UPDATE: Christa Pike Is Still Alive After Botched Off-And-On Again Execution

00:00:02
Speaker 1: Hey there, folks. It is Thursday, October 1st, and she is still alive. After an extraordinary day and night of really unprecedented events, a death row inmate has survived her execution. And with that, welcome to this episode of Amy and TJ. You cannot make this stuff up. It was already an extraordinary day before the execution even took place, Robes. This is amazing.

00:00:33
Speaker 2: I actually cannot believe the events of the day, how they unfolded from the morning till the evening. You couldn't have imagined that this would have been the outcome because, yes, her execution was scheduled for 10 a.m. Then it was called off. Then at some point in the middle of the day, it was called back on. They had until midnight to execute her. And then reportedly they tried twice. And she is waking up, we believe, we're not sure about her condition, alive in the hospital this morning.

00:01:03
Speaker 1: This robe we're talking about, all these events, they would be extraordinary no matter what. Now you throw into the fact that this was supposed to be a historic execution of the first woman in Tennessee in some 200 years and just a rarity in the country. You put that into the mixed robes and this just made for just an extraordinary story. And yes, what we're talking about And why this is going to be so relevant just beyond this person, Robes, this could change things. This could change minds. This could change attitudes about the death penalty in this country, Robes. This cannot happen. This simply cannot happen at all. And Tennessee, we're looking at you.

00:01:44
Speaker 3: Exactly. And the reporters who were in the room.

00:01:48
Speaker 2: Described something pretty awful to the point where they had to close the.

00:01:51
Speaker 3: Curtains and they were escorted out.

00:01:53
Speaker 2: And some of these reporters gave interviews saying, I've never seen or witnessed anything like this in my journalistic career.

00:02:03
Speaker 1: So here we are on October 1st, 2026. Krista Pike, we believe, is waking up today on the day she was not expected to wake up. Rose, this is a woman now who did wake up. Go to sleep last night. She was put to sleep essentially last night. Thinking robes, she was dying. This is it. She gave last words. Folks, what in God's name does that feel like to wake up today thinking, where am I?

00:02:36
Speaker 2: I had the same thought because reports were before the journalists were escorted out of the room, they could hear her snoring. So yes, she gives her last words. The needle goes in her arm. She assumes she's going to die. She falls asleep. And then she wakes up this morning. What is that moment like?

00:03:00
Speaker 1: So as of this recording, folks, we and according to her lawyers, they haven't gotten an update about her condition. So let's back up, tell you where we are. This was historic because Krista Pike, who was convicted for a 1995 murder, heinous murder, She was scheduled to be executed yesterday in Tennessee. Would have been, what, the 30th person in the country, first woman we've had executed in a number of years, but the first woman in Tennessee in some 200 years. Roe, she tortured and killed this 19-year-old girl, Colleen Slimmer. This is not... I mean, this is a horrific, horrific crime. The argument in sparing her life, I guess, Roe, wasn't so much... Necessarily about the case itself, but was about her and her background. Correct.

00:03:45
Speaker 2: Because we know that Krista Pike has admitted to this killing. And so it's never been a question of her guilt. She, along with her boyfriend, and we mentioned here, stabbed her, cut a pentagram into her stomach.

00:03:58
Speaker 3: Slit her throat, beat her.

00:04:00
Speaker 2: I mean, just horrific, cruel, awful things, and then reportedly bragged about doing it, even showing off a piece of her skull to someone else. So yeah, she was 18 at the time, but she had a long history of sexual violence. She began being raped as a toddler and rapes by multiple men continued throughout her life. And so advocacy groups had said that she was going to be re-victimized by going through the process of a lethal injection, almost as if she were being raped again. But it was the argument that the jury didn't get to fully consider her history of sexual abuse before they decided to impose the death sentence on her. And that is what this federal appeals court decided an hour before her scheduled execution that they should be able to review that.

