An Oklahoma death row prisoner who says he was framed by a colleague in his boss' murder has narrowly lost a last-minute bid for a new hearing.

In a 3-2 decision, the Oklahoma Court of Criminal Appeals ruled the state can proceed with Richard Glossip's execution on Wednesday.

They denied the 52-year-old's request for an evidentiary hearing and an emergency stay of execution. 

Glossip's lawyers won a two-week stay on 16 September just hours before he was due to be executed.

The attorneys said they had a statement from a prison inmate who said he heard Glossip's former colleague boast about implicating him.

They also argued there were issues with medical examiner testimony about when the victim died of his injuries.

But the court ruled the new evidence simply delves back into arguments that were raised at Glossip's original appeals.

The majority ruling said: "We find, therefore, an evidentiary hearing, discovery or further stay of execution is not warranted in this case."

However, one of the dissenting judges said Glossip did not receive a fair trial.

Judge Arlene Johnson called the case "deeply flawed", reports the Tula World.

Glossip was twice convicted of the 1997 murder of Barry Van Treese, who owned the Oklahoma City motel where Glossip worked.

Justin Sneed, a handyman at the motel who admitted killing Van Treese with a baseball bat, said Glossip had paid him to do it.

There was no physical evidence linking Glossip to the crime, just the testimony of the teenager who escaped the death penalty in return for testifying against Glossip.

However, prosecutors have pointed to inconsistencies in Glossip's initial police statements about his involvement in the crime.

Sneed is serving a jail sentence, while Glossip faces death.