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Oct. 5, 2026

Botched: The Failed Execution of Christa Pike

Botched: The Failed Execution of Christa Pike
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Season 10

In this episode Jim Chapman examines the crime, conviction, and eventual failed execution of death row inmate Christa Pike in Tennessee after being convicted in the murder of Colleen Slemmer.

Timestamps
01:45 Failed Execution Shock
02:58 Job Corps Background
10:33 Krista Pike Emerges
20:11 Clues on Campus
26:31 Pike Confesses
30:05 Death Sentence Handed Down
32:11 New Execution Date Set
34:15 Medical Issues Raised
36:21 Execution Goes Wrong

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WEBVTT

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I walk a straight line, shackled chain. Oh, gruesome Gertie

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is calling my name. There is no mercy in this penitentiary.

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Just ask the hill string gang, a wrangle of three.

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to die.

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Inside these walls inside the wild and.

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When the wolf cries Hey everyone, welcome back to Bloody Angola.

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I'm your host, Jim Chapman, and today I'm gonna catch

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you up on a botched execution that probably if you're

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listening to this show, you have definitely heard about it.

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It's currently in all the news, and that is, of course,

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the failed attempt to execute Krista Pike in Tennessee just

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a few days prior to me recording this episode. So

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today you're gonna learn What she did to get the

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death penalty, a disturbing mystery. crime that occurred while behind

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bars in Tennessee and what led up to that execution,

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as well as my opinion on why it failed from

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the research that I have done since it occurred. So

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let's get into it. And this one really starts out

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when four students sign out of a dorm room in Knoxville, Tennessee.

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Now this is on the night of January 12th, 1995.

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Three of them signed back into that dorm room One

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did not, and that is 19-year-old Colleen Slimmer. Now, at

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this point, Colleen had been in Tennessee for only about

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two months. She was actually from Florida, and she had

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went to Tennessee to learn computers. And Colleen was an

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amazing young lady. She volunteered with the Special Olympics. She ran.

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She roller skated on the weekends. And she was a

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self-professed computer geek. So I want to get into what

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led her to Tennessee to work with computers. And that

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was Job Corps. Now, for those not familiar with Job Corps,

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this is a federal career training program for young people,

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roughly 16 years old to 24 years old. You get

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room and board, you get food, you get classes, and

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you get trade skills, and there's no cost for that.

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It's free tuition, and the idea of Job Corps is

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pretty simple. If you can't afford college, or a private

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trade school, the government would house you, feed you, and

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teach you a job, so hopefully you would be a

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productive member of society going forward. And this is a

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very popular program, having somewhere along the order of 120

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campuses around the country. Of course, the campus we are

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gonna focus on today sat in Knoxville. Now, by the 1990s,

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the mix of students attending Job Corps had changed a

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little bit. Kids facing criminal charges or serious discipline issues

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at home or at school started getting referred to Job

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Corps as an alternative to jail or juvenile detention. Now,

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I want to be clear, and I want to say

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it doesn't necessarily mean every student that was in Job

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Corps was in trouble. Quite the contrary, actually. Most were not,

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but there was a growing population of people in the

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Job Corps that did have prior issues legally. And the

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problem with that is when you're being forced to go

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somewhere like Job Corps, you don't really want to be there.

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And you're amongst people that have chosen to go there

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and really want to do more with their lives. So

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one of the issues with Job Corps that would actually

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grow over time was that students who were there to

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learn a trade and actually better themselves were being bullied

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and pushed around by students who were forced to go

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there because they They had nowhere else to go, or

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in some cases, the courts were mandating they go to

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Job Corps. Now, Colleen Slimmer, she was one of the

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students who chose to be there, and specifically for a skill,

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and that skill, again, was computers. As I said, she

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was 19 years old. She was born in 1975 in

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Orange Park, Florida, and she was raised in Florida. Her

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parents had divorced, and that split from everything that I've researched.

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It was pretty hard on Colleen, as it is typically

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on any son or any daughter from a broken family.

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But she was driven and she was trying to find

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something she considered a real career. And she felt that

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computers were the way to go. Now, Colleen was very

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mild mannered. By all accounts of those who knew her,

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she was just a very sweet girl. And she was

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also a 19-year-old girl, which meant she had kind of

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a stubborn streak. You know how you were at 19

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years old. You think you know everything, right? And you

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can be stubborn. She absolutely loved her mothers, loved her sisters,

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loved volunteering, especially with the Special Olympics. This girl even

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ran marathons. Just a well-rounded 19-year-old young lady. Now, she

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had planned on being in Knoxville for about six months.

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That's how long it took to get that credential that

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she was aiming for in computers. Now, her family at

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this time, they weren't what you would call head over heels,

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if you will, for her leaving Knoxville and being that

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far away from home and Any parent can relate to that, right?

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Even if you have a child that is very mature

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for their age, and they're always children to us, right?

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Even if you have kids that are very mature, you

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still don't want them going far away from home. But Colleen,

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being somewhat independent, she assured her mother, look, I can

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do it. Don't worry about it. It's not going to

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be a problem. And we've all been there at 19

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years old. In our mind, there's nothing we have to

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worry about and there's no such thing as danger, right?

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So she goes to Knoxville and for the first few weeks,

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everything seems great. She would find new friends. She was

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having a great time. and it was the start toward

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her goals in life, but it wouldn't stay that way. Now,

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living in Job Corps is not like going to college

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in your hometown where you're commuting back and forth. You

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actually live on campus. eat there, you go to class there,

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you don't ever get a break from the other students

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in time to kind of decompress yourself for the most part.

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And Colleen, she would call home and she would kind

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of vent to her mother and she would talk about

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the girls taking her clothes. She said her jewelry was

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disappearing out of her room. She couldn't prove who took

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the jewelry and nobody would fess up to it. And

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those conversations were would start to shape into what appeared

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to be like a mean girl vibe. They were almost

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bullying her, some of the girls of this school. But Colleen,

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she was mentally strong and she would keep telling herself, look,

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just stick it out. You've got six months and you

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can go home and you can start the life you've

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always wanted. You just got to be able to handle this.

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You're a tough girl. And that seemed to help her

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kind of adjust her mindset a little bit. And her

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mother would tell her, look, just stay friendly, keep things calm,

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and you'll be out of there before you even know it.