00:04:50
Speaker 3: They should be able to take a beat.

00:04:52
Speaker 1: So that's one of the arguments that her lawyers had made, and it seemed they did get somewhere with it. But a previous argument they made, which could be playing into what happened with her here or what happened last night, Robes, is this idea they argued that she was going to be in severe pain because of a condition she has, thrombocytosis. Am I saying that right?

00:05:11
Speaker 3: I believe that's how it's called.

00:05:12
Speaker 1: This condition has to do with... Your body's ability to form blood clots. They're saying she has this condition. They argued before court. Robes, that was the reason. Look, they've used a lot of things, but you'll see here in their statements that they were almost an aha, told you so in their statement. We'll let you hear that in just a second. But Robes... The day yesterday. So 10 a.m. All this is in central time there in Nashville was the scheduled execution at 10 a.m. But a couple of hours, just a couple of hours before that, the stay was granted that Robes was just talking about the appeals court granted. Now, the state of Tennessee then immediately appealed the stay of execution to the Supreme Court. And then the Supreme Court comes in. They lift the stay immediately. which means the execution could be back on. This happened around 545. Tennessee then moves forward, kept everything in place, and then around 730 is when the execution started. And that is when things really went off the rails, Robes.

00:06:29
Speaker 3: This is just insane.

00:06:30
Speaker 2: So witnesses remember Colleen Slummer's mother and father actually traveled to Nashville, Tennessee, raised money to be there in the execution chamber.

00:06:40
Speaker 1: So that's worth noting. They were shuffled in and out because they went in earlier in the day to the prison for the 10 a.m. execution and end up getting caught. They went and left and then came back. Rose, that was their day yesterday. Yes.

00:06:55
Speaker 2: So they're in and out of a death chamber along with members of the media and other witnesses at 727. This is central time, correct?

00:07:04
Speaker 1: Yep.

00:07:04
Speaker 3: Curtains open. We get Krista Pike's last words.

00:07:09
Speaker 2: I'm going to leave this world the way I spent most of my life, and that is in love. So everything's going as planned. She is administered the first dose of the lethal injection and she lifted her head and then reportedly asked about her arm.

00:07:32
Speaker 3: Feels like my arm is about to burst open is what she reportedly said.

00:07:36
Speaker 1: Yeah, the reporters, the witnesses that were in there were saying that she was complaining like it was on fire, like it felt this burning sensation. Again, bizarre. It's always fascinating to hear from the witnesses and anytime you hear them say that the person lifted their head up. I don't know why that's always a moment to hear. If somebody's being executed, then their head pops up.

00:07:56
Speaker 3: Yeah, that's a little disturbing. That's not what is supposed to happen.

00:07:59
Speaker 2: So after witnesses heard her say that, around 7.46, they closed the curtains. Then at 7.50, so about four minutes later, they reopen the curtains and it appears that Krista Pike is still breathing.

00:08:15
Speaker 1: So, At this point, Robes, our understanding is protocol is being followed because after the first dose of that pentobarbital is injected, they are supposed to close the curtain. If it doesn't work, they have a backup dose that's supposed to be there and prepared. So when the curtain opens again... That's the signal that something didn't go right with the first dosage. So she gets a second dose of this stuff, continues breathing. So then you get to about 8.30. She is still heard snoring robes. They finally then close the curtain, and then the witnesses aren't escorted out immediately after the curtain closes, but eventually the microphone is cut off to the chamber. They're talking at 8.53. They could still hear her breathing breathing. up to that point and snoring before they're escorted out. And then outside, everyone says emergency vehicles start showing up and presumably she was taken to the hospital. That's where we are. And as of this morning, as of this recording, we haven't gotten official word about her condition.

00:09:22
Speaker 2: My goodness. And yes, an emergency stay was requested. Like let's, let's end this now.

