A close friend of death row inmate Christa Pike has revealed the conversation they had days before the murderer was due to die, claiming Pike was 'ready to go' and is 'angry' at the botched execution attempt.
Pike, 50, survived two lethal injections of the drug pentobarbital on September 30, having been set to be the first woman to be executed in Tennessee in over 200 years. She was rushed to hospital and was discharged back to the prison where she has spent the past 30 years, her lawyers said.
Friend's conversation with Pike
Marcy Wilson, 60, spoke to her murderer friend four days before the scheduled execution date and reportedly told Pike not to give up hope. Wilson, according to the Daily Mail, said Pike was however 'ready to go' and was at peace with death.
Wilson said Pike asked if she would want some of her ashes and a lock of her hair, to which Wilson said yes. Wilson said: "It was really hard to talk about. I've never had a conversation with someone who knew when her expiration date was. She was pleased when I said yes."
"She was calm, she was happy, she was sad. It was every single emotion you can think of. She told me, 'Marcy, I'm not afraid to die. I'm just afraid of the process'."
Lawyer's statement on Pike's condition
Pike's lawyers, on Wednesday, said the inmate had been shackled to the bed in a heavily guarded room and she felt 'confused and angry'. Speaking to the press outside the Tennessee court house, her lawyer Randy Spivey told reporters Pike was 'very aware that the state tried to execute her'.
Spivey said Pike asked two questions as soon as she woke up: "Where am I and who are you?" Spivey added that the inmate was unable to move, had 'extraordinary' swelling to her hands and arms, and woke up with a blood clot and pneumonia.
Pike's legal team said for days they believed the inmate was brain dead and thought she would be removed from life support. Her attorneys were appealing for Pike to be removed from death row and have her punishment downgraded to life in prison following the botched execution.
Pike, aged 18, lured her classmate Colleen Slemmer into an isolated area of the University of Tennessee campus and brutally killed her January 1995, after believing Slemmer was interested in her boyfriend. Pike's boyfriend Tadaryl Shipp and their friend Shadolla Peterson were also convicted of participating in Slemmer's murder.