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But her last phone call with her mother didn't go

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the way her mother would have hoped. Colleen called her mother,

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whose name is May, and May was trying to get

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out the door to go get groceries out of the car.

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And she basically told her daughter, look, I can't talk

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right now. I've got ice cream or something in the car.

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I have to get that. I have to get these

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groceries in. I'm going to call you back. She gets

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the groceries in the house. She gets everyone settled and

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she calls Colleen, but she couldn't reach her. And this

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was kind of totally out of character for Colleen not

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to answer the phone when her mom called at nighttime

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and her mother grew concerned. She ended up calling the

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school and she said, look, I can't get in touch

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with my daughter. And the school then tells her mother

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that Colleen checked out and had not returned. So her

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mother takes this the way most of us who are

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told this would take it. And that is she left

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for a little while. She checked out, signed out on

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her sheet, and she's coming back in a little while. Now,

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in reality, what the school was trying to convey was

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that she had been gone all night. Although at the moment,

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Colleen's mother didn't know that. So her mother's concerned about this.

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And around this same time, her sibling, her actual younger

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sister is a little bit ill and she needs to

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go to like an urgent care facility, right? So mom

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thinks in her mind, I'm going to go take her

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to urgent care, get her taken care of. And then

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I'm going to dig into where the hell Colleen is.

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She does that. She gets back home from the doctor.

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And as soon as she gets home, she gets the

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worst news a parent can get. But I'm not going

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to bring you to that phone call just yet because

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it's important I tell you what led up to it.

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And that brings me to Krista Pike. Now, Krista Pike

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was also at that Knoxville Job Corps Center. She was

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born in March of 1976 in West Virginia, and she

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was 18 at this time. She was dating a younger guy,

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not much younger. He was 17, and his name was

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Tadaryl Shipp. Now, the two of them were not what

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you would call typical teenagers. They actually had an interest

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in the occult that would be discovered later on. And

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at the time all of this went down, Pike became

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convinced Colleen was trying to hook up with her man. Now,

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friends of Colleen that have been interviewed since, they totally

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deny this. But court records would later show that the

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relationship between these two young women was very strained. with

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Pike telling anybody that would listen about this situation and

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how she was so pissed off at Colleen. As a

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matter of fact, the day before Colleen was killed, Pike

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would tell a friend she intended to kill Colleen, and

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this person testified to that fact. in a later trial. So,

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on January 12th of 1995, Colleen Slimmer actually signs out

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with the person that would eventually be convicted of killing her.

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And also, somebody she had a rift with at that time,

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and that was Krista Pike. And I'll get into later

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how that ended up transpiring. But for now, we need

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to go to January 13th, 1995 at 8.05 in the morning.

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And the sun is just kind of coming up and

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it's getting bright outside in Knoxville, Tennessee. It's a little

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bit chilly outside. And a grounds crew employee at the

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University of Tennessee, he's doing his job near the greenhouses.

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And these greenhouses, they have a lot of brush around them.

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And this groundskeeper, he notices something in that brush that

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he didn't notice the day before. And his first thought

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when he sees this is, that's got to be a

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dead deer. So he starts walking toward what he believed

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to be this dead animal. And as he gets closer,

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he notices this can't be a dead animal. And it's

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that point he starts to think it's a human being

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that's lying in this brush, but it's So unrecognizable, he

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almost can't determine. And he had to take a closer look.

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So he's a little bit nervous and he starts approaching

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very slowly. And the body that he is looking at

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is beaten so badly that until he is right over it,

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it doesn't even look human. He notices the body is

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semi-nude and that the shirt is gone. And the only

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way he can tell this is even a female human

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body is the shirt is gone and the breasts of

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this female are exposed. Immediately upon seeing this and that

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message traveling from his eyes to his brain, he freaks out,

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he runs out of the brush, and he calls police.

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And multiple agencies respond, including the Knoxville Police and the

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University of Tennessee Police, as well as as a homicide detective. Now,

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the detective, he starts noting several things as he gets

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on the scene. The woman's body is in a lot

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of heavy debris. She is nude from the waist up.

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She is covered in blood and dirt, and her head

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is bludgeoned beyond recognition. He also noted she had slashes

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on the torso. And incidentally, his name is Detective Donald Cook. Now, y'all,

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this poor young lady's face was so destroyed that investigators

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actually had trouble orienting her body. They couldn't tell if

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they were looking at her face or the back of

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her head. The only way they had to determine orientation

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was her breasts were exposed and they knew the breast

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would be like a face-up version of her and that's

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the only way they could orientate her. More officers would

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arrive and they would find items in debris thrown out

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further and further from the crime scene as well as clues. Now,

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one thing that worked out extremely well for police was

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that the ground was very wet And it was very

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muddy when this occurred. And so there were prints everywhere,

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be it knee prints, hand prints, footprints. They noticed spots

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where it was apparent someone had dropped to their knees

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or planted their hand in the ground for balance, trying

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and struggling to get up. And they can even make

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out the drag marks running about 30 feet from the

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body where it was found to where it appeared that

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the assault actually started. And the way that they knew

230
00:15:40.809 --> 00:15:44.450
that was at the start of those drag marks, there

231
00:15:44.490 --> 00:15:47.570
was a large pool of blood. And y'all, I'm not

232
00:15:47.649 --> 00:15:51.389
talking about just a bunch of smears. I'm talking about

233
00:15:51.590 --> 00:15:55.929
a pool of, of blood. Also, upon examination of the

234
00:15:55.970 --> 00:15:58.789
body at the crime scene, they noticed her throat had

235
00:15:58.840 --> 00:16:02.700
been slashed and a bloody rag was still around the neck.

236
00:16:02.879 --> 00:16:06.940
And initially, they couldn't explain this because if you slice

237
00:16:06.980 --> 00:16:10.879
someone's neck open, why would you then tie a rag

238
00:16:11.159 --> 00:16:14.070
around the neck? Now, later on, they would discover she

239
00:16:14.110 --> 00:16:18.029
was actually gagged and the gag had slipped down off

240
00:16:18.070 --> 00:16:21.129
of her mouth. But for now, it was a little

241
00:16:21.149 --> 00:16:24.700
bit of a source of confusion, if you will, for detectives.