00:09:29
Speaker 1: You know, that's something her attorneys had to go to a court and say, Hey, They're killing her, and it's not working. Can we stop this? That's what they had to ask. The words they used, she is in unnecessary agony. So this was all happening in real time. They didn't have to do too much, Robes, or the governor ended up stepping in and stopping this and executions for the rest of the year, in fact, in Tennessee. But her lawyers put out this statement, Robes, essentially saying, told you so.

00:09:55
Speaker 2: Yes, tonight the state of Tennessee once again failed to carry out a lawful execution. We take no pleasure in being right. But the concerns raised by Ms. Pike proved to be true. Difficult vein access, blown veins. degraded pentobarbitrol, no emergency medical care available when things inevitably go wrong, all under a protocol that remains veiled in secrecy. Krista is being treated at a nearby hospital. We have not been informed as to her condition.

00:10:23
Speaker 1: I mean, what is her condition? I mean, she's been put through a hell of a lot. She's been given doses of a drug that's meant to, what, treat seizures. It's meant to slow down the nervous system, and they give you enough of it. Yeah, it's supposed to stop the heart. Robes, what is it about her? They tried twice to kill her. Now, this goes along with, now the governor here has a statement, but Robes, Tennessee has now back-to-back blown executions. That's not a coincidence. They're doing something wrong in that state, are they not?

00:10:55
Speaker 2: Yes, I mean, it would appear to be so. That's two in a row. That's more than a coincidence. And so, yes, the governor put out a statement saying, saying carrying out a lawfully imposed sentence is among the state's most serious responsibilities, and the people of Tennessee expect it to be done in a matter that is not only legal and constitutional, but is effective.

00:11:16
Speaker 1: Yes, this is supposed to work. I saw some comments, local reporters were talking to people who were outside the prison. People on both sides saying this and that, but one stood out. Somebody said, I'm tired of hearing about Krista Pike. I said, wow, you make a good point. I mean, this is not the family's fault anymore. This is the system that keeps failing and re-victimizing a whole bunch of people, quite frankly, but the state as well. I just thought that was an interesting way. You're right. Why is this still going on and happening and debating and back? And then here we are tonight, and they can't get it right.

00:11:58
Speaker 3: My goodness. I really do. I feel for Colleen Slummer's parents. Thanks.

00:12:04
Speaker 2: I cannot imagine not only what the last 30 years have been like, but yes, specifically what yesterday was.

00:12:11
Speaker 1: Like for them. They sat through a trial as well, right?

00:12:15
Speaker 3: Yes.

00:12:16
Speaker 1: They have probed on this day of peace and finality. I can't remember. Maybe you do the words she used that her daughter needed.

00:12:24
Speaker 3: She wanted her daughter to be relieved.

00:12:26
Speaker 1: Relieved. Yesterday was the day of relief. What is this?

00:12:31
Speaker 3: Pain and agony.

00:12:32
Speaker 1: Rose, what a tortuous day that that family went through yesterday. But you know what? The Department of Corrections, wait, what happened yesterday? They said they did everything right.

00:12:43
Speaker 3: Yeah, this is their statement.

00:12:44
Speaker 2: The Tennessee Department of Corrections followed every step of the state's lawful established execution protocol approved by the Attorney General's office. The lethal injection chemical in the protocol has consistently been effective, and the protocol does not allow for additional procedures beyond what was carried out this evening. Krista Pike has been transported to an off-site medical facility.

00:13:06
Speaker 1: Robes, that is true. There is no protocol for if the second dose doesn't work. At that point, throw their hands up. We don't have. Anybody got any options? Anybody got any ideas? There are none. They don't have anything else to do. If the backup doesn't work. I can't wait to hear from a doctor to see why. Was it not administered properly? But there might be some other explanation as to what happened because of Tennessee's history of actually messing up execution. Stay here. We'll explain that when we come back and also explain what happened to Mr. Tony Carruthers, who got a reprieve of his own just a few months ago from Tennessee. All right, we continue here on Amy and TJ. She's alive. I mean, that's the headline, babe. She's alive. What do you say about someone that the state tried twice to kill, and she's still alive? Can't kill her.

