and most recently, Whitey: United States of America vs. James J. Bulger, a searing investigation into law enforcement corruption at the highest levels (CNN). Six of Berlinger’s documentary features have premiered at the Sundance Film Festival, earning three Grand Jury Prize nominations. Berlinger has been a creator on numerous nonfiction television series, including six seasons of the critically-acclaimed Sundance Channel series Iconoclasts; the Emmy®-winning Ten Days That Changed America for The History Channel; the Emmy®-nominated series Oprah's Master Class and The System with Joe Berlinger for Al Jazeera America. Tony Robbins: I Am Not Your Guru premiered on Netflix in July 2016. Berlinger’s most recent TV series was Judgment Day: Prison or Parole? for ID, in which he and his team were granted unprecedented access to parole board hearings. Third Eye Motion Picture Company is Joe Berlinger’s film and television development company which partners with RadicalMedia on Berlinger’s nonfiction productions.
About RadicalMedia
RadicalMedia is an Oscar, Emmy, Peabody and Grammy Award-winning studio who's recent credits include, MARS for National Geographic, Stan Against Evil for IFC, Hamilton’s America for PBS’ Great Performances, Netflix’s Abstract: The Art of Design, which had its world premiere at the Sundance Film Festival 2017, and May It Last: A Portrait of the Avett Brothers which just won the Audience Award: 24 Beats Per Second at SXSW 2017 and was acquired by HBO. RadicalMedia has produced many Joe Berlinger directed projects including: the Emmy®-winning documentary, Under African Skies for A&E IndieFilms, the Spirit Award-winning documentary, Metallica: Some Kind of Monster for IFC Films, Whitey: The US vs. James J. Bulger for CNN, Tony Robbins: I Am Not Your Guru for Netflix, and the Academy®- and Emmy® Award-nominated, Paradise Lost 3: Purgatory for HBO. RadicalMedia's vast body of work also includes the Oscar-wining documentary, The Fog of War, Oscar-nominated and Emmy-winning, What Happened, Miss Simone? for Netflix, Keith Richards: Under The Influence for Netflix, Doc & Darryl for ESPN and Epix’s America Divided
About Investigation Discovery
Investigation Discovery (ID) is the leading mystery-and-suspense network on television. From harrowing crimes and salacious scandals to the in-depth investigations and heart-breaking mysteries behind these “real people, real stories,” the always revealing network challenges our everyday understanding of culture, society and the human condition. One of our nation’s fastest growing cable networks, ID delivers the highest-quality programming to approximately 85 million U.S. households and is available in both high definition (HD) and standard definition (SD). For more information, please visit InvestigationDiscovery.com, facebook.com/
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