242
00:16:25.059 --> 00:16:27.679
So at this point, the body is loaded up and

243
00:16:27.720 --> 00:16:31.320
it's taken to the morgue and a detective, Detective Cook,

244
00:16:31.419 --> 00:16:34.070
he followed that body to the morgue and he was

245
00:16:34.230 --> 00:16:39.049
present at the autopsy. And it was not until all

246
00:16:39.110 --> 00:16:42.870
the remaining clothing was removed and the body was washed

247
00:16:43.210 --> 00:16:46.929
that he saw the damage that was done more quickly.

248
00:16:47.470 --> 00:16:50.580
And it wasn't just slices to the body. There was

249
00:16:50.620 --> 00:16:54.639
an image carved into the body, a pentagram that was

250
00:16:54.740 --> 00:16:58.610
actually cut into the chest. And obviously, I'm sure all

251
00:16:58.649 --> 00:17:01.990
of us know that are listening to this. A pentagram

252
00:17:02.389 --> 00:17:06.180
is associated almost always. Well, I would say always. with

253
00:17:06.240 --> 00:17:11.309
satanic imagery. So initially, it pops into Detective Cook's head

254
00:17:11.380 --> 00:17:14.509
that maybe this was some sort of sacrifice for a

255
00:17:14.569 --> 00:17:19.809
satanic cult. But he almost dismissed that immediately in his

256
00:17:19.849 --> 00:17:23.730
head because of the traumatic condition of the body. To him,

257
00:17:23.869 --> 00:17:27.470
this wasn't someone who just had a pentagram carved into

258
00:17:27.509 --> 00:17:31.140
their chest. This was a person that was tortured and

259
00:17:31.339 --> 00:17:36.369
beaten to the point that she was unrecognizable. And that

260
00:17:36.549 --> 00:17:41.609
pointed to a very personal death. Now, the medical examiner

261
00:17:41.670 --> 00:17:46.970
was Dr. Sandra Elkins. And upon examining that body, one

262
00:17:47.069 --> 00:17:50.839
thing she knew was there was going to be no

263
00:17:51.019 --> 00:17:54.440
identification when it came to the face. Y'all, her face

264
00:17:54.920 --> 00:18:00.759
was completely gone. for all intents and purposes. It was horrible.

265
00:18:01.059 --> 00:18:04.920
She was a Jane Doe, a white female, estimated late

266
00:18:04.960 --> 00:18:09.710
teens to early 20s, dirt and twig, still on the

267
00:18:09.750 --> 00:18:13.089
body from a struggle, nude from the waist up, in

268
00:18:13.190 --> 00:18:18.190
clothing documented as jeans, socks, and shoes. That's it. And

269
00:18:18.230 --> 00:18:21.779
this body was also cut up in the most horrific

270
00:18:22.339 --> 00:18:26.730
ways possible. As a matter of fact, each cut when

271
00:18:26.769 --> 00:18:30.859
you're doing these autopsies is labeled with a letter, y'all,

272
00:18:30.920 --> 00:18:33.759
from the alphabet. You start out with A, then you

273
00:18:33.779 --> 00:18:37.079
get a B, then you get a C, and so on.

274
00:18:37.579 --> 00:18:41.529
There were so many cuts to this young lady that

275
00:18:41.619 --> 00:18:47.609
she literally... ran out of letters. An estimated 300 slice

276
00:18:47.670 --> 00:18:52.319
wounds all over her body. She had superficial slashes all

277
00:18:52.380 --> 00:18:55.900
over her chest. There were bruises on the knees that

278
00:18:55.920 --> 00:19:00.680
were consistent with crawling. and defensive wounds on her right arm.

279
00:19:00.829 --> 00:19:05.569
She also had a six-inch gaping wound across the middle

280
00:19:05.609 --> 00:19:09.150
of her neck, as well as 10 other wounds on

281
00:19:09.190 --> 00:19:15.089
her neck. And she had multiple extensive fractures to her head. Y'all,

282
00:19:15.170 --> 00:19:19.619
I have seen an x-ray of this poor young lady's

283
00:19:19.630 --> 00:19:26.200
head after this crime. And it, I mean, every part

284
00:19:26.900 --> 00:19:31.589
of her skull was, is cracked. It is horrific and

285
00:19:31.609 --> 00:19:35.279
it's important everybody grasps that. Now there was blunt force

286
00:19:35.359 --> 00:19:39.839
trauma from a minimum according to the medical examiner of

287
00:19:39.980 --> 00:19:43.359
four separate blows. Two to the left side of her head,

288
00:19:43.960 --> 00:19:46.490
one to the right eye, and one to the nose

289
00:19:46.829 --> 00:19:50.880
that completely crushed her nose and she never that whatever

290
00:19:50.940 --> 00:19:56.380
was used to hit Colleen Slimmer, it drove the pieces

291
00:19:56.640 --> 00:20:00.880
of her skull into her brain. That's how much force

292
00:20:01.279 --> 00:20:04.380
was applied. It was one of the worst killings the

293
00:20:04.440 --> 00:20:09.690
detective and the medical examiner had ever seen, ever. in

294
00:20:09.710 --> 00:20:14.009
their history of doing this. So let's go to January 13th,

295
00:20:14.190 --> 00:20:17.410
the day after the body is found. And an officer

296
00:20:17.470 --> 00:20:21.339
named Harold Underwood Jr., he's assigned to the case. And

297
00:20:21.400 --> 00:20:24.700
his whole job was to kind of secure the crime scene,

298
00:20:24.940 --> 00:20:28.200
meaning that no one is to be allowed in and

299
00:20:28.319 --> 00:20:32.009
no one is to be allowed out. And when detectives

300
00:20:32.069 --> 00:20:34.630
come to the scene, they have to sign in and

301
00:20:34.769 --> 00:20:38.690
sign out. And that's important because this happened on campus, right?

302
00:20:38.730 --> 00:20:41.730
You don't want students going on to this crime scene.

