Doctor Behind Christa Pike’s Execution Also Tied to Controversial ‘Botched’ Death—What Went Wrong?
After three dizzying decades in the shadowy abyss of death row, Christa Pike is finally staring down the barrel of execution this week. Imagine carrying that heavy hangover of impending death for 30 years — a mind-boggling mental marathon. Pike’s recent plea for clemency got slapped down by the governor on September 28, leaving her with possibly just one last Hail Mary as her lawyers scramble to get the US Supreme Court to intervene. If the state goes through with it, Pike will be the first woman executed in Tennessee in 200 years — talk about breaking a grim record nobody wants to hold. Only 18 women have met this fate in the entire US since the ’70s, dwarfed by a staggering 1,663 men. Her chilling crime? The brutal murder of her classmate Colleen Slemmer back in ’95. The inhumanity etched in the details feels almost surreal — from the torture to Pike allegedly carrying a piece of Slemmer’s skull as a trophy. For years, this grim saga has woven its way into the fabric of Tennessee’s criminal lore. But the real kicker? Pike’s haunting admission about her nightmares and a palpable fear that history might repeat itself with another botched execution attempt — a reminder that even the machinery of justice can falter. Is this the somber finale to a decades-spanning saga, or will the legal system throw yet another curveball? Only time will tell. LEARN MORE
After 30 years on death row, Christa Pike is due to be executed this week.
A clemency request from the inmate was rejected by a governor on Monday (28 September).
She may have one last chance at halting the execution, with attorneys filing a petition with the US Supreme Court hoping for a last-minute change.
If she is put to death, it will make her the first female inmate to be killed via the death penalty in 200 years in the state.
Only 18 women have been executed in the entirety of the US since the 1970s, compared to a mammoth 1,663 men.
Pike, 50, is staring execution in the face for the murder of her Job Corps Centre classmate Colleen Slemmer in 1995.
Colleen Slemmer was killed by Christa Pike (Family Handout)
At the age of 18, she killed Slemmer alongside her then-boyfriend, Tadaryl Shipp, and their friend Shadolla Peterson lured Slemmer to a remote area of the University of Tennessee’s agricultural campus.
There, she was beaten, tortured, and killed, before Pike allegedly kept a portion of her skull as a keepsake.
After being arrested, Pike was then sentenced to death at 20 years old in 1996 for her crimes.
On Wednesday (30 September) she is due to be the first woman put to death in Tennessee since 1820, and how she feels about that has been detailed in the new YouTube documentary Dead Woman Walking: Pike Vs Tennessee.
She opened up on having ‘the most horrible nightmares’ as she faces the lethal injection.
Women on death row in each state (LADbible)
“I think what has been worse is that they told me a year ahead of time. And so every day, I have woken up and lived that thought all day, every day, every waking moment,” she explained in the documentary.
A big fear of hers is that the team won’t be able to establish an IV line to inject the lethal concoction into her body.]
It comes after Tennessee ended the attempt at Tony Carruthers’ execution in May after it took over an hour to find the intravenous lines, which failed. He was ultimately given a one-year reprieve from his death date.
Pike explained: “The only place they can draw my blood is in my hands with a very tiny needle, and I know from reading our protocol that they aren’t allowed to put the IV in my hands.
“So I don’t know what they’re going to do, and I’m so scared that what just happened to Tony Carruthers will happen to me.”
Christa Pike (Unknown)
It has now emerged that a doctor involved in the botched execution of Tony will oversee the planned execution of Christa Pike.
As per the Economic Times, Dr. Mark Fowler had actually supervised the May execution attempt which was stopped after medical staff were unable to establish IV access.
Pike’s crime against Slemmer has been well documented, with her remaining on death row for decades.
Tennessee Supreme Court docs allege that Pike ‘told her friend Kim Iloilo, who was also a student at the facility, that she intended to kill another student, Colleen Slemmer, because she ‘had just felt mean that day'”.
“Pike went to Iloilo’s room and told Iloilo that she had just killed Slemmer and that she had brought back a piece of the victim’s skull as a souvenir,” the documents revealed
“Pike said that a pentagram had been carved onto the victim’s forehead and chest. Iloilo said that Pike was dancing in a circle, smiling, and singing ‘la, la, la’ while she related these details about the murder.
“When Iloilo saw Pike at breakfast the next morning she asked Pike what she had done with the piece of the victim’s skull. Pike replied that it was in her pocket and then said, ‘And, yes, I’m eating breakfast with it’.”
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