Christa Pike, the convicted killer whose murder of a teenage classmate sent shockwaves across America, is set to become the first woman executed in Tennessee in approximately 200 years.
The 50-year-old is scheduled to receive a lethal injection at the Riverbend Maximum Security Institution in Nashville at 10am local time on Wednesday (3pm BST), following the US Supreme Court's rejection of a last-ditch attempt to stop the execution.
Details of the 1995 Murder
Pike was 18 when she received the death sentence for the murder of 19-year-old Colleen Slemmer in 1995. Prosecutors stated she and her then-boyfriend carried out a sustained and savage assault on the teenager after accusing her of pursuing him.
She accused Colleen of trying to steal her boyfriend before enticing her to a location near the University of Tennessee where she was beaten and attacked with a box cutter. Colleen's body was subsequently discovered with a pentagram carved into her chest and her skull crushed by a large piece of asphalt, according to investigators.
Legal History and Execution Protocol
Now aged 50, Pike allegedly retained a fragment of Colleen's skull and subsequently displayed the macabre trophy to fellow pupils at her school. She was subsequently charged with first-degree murder and received a death sentence on March 30, 1996, roughly one year after Colleen's killing.
Her legal team had petitioned the Supreme Court in a final effort to obtain a stay of execution, but the appeal was turned down on the eve of her scheduled death. Should the execution go ahead, Pike will become the first woman put to death in Tennessee in around two centuries and the 19th woman executed in the United States since the death penalty was reinstated in 1976.
Final Hours and Procedure
The state mandates that lethal injection preparations must commence 48 hours prior to scheduled executions, with all non-legal visits and telephone calls ceasing, according to state protocols. On the condemned person's final day, the prison team readies the lethal injection alongside backup syringes and saline solution. Witnesses may observe the execution, generally arriving between 8.30am and 9.15am that morning.
The prisoner is then restrained by officers and escorted to the chamber at 10am, connected to IV lines, before officials, legal representatives and any clergy members enter the room. By 10:10am, the warden contacts the commissioner to confirm there have been no eleventh-hour stays or reprieves granted.
After four syringes have been delivered, the special operations team signals to the warden at which point a five-minute waiting period commences. Following the five minutes, all witness blinds are drawn and the privacy curtains are likewise closed. The warden subsequently requests a doctor to enter the chamber to assess the prisoner to establish whether they have died. If the prisoner remains alive, the procedure is partially repeated.