303
00:20:42.009 --> 00:20:46.009
And as he's working this detail, a group of females

304
00:20:46.170 --> 00:20:49.309
walks past the crime scene. And one of these females

305
00:20:49.509 --> 00:20:53.650
stops and she asked the detective who the victim was,

306
00:20:54.109 --> 00:20:57.380
to which he responds, we don't know. She then asked

307
00:20:57.440 --> 00:21:00.339
if they had any suspects. And the way this female

308
00:21:00.460 --> 00:21:03.589
frames it is the way a student who was nervous

309
00:21:03.670 --> 00:21:06.930
might frame it, basically saying, hey, if somebody was killed here,

310
00:21:07.309 --> 00:21:09.589
should we all be worried about that and concerned? Is

311
00:21:09.630 --> 00:21:13.559
this person still on the loose? Do you have any leads, etc.?

312
00:21:13.509 --> 00:21:17.509
But Officer Underwood, he notices a couple of things. First,

313
00:21:17.769 --> 00:21:21.099
she's the only one of the group who talks. And

314
00:21:21.140 --> 00:21:23.339
it seemed like all the others in the group, they

315
00:21:23.359 --> 00:21:27.000
were just kind of letting her lead this conversation. He

316
00:21:27.059 --> 00:21:29.859
also got kind of a weird vibe from this student.

317
00:21:29.960 --> 00:21:34.369
Not because she was necessarily rude, but because she almost

318
00:21:34.410 --> 00:21:37.390
seemed amused by the whole thing. She was just kind

319
00:21:37.410 --> 00:21:41.109
of giddy and giggling as she's talking to him. And

320
00:21:41.150 --> 00:21:44.369
he found it to be funny. Just very immature for

321
00:21:44.390 --> 00:21:47.849
the circumstances that were going on. So he answers a

322
00:21:48.049 --> 00:21:51.890
few questions and he notices that the group, they're not

323
00:21:51.950 --> 00:21:55.380
really leaving. They're just kind of milling around outside of

324
00:21:55.420 --> 00:21:58.960
the crime scene tape for about 15 minutes before they

325
00:21:59.000 --> 00:22:01.539
move on. And he files this in the back of

326
00:22:01.599 --> 00:22:05.930
his brain as just a strange encounter. But it happens

327
00:22:05.970 --> 00:22:09.930
sometimes with police. So a little while after that, there's

328
00:22:09.970 --> 00:22:13.440
a roll call. And supervisors at this roll call, they

329
00:22:13.480 --> 00:22:16.720
kind of brief the scene. And one of the supervisors

330
00:22:16.900 --> 00:22:20.559
mentions a pentagram was carved into the body, which this

331
00:22:20.720 --> 00:22:24.589
officer didn't know about prior to being briefed. And in

332
00:22:24.619 --> 00:22:27.309
his head, he goes back to that conversation he had

333
00:22:27.349 --> 00:22:29.670
with the female that walked past the crime scene with

334
00:22:29.730 --> 00:22:33.230
a group of her friends. And he remembered she had

335
00:22:33.269 --> 00:22:37.500
a necklace on. And that necklace had a pentagram charm

336
00:22:37.920 --> 00:22:40.019
on the necklace. And he made a metal net of

337
00:22:40.079 --> 00:22:42.759
that at the time because you don't see that a

338
00:22:42.839 --> 00:22:45.900
lot in Knoxville, Tennessee. It's kind of the Bible Belt.

339
00:22:46.440 --> 00:22:49.720
Not a lot of people wandering around with satanic symbols

340
00:22:50.109 --> 00:22:52.589
around their neck. So when he hears about this pentagram

341
00:22:52.630 --> 00:22:56.609
being carved into this Jane Doe, he immediately reports that

342
00:22:56.650 --> 00:23:00.339
to his supervisor. Now, in the meantime, a tip line

343
00:23:00.480 --> 00:23:04.119
is also set up for more information. If anybody saw anything,

344
00:23:04.220 --> 00:23:06.839
call this number. If you happen to know who this

345
00:23:06.920 --> 00:23:10.559
person is, please call the tip line. Because at this point,

346
00:23:10.599 --> 00:23:14.349
they still have no idea who this Jane Doe is.

347
00:23:14.549 --> 00:23:17.369
But in short order, they do get a call into

348
00:23:17.410 --> 00:23:21.410
that tip line, and the caller simply says, look here.

349
00:23:22.240 --> 00:23:26.259
So detectives, they do some research and they realize there's

350
00:23:26.259 --> 00:23:32.009
360 students enrolled in Job Corps in Knoxville. And rather

351
00:23:32.069 --> 00:23:36.509
than interview 360 students, they knew the smart thing to

352
00:23:36.549 --> 00:23:39.509
do was to go to Job Corps and ask if

353
00:23:39.690 --> 00:23:42.829
any students are missing. And so that's what they do.

354
00:23:43.049 --> 00:23:45.890
And that's when they also learn that Job Corps keeps

355
00:23:45.970 --> 00:23:49.210
a log of who goes off campus and comes back

356
00:23:49.410 --> 00:23:52.289
onto the campus. So they sign in and sign out

357
00:23:52.470 --> 00:23:55.410
that log. So they start looking on the log. And

358
00:23:55.630 --> 00:23:59.490
one thing they notice is that only one person signed

359
00:23:59.759 --> 00:24:03.980
out but never signed back in. And that was Colleen Slimmer.

360
00:24:04.359 --> 00:24:08.960
And she signed out at 8.30 p.m. on January 12th.

361
00:24:09.359 --> 00:24:11.859
And nobody in the school noticed. had seen her since.

362
00:24:12.279 --> 00:24:15.410
They dig a little deeper and they discover Colleen Slimmer

363
00:24:15.569 --> 00:24:18.829
matched the range they were looking for that they got

364
00:24:18.930 --> 00:24:22.880
from the medical examiner. She was a white female, teens

365
00:24:22.930 --> 00:24:27.519
to early 20s, brown hair, so they were relatively sure

366
00:24:27.539 --> 00:24:31.710
that this person was possibly the Jane Doe they had.

367
00:24:32.009 --> 00:24:34.309
But they wanted to talk to her mother to make

368
00:24:34.369 --> 00:24:37.390
sure she didn't go back home or her mother didn't

369
00:24:37.450 --> 00:24:41.329
know where she was at and that she wasn't indeed missing.

