October 2, 2025 • 27 mins
49 year old Christa Gail Pike was just 18 when she murdered fellow teenage girl, Colleen Slemmer 30 years ago. If Tennessee follows through on Pike’s scheduled execution date next September, Pike will become the 19th woman in modern U.S. history to pay for her crime with her life. Amy and T.J. explain Pike’s horrific crime, give voice to the case to save her life, and explain just how and why it’s so rare for women to face the death penalty.
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Speaker 1 (00:02):
Hey, folks, it is Thursday, October the second, and for
the first time in a long time, a woman is
scheduled to be executed in the United States of America.
And with that, welcome to this episode episode of Amy
and TJ Roapes. It's got a lot of attention, a
lot of headlines. I got us thinking, wait a minute,
(00:23):
we execute women first of all, but it is extremely rare.
So this is making headlines.
Speaker 2 (00:29):
It's making headlines on a national level. But even if
you look specifically in the state of Tennessee, where her
execution date was just scheduled, if the state of Tennessee
follows through and executes this woman, forty nine year old
Christa Gail Pike, she will be the first woman in
more than two hundred years to be executed in the
(00:51):
state of Tennessee, certainly in modern times, the first woman
in that state.
Speaker 1 (00:56):
Well, the first one in a long time in the
United State. As we sit here, we've been talking a
lot about executions. We have past several weeks and months,
because we are on in this country an uptick, a
faster pace than usual. We've had more executions in the
United States this year than we've seen at least since
twenty fifteen, and Florida is leading the way. We're used
(01:20):
to Texas leading the way, but they're doing It's forgiven
me for the phrase. They're doing gang busters down there,
if you will.
Speaker 2 (01:26):
In terms of execution, yes, I believe Nashley, we're more
than three dozen, and I think we have nine or
ten more scheduled for this year alone. So yes, we
are on a recent record pace. Florida leading the way,
and I believe the other states are Texas and South Carolina,
and that is where I witness my execution. In the
state of South Carolina. They are certainly known for meaning business.
Speaker 3 (01:49):
When they say you are sentenced to death, they follow through.
Speaker 1 (01:52):
So these have been making headlines lately. A lot of
the reasons A lot of people are wondering the robes why,
Like what's going on with the issue is and have
something changed? Well a few things. Actually you had COVID,
and you had a lot of states actually couldn't get
their hands on the right drugs and what not to
do lethal injections. There were issues about cruel and unusual punishment,
(02:16):
so there was not necessarily a moratorium, but things slowed
down because they couldn't get the right drugs, and now
everybody's got access once again to a lot of things,
and that's why we're seeking uptick correct.
Speaker 2 (02:26):
And they've also a lot of states during that period
of time when they couldn't figure out how to get
the drugs right and to make it less cruel, they
were expanding even options for inmates as to how they
should die. So many states tried to continue the process
by expanding ways to die. So we've seen some states
add nitrogen gas. We've seen some states add the firing squad,
(02:50):
and in the state of Tennessee they actually added it's
a strange thing because it was outlawed to electrocute someone.
But bottom line, if you've committed a crime before nineteen
ninety nine, you can still choose electrocution other than lethal injection.
That's how concerned death row inmates were about the pain
they may suffer in dying with lethal injection, that they've
(03:12):
chosen methods like the electric chair, which seems insane to me,
but that's just how concerning it's become, certainly with the
headlines about it being an incredibly painful way to die.
Speaker 1 (03:23):
Yeah, we've seen firing squad and a couple of nitrogen
gas executions here as of late. But what we're talking
about now is a woman by the name of Christa
Gail Pike. She is on death row. She's been on
death row nearly three decades in Tennessee. She's forty nine
years old now. But robe she was convicted of a
pretty not just murder, but a pretty heinous crime. That
(03:47):
is really it kind of makes your skin crawl when
you hear some of the details of what she was
accused of. And we should say she is not denying,
has admitted to right.
Speaker 2 (03:56):
She was convicted of this, so we don't need to
say allegedly or anything that anything like that. But yes,
this wasn't just a murder. This was a torture that
ended in murder. Basically, they've called it a gruesome and
prolonged attack against nineteen year old Colleen Slummer, who Pike
considered to be a romantic rival. Basically, she thought this
(04:18):
young girl was going after her boyfriend, so she got
her boyfriend, a friend, and herself to lure Colleen Slummer.
This was all in Knoxville, Tennessee. They were at a
Knoxville Job Corps program for students who maybe had gone awry.
But this was near the University of Tennessee campus and
they got her to come out.
