The botched execution that shames Tennessee: murderer survives lethal injection
In a scene that will horrify right-thinking people on both sides of the Atlantic, the convicted murderer Christa Pike survived her own execution in Tennessee this week, despite receiving two doses of the lethal drug pentobarbital. The 50-year-old, who bludgeoned a fellow student to death in 1995 and then showed off a piece of her victim's skull at school, was found snoring loudly on the gurney nearly an hour and a half after the procedure began.
The Governor of Tennessee, Bill Lee, has now ordered an urgent investigation into what he rightly called a failure of the state's 'most serious responsibilities'. None of the scheduled executions in the state will go ahead this year. One can only hope this shambles does not become a gift to the abolitionist lobby, which has long sought to undermine the ultimate sanction of the law.
What went wrong in the execution chamber?
The botched procedure began at 7.27pm when the curtains in the execution chamber were raised. Witnesses saw Pike strapped to a gurney. Her last words, reportedly, were: 'I'm going to leave this world the way I spent most of my life and that is in love.' She later said she was at peace, according to NPR.
But at 8.26pm, witnesses said a second dose of pentobarbital had been administered. By 8.53pm, Pike was found alive and loudly snoring. Media witnesses were escorted out, and Pike was rushed to a nearby hospital. Her condition remains unknown.
Who was Christa Pike and what did she do?
Pike was convicted in 1996 for the murder of Colleen Slemmer, a fellow student at a Nashville job corps centre. The crime was unspeakably brutal: Colleen's body was found with a pentagram carved into her chest and her head caved in by a chunk of asphalt. Pike even showed off a piece of Colleen's skull around school before her arrest.
She was due to be the first woman executed in Tennessee in 200 years. Only 18 women have been lawfully executed in the United States since the Supreme Court reinstated the death penalty in 1976, representing about one per cent of all executions.
Why did the execution go ahead despite appeals?
Pike's legal team made a last-minute appeal, but the Tennessee attorney general's office argued to the Supreme Court that halting the execution would traumatise Colleen's family and reward what it called 'abusive delay tactics'. Colleen's mother, May Martinez, had travelled to Nashville to see her daughter's killer face justice.
'Every time I think about it, I think about Colleen feeling that pain and trying to get up and run,' May told the Associated Press. One can only imagine the anguish of that family, who now face the prospect of reliving this ordeal.
What is pentobarbital and why is it controversial?
Pentobarbital is a barbiturate that slows down brain and nerve activity. It has been used in 14 executions in the United States this year alone, seven in Texas, six in Missouri and one in Georgia. It is also known as Nembutal.
The drug was removed from federal execution protocol under the Biden administration amid concerns it could cause unnecessary pain and suffering. But the Department of Justice reauthorised its use this year, after it was used in 13 executions during Donald Trump's first administration.
Robin M. Maher, executive director of the Death Penalty Information Center, called what happened to Pike 'unparalleled'. She noted that seven other people had survived medical issues following failed attempts to find a vein, but added that no one had stayed alive after receiving the lethal injections used in similar executions.
What happens now?
Governor Lee has promised a review 'to determine exactly what occurred'. He said: '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 manner that is not only legal and constitutional, but is effective.'
One hopes the review is swift and thorough. Justice delayed is justice denied, and the families of victims deserve better than this grotesque spectacle. The death penalty, when properly administered, remains a fitting punishment for the worst crimes. This botched affair must not become an excuse to abandon it.