370
00:24:41.750 --> 00:24:43.829
So now I'm going to take you back to that

371
00:24:43.910 --> 00:24:46.430
phone call and her mother May. And her mother May

372
00:24:46.670 --> 00:24:50.069
answers the phone and she tells police that she had

373
00:24:50.109 --> 00:24:54.700
not spoken to Colleen in two days. And according to May,

374
00:24:54.920 --> 00:24:57.440
at this point, the tone on the other end of

375
00:24:57.480 --> 00:25:02.119
the phone call changed. And police informed her they believe

376
00:25:02.200 --> 00:25:05.940
Colleen may be the Jane Doe that they had in

377
00:25:06.009 --> 00:25:08.930
that morgue. And they had a question for May that

378
00:25:08.990 --> 00:25:13.170
no parent could imagine. And that was, is there anything

379
00:25:13.250 --> 00:25:16.569
you can get your hands on that can identify your

380
00:25:16.690 --> 00:25:21.069
daughter other than a picture of her? Because her face

381
00:25:21.730 --> 00:25:26.910
is unrecognizable. Can you imagine being told that as a parent?

382
00:25:27.299 --> 00:25:31.160
So they asked her about dental records and she said, yes,

383
00:25:31.480 --> 00:25:35.119
she could get those. And she did. And she turned

384
00:25:35.160 --> 00:25:39.519
those over to police in a relatively quick order. A

385
00:25:39.559 --> 00:25:43.619
comparison is done and it is confirmed that Jane Doe

386
00:25:43.660 --> 00:25:48.519
was 19 year old Colleen Slimmer. So upon that confirmation,

387
00:25:48.619 --> 00:25:51.519
detectives go back to that log and they wanted to

388
00:25:51.619 --> 00:25:55.349
see who else signed out around the same time as Colleen.

389
00:25:55.720 --> 00:26:02.700
And they discover three names. 18-year-old Krista Pike. 17-year-old Tadaryl Shipp,

390
00:26:03.240 --> 00:26:08.960
and 18-year-old Shadala Peterson. Now, all three lived on campus.

391
00:26:09.359 --> 00:26:12.420
And later, a witness by the name of Kim, she

392
00:26:12.480 --> 00:26:18.079
would say that she watched Pike, Slimmer, Peterson, and Shipp

393
00:26:18.279 --> 00:26:21.799
actually walk away from campus around 8 p.m. that night.

394
00:26:22.140 --> 00:26:25.359
And when they got back to campus at 10.15, Slimmer

395
00:26:25.400 --> 00:26:28.109
was not with the rest of the group. So at

396
00:26:28.150 --> 00:26:32.410
this point, this whole investigation has moved really quick. Now

397
00:26:32.430 --> 00:26:35.670
you have three suspects. It's only two days later at

398
00:26:35.730 --> 00:26:41.519
this point, January 14th of 1995, when Detective Randy York

399
00:26:41.900 --> 00:26:46.759
of the Knoxville Police Department interviews Krista Pike. She waves

400
00:26:46.819 --> 00:26:51.519
her Miranda rights and she actually gives a confession. And

401
00:26:51.559 --> 00:26:55.259
that confession is tape recorded. And here's a little bit

402
00:26:55.299 --> 00:27:00.259
of what she said. Pike, Shipp, and Peterson got Colleen

403
00:27:00.480 --> 00:27:04.420
off campus with what they called a peace offering. Remember,

404
00:27:04.579 --> 00:27:08.380
Pike and Slimmer, they had a disagreement over the Shipp

405
00:27:08.660 --> 00:27:12.309
boy in this case, and basically they got her off

406
00:27:12.410 --> 00:27:15.369
campus by saying, look, we're going to go buy a

407
00:27:15.410 --> 00:27:18.690
bag of marijuana, we're going to smoke some weed, and

408
00:27:18.750 --> 00:27:20.990
we want to make peace with you, and if you

409
00:27:21.009 --> 00:27:23.910
want to join us in an effort to smooth things over,

410
00:27:23.930 --> 00:27:27.680
we'd Be willing to do that. And she's just wanting

411
00:27:27.700 --> 00:27:30.940
to smooth things over with this bitch. So she agrees. Yeah,

412
00:27:30.960 --> 00:27:34.039
I'll go with y'all and smoke some weed. So they

413
00:27:34.079 --> 00:27:36.720
leave campus and they tell her, hey, a bag is

414
00:27:36.799 --> 00:27:42.460
waiting near the University of Tennessee's agricultural campus. And once

415
00:27:42.519 --> 00:27:47.170
they were isolated. the attack starts. Colleen was beaten, her

416
00:27:47.230 --> 00:27:51.789
head was slammed into concrete, she was kicked, she was

417
00:27:51.930 --> 00:27:55.250
cut with a box cutter and a small meat cleaver,

418
00:27:55.710 --> 00:27:59.089
a rag was tied around her mouth, and she was

419
00:27:59.170 --> 00:28:03.750
made to remove her bra and shirt where Shep carved

420
00:28:03.910 --> 00:28:07.599
a pentagram into her chest while she was still alive.

421
00:28:07.859 --> 00:28:12.380
Pike then said she cut Colleen's throat, and in a statement,

422
00:28:12.519 --> 00:28:16.680
she described cutting it six times and cutting it again

423
00:28:17.019 --> 00:28:23.390
when Colleen kept begging and talking, quote-unquote. The assault ran

424
00:28:23.529 --> 00:28:27.869
somewhere between 30 minutes to an hour, y'all. When Colleen

425
00:28:27.950 --> 00:28:31.740
tried to run, ship grabbed her and brought her back

426
00:28:32.200 --> 00:28:36.460
and Pike ended it by smashing her skull with a

427
00:28:36.579 --> 00:28:43.140
large piece of asphalt, shattering it. And before leaving, Pike

428
00:28:43.660 --> 00:28:50.390
actually takes a piece of Colleen Slimmer's skull. Evil in

429
00:28:50.430 --> 00:28:54.509
the largest way. form you could ever think of. She

430
00:28:54.569 --> 00:28:58.500
wanted to take a fucking piece of her skull. She

431
00:28:58.720 --> 00:29:02.960
actually kept it. And here's an interesting side note on that.

432
00:29:03.160 --> 00:29:05.980
That female that I talked about that was talking to

433
00:29:06.000 --> 00:29:09.480
the officer that day after the body was found, it

434
00:29:09.519 --> 00:29:13.960
was Krista Pike. So obviously she's charged with murder at

435
00:29:14.000 --> 00:29:17.740
this time and Peterson was also charged. But get this,

436
00:29:17.900 --> 00:29:22.359
Peterson becomes a witness and prosecutors would later acknowledge they

437
00:29:22.400 --> 00:29:26.369
cannot tie her to the cutting itself because beyond her presence.