Speaker 3 (04:39):
They lured her to this wooded area and with.
Speaker 2 (04:42):
A box cutter, Pike carved a pentagram and her forehead
on her chest. They beat her, they stabbed her, they
taunted her. Reportedly she was pleading for her life, and this,
they say, went on. This torture went on for an hour.
This was a horrific, awful, gut wrenching crime that was committed.
Speaker 1 (05:06):
So the question about the crime and the guilt, it's
not one of those situations. There are still people out
there and I guess this robe is in every case
we've seen, every death penalty case, that will be people
out there who are just against the death penalty. Not
necessarily always trying to prove innocence, but they are against
the death penalty and they say, no, we shouldn't put
(05:27):
someone to death. We have cases where people are pleading
that someone is actually innocent, and then you have a
case like this where some are saying there are factors
that need to be taken into consideration, including the age,
the trauma she went through, her maturity level at the time,
and her mental illness. That is why some people now
(05:51):
robes are trying to save this woman's life.
Speaker 3 (05:53):
That's correct.
Speaker 2 (05:54):
So the crime was committed in nineteen ninety five, she
was convicted in nineteen ninety six. Are arguing for some
sort of clemency so that she, yes, she belongs in prison,
she should spend the rest of her life in prison.
I don't think anyone is arguing against that, including Pike herself.
But they're fighting for the government, or at least for
the state of Tennessee, to spare her life. Because yes,
(06:16):
she was eighteen at the time of the crime. She
had suffered for her entire life sexual and physical abuse.
She had undiagnosed bipolar disorder. And so when you take
into consideration, and this is something that states can and
do consider these days in modern times, mental illness and age.
Those two things weren't argued or considered, they claim in
(06:39):
her case, and that her lawyers didn't bring this to light,
that the jury didn't take this into consideration.
Speaker 3 (06:44):
But when they chose to death, we.
Speaker 1 (06:46):
Consider those things. So again, if not even brought up,
but even if it is brought up today we view
those things so differently.
Speaker 3 (06:54):
We do, Mike, I mean, she shouldn't.
Speaker 1 (06:55):
Be okay, we don't mind making that case. But it's
just a matter of we look at it. It's just
no matter if we didn't consider it back in ninety
five or ninety six. Even if you did, you'd look
at it differently. We consider mental illness a different monster
than we did at that time.
Speaker 3 (07:12):
Without a doubt.
Speaker 2 (07:13):
And here's the other interesting part of this. So she
had her boyfriend to Darryl Ship with her at the time,
the man who she thought or the I hate to
say man, the.
Speaker 3 (07:24):
Young guy who she was dating who she thought.
Speaker 2 (07:26):
This other woman, Colleen Slummer, who ended up being murdered,
was after he participated, along with another eighteen year old
Shadala Peterson. They were all a part of this. Now,
obviously Pike was the ringleader, but according to everything I'm
rating to Darryl's Ship contributed to it.
Speaker 3 (07:46):
But here's the deal. He was a few months younger
than her, so.
Speaker 2 (07:49):
He was seventeen and she was eighteen. And so now
to Darryl Ship, who was seventeen at the time, he
also was sentenced to life in prison, but he wasn't
given the penalty because he wasn't eligible for it because
he wasn't eighteen. And so get this next year, when
she is set to be executed, he is up for parole.
Speaker 3 (08:11):
There's the difference of a few months.
Speaker 1 (08:14):
Look the look the laws, the law, and all those
little legal details are what they are. Again, some are
making the argument, obviously that's not fair. Literally next year
he's eligible to leave rison, she is set to be executed.
Obviously people argue that's not fair. I was, and I
think this made headlines ropes. There have been a lot
(08:34):
of executions this year. You and I've covered probably two
or three that rose to a level. For some reason,
we're just not used to seeing women on death row
and talking about them being executed. We just don't do it.
And to think that we're going to see the first
one in this country in five years, possibly next year,
(08:55):
I guess brings attention to the death penalty, don't you
think in a different way than you usually does? Why
does it? Why should it? Some of these crimes I
hear about women I've been We've been doing deep dies
than women who've been on death row, just as hainous
of crimes as you will ever hear. But why do
we look at it differently when we're talking about putting
a women to death? Versus a mantagm.