00:14:12
Speaker 3: She said her final words. She was ready to go. I don't know.

00:14:19
Speaker 2: I mean, this is unprecedented in the sense that I have never heard of something like this happening. And obviously, yes, we'll get into the other botched execution from just a couple... months ago, but that was a different scenario. I've never heard of someone being administered two full doses of a lethal injection and for it not to be effective.

00:14:40
Speaker 3: And this is a woman too.

00:14:42
Speaker 2: I'm just, I would think a smaller body mass, a smaller person, it would be more lethal. I mean, that's just where my mind would go. So what in God's name happened?

00:14:53
Speaker 1: It could be something about, yes, her body chemistry could be something Wrong with the drug. Could be something wrong with how they administered. But they have done that before, actually, Robes. Both of those things. Oscar Franklin Smith. That was in 2025, he was executed, I believe. And then the other, Tony Carruthers. This one was in May. Now, Robes, in May, we couldn't believe. This guy was a triple murderer.

00:15:19
Speaker 2: Yes.

00:15:20
Speaker 1: Tony Carruthers in May. So they're trying to kill this guy. Couldn't. Because they couldn't what? It was a backup vein, right?

00:15:26
Speaker 2: Yes, their protocol, because they do follow every state has its own version. But they found a vein to actually put the lethal injection in. But according to protocol, you have to have a second line in there, a backup line, so to speak. And they couldn't get a vein for that second backup line. And so they had to call off the execution.

00:15:46
Speaker 1: And they what? He gave him a year reprieve, right? Gave him a year. So I guess next early summer, Tony Carruthers will be They'll try it once again. But Rose, before that, Oscar Franklin Smith, they end up executing him in 2025. I believe he killed someone he was romantically involved with. But Rose, they put it off for a couple of years. And the issue with Oscar Franklin Smith is that they determined that the drugs that were going to be used in his execution, nobody checked the freaking expiration dates. Robes, and it required specific testing then to make sure those drugs were good. They didn't do that. And so they had to call off his execution, get their protocols in place again, and his was delayed several years. So what I am saying, Robes, is some would immediately start pointing to, hmm, Tennessee, did you check those drugs and making sure they were good, they were strong, they were, right, they have done this In the very recent future, Roves had, excuse me, recent past, had an issue with the drugs because of their own human error. Not the drugs error and even not the protocol error. It was somebody just not doing what they were supposed to do.

00:17:05
Speaker 2: Obviously an investigation is going to take place into what happened, how this happened, if it was operator error or if it was just a medical phenomenon specifically with Krista Pike and her thrombosis.

00:17:18
Speaker 1: How do you kill her again? How do you do this all over again?

00:17:20
Speaker 3: She had asked for a firing squad at one point.

00:17:23
Speaker 2: Obviously, that was a delay tactic because the state of Tennessee does not allow a firing squad. We see a lot of death row inmates try everything they can, and that's understandable, to stay alive. And oftentimes they will ask for a method of death that isn't legal in that state to try and kick the can down.

00:17:42
Speaker 3: And she tried to do that at one point.

00:17:43
Speaker 1: I prefer drowning, please, if we can do that.

00:17:46
Speaker 2: I mean, we've seen the nitrogen gas go sideways where people say they want it and they don't want it. then yes, the firing squad does seem to be an effective way to die.

00:17:55
Speaker 1: Yes. It's three people firing at you, right?

00:17:57
Speaker 3: And I guess, what is it? Two people have blanks and one person has the bullet?

00:18:01
Speaker 1: No, I think everybody. That's just in the movies.

00:18:03
Speaker 2: Oh, me thinking that no one wants to feel responsible for the death.

00:18:07
Speaker 1: Everybody's packing and loaded.