438
00:29:26.829 --> 00:29:30.549
So believe it or not, in April of 1996, she

439
00:29:30.670 --> 00:29:34.769
actually pleaded guilty to accessory after the fact and her

440
00:29:34.970 --> 00:29:38.970
murder indictment, it gets dismissed. And for all of this,

441
00:29:39.269 --> 00:29:45.440
Peterson gets six months probation. That's it. That absolutely turned

442
00:29:45.500 --> 00:29:49.089
my stomach when I found out about that. Shipp also

443
00:29:49.160 --> 00:29:53.130
confesses as well he was 17. Now, he was young

444
00:29:53.170 --> 00:29:56.410
enough that Tennessee would not seek the death penalty, but

445
00:29:56.450 --> 00:29:59.849
he was tried as an adult. Pike was charged for

446
00:29:59.970 --> 00:30:03.730
first degree murder and the state obviously sought death for

447
00:30:03.789 --> 00:30:08.440
her and life So fast forwarding to the verdict on

448
00:30:08.480 --> 00:30:13.670
March 30th, 1996, after just a few hours of deliberation,

449
00:30:14.049 --> 00:30:18.309
Krista Pike is sentenced to death at that time by

450
00:30:18.410 --> 00:30:23.299
electrocution on that murder. She's 20 years old and the

451
00:30:23.460 --> 00:30:28.039
youngest woman alive. ever sentenced to death in the United States. Now,

452
00:30:28.150 --> 00:30:32.900
Shipp's trial would come later in January of 1997, when

453
00:30:32.960 --> 00:30:36.240
he is convicted and receives life as well as a

454
00:30:36.259 --> 00:30:41.700
25-year conspiracy term. But it wasn't life without parole. He

455
00:30:41.799 --> 00:30:46.849
did come up for parole consideration in 2025, and he

456
00:30:46.910 --> 00:30:51.210
was denied. His next review is set for 2030, and

457
00:30:51.269 --> 00:30:55.599
he is still in prison today. fortunately, right now. And

458
00:30:55.640 --> 00:30:59.440
it's important to note, Pike has never denied her guilt

459
00:30:59.740 --> 00:31:03.099
in this case. That's important to note. This isn't a

460
00:31:03.180 --> 00:31:06.069
case where you would say maybe the person didn't do it.

461
00:31:06.400 --> 00:31:10.559
She 100% did it. And from the way she acted

462
00:31:10.599 --> 00:31:13.609
in prison, she didn't even regret it. Now, why do

463
00:31:13.660 --> 00:31:17.730
I say that? Because on August 24th of 2001, there

464
00:31:17.750 --> 00:31:21.349
was a fire at the Tennessee Prison for Women, And

465
00:31:21.410 --> 00:31:25.289
during this fire, three women were moved into what's known

466
00:31:25.710 --> 00:31:30.400
as the recreation cage. Those three women were Patricia Jones,

467
00:31:30.759 --> 00:31:36.220
Natasha Cornett, and Krista Pike. So in this wreckage, a

468
00:31:36.279 --> 00:31:41.349
dispute starts between Cornett and Jones. Pike gets involved in

469
00:31:41.410 --> 00:31:46.450
this dispute and starts choking Jones with a heavy shoelace

470
00:31:46.920 --> 00:31:51.299
until Jones passes out. Now, Jones was no angel either.

471
00:31:51.680 --> 00:31:54.779
She was serving life for the murder of an 84-year-old

472
00:31:55.220 --> 00:31:58.950
in Knoxville. So here's Krista Pike basically trying to commit

473
00:31:59.190 --> 00:32:03.869
her second murder, and her claim was she was protecting Cornette,

474
00:32:04.190 --> 00:32:07.509
who was her friend. However, for that on top of

475
00:32:07.549 --> 00:32:12.900
her death sentence... She receives another 25 years. Then, in

476
00:32:12.980 --> 00:32:17.180
March of 2012, an escape plane actually surfaces with a

477
00:32:17.220 --> 00:32:21.140
correctional officer named Justin Heflin, as well as a man

478
00:32:21.180 --> 00:32:25.339
in New Jersey named Donald Kohut. who was a personal

479
00:32:25.400 --> 00:32:28.990
trainer in his 30s, and he starts riding Pike, and

480
00:32:29.230 --> 00:32:32.369
I guess they fall in love or whatever, and somehow

481
00:32:32.410 --> 00:32:35.609
they involve this correctional officer, and they come up with

482
00:32:35.630 --> 00:32:38.930
this big escape plan, which could have been pulled off

483
00:32:39.150 --> 00:32:43.130
because now you have a correctional officer involved, but fortunately

484
00:32:43.259 --> 00:32:47.359
the plan was discovered and thwarted before it could ever happen.

485
00:32:47.869 --> 00:32:51.210
So now let's go to September 30th of 2025. And

486
00:32:51.250 --> 00:32:54.970
this girl has been in prison on death row since

487
00:32:55.170 --> 00:32:59.799
the freaking 90s. And finally, we get an execution date.

488
00:33:00.099 --> 00:33:05.740
On September 30th of 2025, the Tennessee Supreme Court sets

489
00:33:05.940 --> 00:33:09.650
Pike's execution date for the next year to the day,

490
00:33:10.009 --> 00:33:14.809
September 30th of 2026. And the electric chair protocol that

491
00:33:14.869 --> 00:33:21.099
she was originally sentenced to change to single drug execution

492
00:33:21.140 --> 00:33:26.009
in this case. And they use pentobarbital, which is a

493
00:33:26.230 --> 00:33:31.210
protocol that the state adopted in 2024. It was considered

494
00:33:31.349 --> 00:33:36.970
more humane to electrocution, but it's a single dose protocol,

495
00:33:37.009 --> 00:33:40.589
a single drug. So in Louisiana, we use three drugs.