Speaker 2 (09:15):
I was just going to ask you that same question,
because a human is a human, and so I don't
think I think, especially those of us who would like
to be treated equally when it comes to pay and
given certain opportunities to be looked at the same as men,
we then can't also say, oh, but treat us differently
when it comes to punishments, when it comes to owning
up to our mistakes. In terms of yes, all of
(09:38):
those punishments, however we see fit in this country to
choose to punish people. Shouldn't it be a one size
fits all? Should it not be only given out to
men and rarely given out to women? Look obviously, well
I shouldn't say obviously, but I do believe more violent
crimes and more murders are committed by men than women.
Speaker 3 (09:58):
No, that's fact.
Speaker 2 (10:01):
But if women commit just as heinous crimes as men,
shouldn't they be held to the same standard. Shouldn't we
want that to be the case if we want equal
treatment on all the other avenues of our lives.
Speaker 1 (10:14):
So your point everything you said, yes, that should be
the case. My question still, why is it, though? I
guess just is it just a matter of that, it's rare,
we're more fast. What is my favorite true crime show? Snapped?
Because every story is about a woman committing this crime.
I think because it is so rare that there's some
(10:36):
fascination about it.
Speaker 3 (10:37):
Without a doubt.
Speaker 1 (10:37):
Maybe that's it.
Speaker 2 (10:38):
I think that's it because as women, we are looked
to and typically are. Whether it's biological or society driven,
I don't know, but we tend to be the nurturers,
the caregivers sex.
Speaker 1 (10:52):
We're not wrong to say, okay, that's yes.
Speaker 3 (10:55):
No, no, I don't think it is at all, and
we don't.
Speaker 2 (10:57):
We're not as likely to we're not as likely to
go into a murderous rage.
Speaker 3 (11:04):
Can it happen?
Speaker 2 (11:05):
Of course it can, but it's rarer, and yes, that
is why we look at it differently. And I think
that is perhaps why we treat women differently when it
comes to punishment.
Speaker 1 (11:15):
It feel it looks it just it feels different to say, oh,
a woman, oh, and the question is okay, well what
does she do? And then I hear, oh, she did that. Okay,
I kind of get it. This is not a death
penalty necessarily right now, discussion about whether or not it
is right or wrong. This is now a conversation at
(11:37):
least about the death penalty that we're only having because
we're talking about a woman. I'm saying that why is
a woman? I'm asking You've answered it clearly and we've
said yeah. But it's just interesting that the conversation now
goes a different direction or is heightened because of the
rarity of having a woman being on death row. Look,
(11:59):
we've got forty eight women. Isn't on death row in
the United States? But what is it? We got twenty
one hundred men?
Speaker 3 (12:03):
Yes, women?
Speaker 1 (12:04):
What is that percentage? Was it three? Was it one? Whatever?
Speaker 2 (12:06):
That I've seen percentages between one and three percent of
anyone on death row is a female. So yes, ninety
seven to ninety nine percent of death row inmates are men.
Speaker 1 (12:15):
Isn't that your first question? Wait? I want so they're
on death row. But now this is the only one
scheduled to be executed. Correct, there is an execution date,
and if we haven't said clearly, it's.
Speaker 2 (12:26):
Sept September thirtieth, twenty twenty six. And you know, I
want to point out too, because I mentioned what she
did with a box cutter and how she sliced and
brutalized this nineteen year old young woman.
Speaker 3 (12:39):
But she also this is I believe what the fatal
blow was.
Speaker 2 (12:42):
She actually took a piece a chunk of asphalt and
bashed it into this young woman's head.
Speaker 3 (12:50):
And then a part of this is really gruesome.
Speaker 2 (12:52):
I'm sorry to say this, but I just want to
give you an idea of what this woman did what
she was convicted of, Krista Pike. She actually then took
a piece of the skull that came off and showed
it off to schoolmates, to classmates saying, look what I
did here is a piece of a skull of a
young woman I just brutally murdered. So this was a
(13:13):
woman who not only took her time terrorizing, torturing, and
killing Colleen Slummer, but then showed off and bragged about
the murder later to classmates. That is especially despicable.
Speaker 1 (13:28):
And yeah, I agree, No one is disagreeing with what
you're saying. Yeah, we're just not used to and this
is one of those cases. We're just not used to
ropes hearing about women doing that. I keep going back
to this in the discussion we're having, we would not
(13:49):
be doing this if we had heard this was a
man who had done this exactly the same thing. We
just did a story about a man on death row.
But the only reason we did it is because there
was something that pulled at our heartstrings. There was a
redemption story. There was something there even though he executed
a woman in a gas station, but the son of
(14:11):
that woman he executed forgave him and that was a
story to it. This is a woman, now, there's nothing
about There is nothing I have read that makes me sympathetic.