00:18:09
Speaker 2: Yes, if I were on the other side of it and I wanted my death to be quick, I would ask that everybody have as many bullets as possible.

00:18:15
Speaker 1: But Robes, I ask, how do you now... Isn't... It wouldn't every court... Isn't this now cruel and unusual?

00:18:23
Speaker 2: Yes.

00:18:23
Speaker 1: You tried to kill somebody and you couldn't, so we're going to try it again. I don't know what the precedent is for that, but, Rose, that seems pretty damn mean. That seems pretty damn awful.

00:18:32
Speaker 3: Oh, my goodness. Again, I just... Look, and I don't want to... I don't want to.

00:18:36
Speaker 2: This is a tough thing because when you hear what Krista Pike has admitted to doing, was accused of doing, was convicted of doing, and it's... You still.

00:18:47
Speaker 3: She's a human being, and so you still.

00:18:49
Speaker 2: I feel like she has a right as a human being to not suffer at the hands of the state.

00:18:56
Speaker 1: And we shouldn't want that.

00:18:58
Speaker 3: Obviously.

00:18:58
Speaker 2: And I understand that Colleen Slemmer's family is understandably upset and angry at Pike and they want her to pay the ultimate price for murdering and torturing their daughter.

00:19:12
Speaker 3: That is understandable as well.

00:19:13
Speaker 2: But it's still, we shouldn't... treat human beings this way, no matter what they've done.

00:19:21
Speaker 1: That's 100% with you. But if we are going to have this system, we better be damn good at it. We can't get them wrong. We can't have innocent people executed. And we can't treat people like this. Yes, Krista Pike, but also her family. I'm almost to the point, Robes, I wish there was some recourse for them to be able to sue, to get millions of dollars for what the state is putting them through right now. Put this family through, babe. Man, electric chairs. Do they still have that in Tennessee?

00:19:48
Speaker 3: They have them in a couple states. I don't know how long. They had a name for one of them, like yellow something.

00:19:52
Speaker 1: I can see it right now.

00:19:54
Speaker 3: Yes, it was yellow. It was weird, like a weird, happy color.

00:19:57
Speaker 1: And I meant to mention this up earlier here, Robes, and I know people talk about her history and how young she was when she committed this crime. She was 18 years old. Robes, she died. clearly had all kinds of problems, but it's rarely mentioned. Roe, she is also convicted of an attempted murder while she was in prison.

00:20:18
Speaker 3: Yes, and I don't think a lot of people know about this, but.

00:20:22
Speaker 1: Yes, she... 2001, I think.

00:20:24
Speaker 3: 2001, I believe, yes.

00:20:25
Speaker 2: So got into some fight with another inmate, and yes, so.

00:20:31
Speaker 1: Patricia Jones almost strangled this woman to death with, I think it was a shoestring? Something around her neck. This is... And I know it's not a matter, Rose, necessarily of, well, people will allow if she was 18 then or be dismissive in some way. This is not someone necessarily that has been a model prisoner. How does that play into her not, right? Anybody thinking of commuting her sentence would look at some stuff that she's been doing. And, yes, she has a first-degree attempted murder conviction. As well. And that happened about 2001.

00:21:08
Speaker 2: 2001. So, yes, the actual crime, the initial murder that she was on death row for was in 1995. So, yes, six years later, after being in prison, she nearly kills or tries to kill a fellow inmate. So, yes, she certainly has violence in her, and it has been repeated.

00:21:27
Speaker 1: But right now, she's alive. Robes... We are keeping an eye on this to see what her condition might be, how she's doing, and how the state is going to proceed. But the governor of Tennessee says they are holding off. I think they only had, I think, three more, I think, maybe scheduled for this year. But they are doing no more executions in the state of Tennessee, at least, for this year. We'll hop back on if there are any more updates. But as always, appreciate you spending a little time with us. I'm TJ. On behalf of my dear Amy Robach, we'll talk soon.