496
00:33:40.650 --> 00:33:43.009
We use one that puts you to sleep, then we

497
00:33:43.170 --> 00:33:46.420
use a paralytic, and then we use the drug It's

498
00:33:46.509 --> 00:33:51.089
potassium that actually kills you. So in my research after

499
00:33:51.130 --> 00:33:54.910
this case, as I suspected, the single drug protocol is

500
00:33:54.930 --> 00:33:59.009
a little riskier than a three drug protocol if you

501
00:33:59.049 --> 00:34:02.670
want to actually carry out the sentence as it's imposed.

502
00:34:02.809 --> 00:34:05.579
But regardless of that, everything gets set for Krista Pike

503
00:34:05.670 --> 00:34:11.119
to be the 19th woman executed nationally since 1976. She's

504
00:34:11.119 --> 00:34:14.320
50 years old just a week ago when all this

505
00:34:14.420 --> 00:34:16.900
was going to go down. Now, it's important to mention

506
00:34:16.960 --> 00:34:20.320
she had a medical diagnosis called, and I'm not even

507
00:34:20.360 --> 00:34:27.650
going to try to pronounce this, but it's spelled T-H-R-O-M-B-O-C-Y-T-O-S-I-S,

508
00:34:27.889 --> 00:34:32.389
which is a disease where your blood struggles to clot. Now,

509
00:34:32.610 --> 00:34:36.059
in addition to that, as I said, small veins, She

510
00:34:36.099 --> 00:34:41.280
had unusually small veins and that made IV needle insertion difficult.

511
00:34:41.500 --> 00:34:44.639
So that was one issue. The other issue that was

512
00:34:44.780 --> 00:34:49.139
raised is that she was sexually assaulted as a child

513
00:34:49.380 --> 00:34:52.460
and thus she should not be executed. So I want

514
00:34:52.480 --> 00:34:55.239
to say something about both of those things. First, it's

515
00:34:55.320 --> 00:34:58.440
clear now she certainly had an issue with her veins.

516
00:34:59.230 --> 00:35:01.889
And I'll tell you how we know that in just

517
00:35:01.969 --> 00:35:05.070
a second. But I also have a big issue with

518
00:35:05.130 --> 00:35:07.889
the second cause of action, if you will, as to

519
00:35:07.949 --> 00:35:10.530
why she shouldn't be executed. And they said it was

520
00:35:10.590 --> 00:35:13.510
because of her sexual assault as a child, which is,

521
00:35:13.840 --> 00:35:16.039
if that's true, that's horrific.

522
00:35:16.519 --> 00:35:17.360
It's horrible.

523
00:35:18.280 --> 00:35:20.440
One of the worst things you can ever go through,

524
00:35:20.519 --> 00:35:23.500
I can imagine. But it doesn't give you the right

525
00:35:23.659 --> 00:35:27.030
to kill somebody. And just to enlighten those that might

526
00:35:27.389 --> 00:35:30.909
not be aware of this, most, I would probably say

527
00:35:30.969 --> 00:35:35.230
a high percentage of serial killers are and especially serial

528
00:35:35.369 --> 00:35:39.429
rapists at some point in their life, were sexually abused.

529
00:35:39.570 --> 00:35:42.610
So could you imagine a world in which if someone

530
00:35:42.690 --> 00:35:47.360
is sexually abused, they are not deemed held responsible for

531
00:35:47.480 --> 00:35:51.480
their actions to the highest degree that a court deems

532
00:35:51.940 --> 00:35:55.760
is justified? I just told you how horrific what this

533
00:35:55.840 --> 00:35:59.360
girl did was. And it's my view, and you don't

534
00:35:59.380 --> 00:36:02.880
have to agree with this if you're against the death penalty, whatever.

535
00:36:03.539 --> 00:36:08.010
I believe that some people's evil acts are so horrendous,

536
00:36:08.630 --> 00:36:12.289
they don't deserve to be breathing oxygen. It's my opinion,

537
00:36:12.510 --> 00:36:16.159
you can have yours, but this girl, if anybody deserved,

538
00:36:16.710 --> 00:36:21.039
to be executed, she would qualify after what the fuck

539
00:36:21.159 --> 00:36:24.500
she did. So moving on from that, her defense appeals

540
00:36:24.579 --> 00:36:27.320
to the Supreme Court and she actually gets a stay

541
00:36:27.489 --> 00:36:31.769
for about 24 hours while the Supreme Court considers the

542
00:36:31.849 --> 00:36:35.090
facts of this sexual assault. When she was younger, it

543
00:36:35.159 --> 00:36:38.610
was alleged, but they considered it and they say, no,

544
00:36:38.829 --> 00:36:41.929
we're going to go on with the execution. Now, they

545
00:36:41.949 --> 00:36:46.309
had already considered the medical diagnosis that she had and

546
00:36:46.329 --> 00:36:48.860
apparently felt they were going to move forward with it.

547
00:36:49.050 --> 00:36:51.650
Maybe they wouldn't have any problems. And that's what they do.

548
00:36:51.949 --> 00:36:55.730
She goes into the room and dies. nothing goes as planned.

549
00:36:56.030 --> 00:36:59.139
She had a lot of IV troubles. As a matter

550
00:36:59.179 --> 00:37:03.239
of fact, prison officials tried to start IV lines using

551
00:37:03.360 --> 00:37:07.340
at least seven different needles. One of the needles in

552
00:37:07.380 --> 00:37:11.750
particular was bent into a 90 degree angle when removed,

553
00:37:11.809 --> 00:37:16.019
according to reports. At one point, Pike even offered advice

554
00:37:16.099 --> 00:37:19.000
on where to place the needle. It's also reported that

555
00:37:19.099 --> 00:37:24.909
she received two doses of pentobarbital. Witnesses and lawyers reported

556
00:37:24.969 --> 00:37:28.610
that she cried and breathed loudly during the attempt. So

557
00:37:28.630 --> 00:37:32.750
they tried this twice. This is 10 grams of that drug.

558
00:37:33.570 --> 00:37:36.590
From what I've researched, two to five grams is considered

559
00:37:36.610 --> 00:37:39.210
a lethal dose. So she got at least twice the

560
00:37:39.269 --> 00:37:42.309
lethal dose, but the majority of it, I think it's apparent,

561
00:37:42.389 --> 00:37:44.650
did not go in her vein, if any of it.

562
00:37:44.690 --> 00:37:49.340
Her vein likely blew. And for whatever reason, she lived.

563
00:37:49.550 --> 00:37:52.480
So a lot of people are saying, well, at that point,

564
00:37:52.519 --> 00:37:55.340
they transported her to the hospital. And it's been very

565
00:37:55.380 --> 00:37:58.900
hard to wrap my brain around this as well. If

566
00:37:58.960 --> 00:38:02.789
you're trying to kill someone, why would you then... bring

567
00:38:02.829 --> 00:38:06.239
them to the hospital where they have a possibility of living.

568
00:38:06.820 --> 00:38:11.039
And the most commonsensical answer I got was the Eighth Amendment.

569
00:38:11.519 --> 00:38:14.929
We don't believe in cruel and unusual punishment, even for

570
00:38:14.969 --> 00:38:19.190
the most evil among us. And in her case, to

571
00:38:19.329 --> 00:38:25.019
keep attempting was causing undue pain. And that's why they

572
00:38:25.099 --> 00:38:29.320
stopped doing that. In addition to that, You're only allowed

573
00:38:29.579 --> 00:38:34.159
two attempts per the protocol of executions in Tennessee currently.

574
00:38:34.260 --> 00:38:37.119
So they do transport her to the hospital. From what

575
00:38:37.159 --> 00:38:41.380
I've heard from reports, Pike is unconscious and on a ventilator.

576
00:38:41.539 --> 00:38:45.579
Hospital staff are trying to clear the execution drug from

577
00:38:45.699 --> 00:38:48.960
her body. And Pike's lawyers, of course, they filed an

578
00:38:49.019 --> 00:38:52.820
emergency motion to preserve all evidence related to the procedure.

579
00:38:53.360 --> 00:38:56.719
And officials have not stated if they plan executing or

580
00:38:56.800 --> 00:38:59.650
trying to execute her Again, and I think a lot

581
00:38:59.670 --> 00:39:02.610
of that hinges on her mental state after she gets out.

582
00:39:02.730 --> 00:39:06.650
If she is a vegetable, for lack of a better term,

583
00:39:07.010 --> 00:39:10.130
or she has major brain damage, I don't think she's

584
00:39:10.210 --> 00:39:14.320
ever going to get executed. We don't execute people that

585
00:39:14.380 --> 00:39:20.340
have mental incapacities in this country, and she would certainly

586
00:39:20.539 --> 00:39:25.599
fall under that parameter, if you will, if she has

587
00:39:25.699 --> 00:39:28.519
brain damage. So all of that being said, who is

588
00:39:28.579 --> 00:39:29.960
this on? Whose fault is?

589
00:39:30.090 --> 00:39:30.159
It?

590
00:39:30.550 --> 00:39:33.610
Well, clearly, As much as I hate to say it,

591
00:39:33.659 --> 00:39:35.860
this is the fault of the state of Tennessee. They

592
00:39:35.929 --> 00:39:40.530
fucked up, plain and simple. Really was someone that certainly

593
00:39:40.590 --> 00:39:44.349
had issues with her veins. Obviously, we know that was

594
00:39:44.409 --> 00:39:47.630
true now. They should have went to another method. Now

595
00:39:47.690 --> 00:39:52.389
the electrocution method is still available in the state of Tennessee.

596
00:39:52.849 --> 00:39:56.320
So I guess technically they could have done that. And

597
00:39:56.360 --> 00:39:58.820
a lot of people say, what about a firing squad?

598
00:39:58.900 --> 00:40:02.599
Which personally, I believe a firing squad, as much as

599
00:40:02.679 --> 00:40:06.280
people shy away from that, is the most humane way

600
00:40:06.619 --> 00:40:11.550
to execute someone convicted and sentenced in death. They essentially

601
00:40:11.610 --> 00:40:15.889
get three people. They get behind like a barrier where

602
00:40:15.909 --> 00:40:18.429
you can't see them. All you can see is the guns.

603
00:40:18.610 --> 00:40:21.070
There's a target actually put up where the heart is.

604
00:40:21.920 --> 00:40:25.500
And this person dies immediately. in most cases that I've

605
00:40:25.539 --> 00:40:29.260
heard of, instantly. There's very little suffering and it's effective,

606
00:40:29.400 --> 00:40:32.389
but it has to be approved by the legislature in

607
00:40:32.449 --> 00:40:36.030
whatever state in order for a firing squad to be

608
00:40:36.070 --> 00:40:39.010
an option. And in the state of Tennessee, as of yet,

609
00:40:39.469 --> 00:40:43.440
that's not approved, although that may change now. It's just

610
00:40:43.480 --> 00:40:46.780
not considered as a method as of this point. I mean,

611
00:40:46.980 --> 00:40:50.440
in this case, they just fucked up. going with a

612
00:40:50.659 --> 00:40:54.050
one drug lethal injection. And I think this is the

613
00:40:54.190 --> 00:40:57.750
last one you're going to see in the state of Tennessee.

614
00:40:58.150 --> 00:41:01.619
That will be my prediction. So I'll keep you updated

615
00:41:02.000 --> 00:41:05.039
if anything else comes out on this. This was something

616
00:41:05.260 --> 00:41:08.039
I was going to do a completely different episode this week.

617
00:41:08.139 --> 00:41:10.159
And this occurred and I thought it was fitting to

618
00:41:10.199 --> 00:41:12.880
put it on Bloody Angola. So that's what I did.

619
00:41:13.159 --> 00:41:16.269
Thank you so much for listening. Check out the Patreon

620
00:41:16.309 --> 00:41:21.610
for commercial free early releases. Patreon.com slash Bloody Angola podcast.

621
00:41:22.050 --> 00:41:25.130
And until next time for Bloody Angola, I'm your host,

622
00:41:25.170 --> 00:41:26.989
Jim Chapman. Much love.

623
00:41:43.019 --> 00:41:52.369
I walk a straight line, shackled chain. Oh, gruesome Gertie

624
00:41:53.150 --> 00:42:01.769
is calling my name. There is no mercy in this penitentiary.

625
00:42:03.190 --> 00:42:07.920
Just ask the hill string gang, a wrangle of three.

626
00:42:14.199 --> 00:42:15.039
to die.

627
00:42:16.880 --> 00:42:26.420
Inside these walls inside the wild and when the world

628
00:42:26.460 --> 00:42:40.889
cries I know it's over oh bloody Angola oh bloody

629
00:42:41.329 --> 00:42:42.489
Angola