When I read her crime, when I read her story,
when I read her background, when I read her history,
when I read her upbringing, when I read what she
went through, it makes you pump the brakes. Not because
(14:33):
she's a woman.
Speaker 3 (14:35):
I think that's a very fair way to put it.
Speaker 2 (14:37):
And there is an entire campaign online hashtag Mercy for Christa,
and this is what they are saying.
Speaker 3 (14:46):
They're actually collecting.
Speaker 2 (14:48):
Signatures for the governor to try and stop the execution.
There on a mission as this execution date has just
been set.
Speaker 3 (14:57):
But their big point is Krista.
Speaker 2 (14:58):
Pike is the only woman on Tennessee's death row for
a crime committed when she was an eighteen year old
girl with untreated severe mental illness. And they have a
quote from Krista Pike and this, look, it doesn't take
away her crime. It doesn't undo what she did, and
we should point out her victim's mother is adamant that
she wants Krista Pike put to death. But this is
(15:21):
what Christa Pike had to say. There is no excuse
for what I did. There are reasons for the way
that I acted, but nothing excuses the crime and the
damage it has caused to so many lives.
Speaker 1 (15:35):
The victim's mom doesn't want to hear any of that,
and I understand that's nothing to talk about. And what
was she put it as a the way the mom
put it.
Speaker 2 (15:43):
That she wants her to be put down, it sounded
as if she was referring to her as an animal,
and I understand that because what she did to her
daughter was animalistic.
Speaker 1 (15:53):
And again, we talk about people in prison and there
to have these redemption stories and how much they have
worked and improved themselves and model prisoners. She actually, since
the time she's been in prison, Robes has been convicted
of another crime in prison that's pretty heinous as well.
That added a whole bunch of years to her already
life sentence.
Speaker 2 (16:12):
She got an extra twenty five years because she strangled
or attempted to strangle another inmate while in prison.
Speaker 3 (16:20):
So yes, she had another twenty five.
Speaker 2 (16:24):
Years added to her life sentence and death sentence. I
mean at that point, she really didn't have any reason
for good behavior.
Speaker 3 (16:33):
I guess there was really no incentive for her.
Speaker 2 (16:35):
To behave Well, it's still those speaks to and Look,
I don't know what prison environment or prison culture is like.
I don't know if it's a kill or be killed.
It sounds like it is when I watch movies or
here documentaries, but I don't know why or what the
circumstances were surrounding it. But certainly she has violent tendencies.
I think that has been well documented.
Speaker 1 (16:57):
But folks, it got us thinking about how many women
have been executed in this country. It got us thinking
about who was the last woman executed in this country?
And would you believe the answer? Isn't that clear cut?
Speaker 2 (17:25):
Welcome back to this edition of Amy and TJ. We
are talking about a big headline here in Tennessee. They
are set to execute a woman.
Speaker 1 (17:33):
You sit here in Tennessee.
Speaker 3 (17:34):
Yeah, you know what we're.
Speaker 2 (17:35):
Actually in Georgia to be perfectly frank. So we're in
the South, and maybe that's why I said that, But sorry,
Tennessee has just announced or they just scheduled the first
execution of a woman in more than two hundred years,
and it is set to happen September thirtieth, twenty twenty six.
We are talking about now forty nine year old Christa
(17:57):
Gail Pike.
Speaker 1 (17:57):
But she was just.
Speaker 2 (17:58):
Eighteen years old when she committed a gruesome and prolonged
murder of a romantic rival, a nineteen year old, another
young girl. But the manner in which she killed her,
the torture that was involved, no one's disputing how despicable
it was. But it certainly is of note that she
is and has been the only woman on death role
(18:19):
in that state for thirty years now, and.
Speaker 1 (18:25):
From what her attorneys say, she hasn't actually a lot
of that been able to interact with other prisoners. This
has been a miserable existence for her, and a lot
of people say, yes, she.
Speaker 2 (18:33):
Got what she deserved, solitary confinement for twenty seven years.
Speaker 1 (18:37):
That's up. So now here we are she has an
execution date. She is the only woman I believe in
the United States of America who has an execution date.
There are forty eight women in the United States on
death row. None of them have a planned execution date.
She is the only one out of what twenty one
(18:59):
hundred men.
Speaker 3 (18:59):
We just said, yes, there's a big disparity.
Speaker 1 (19:01):
So who was the last You have to ask who
was the last woman executed? And certainly we asked that question.
The last woman executed from what we could tell, was
Lisa Marie Montgomery. That was in January of twenty twenty one.
Did I say this was tera hate Indiana? Again? Another heinus,
this was a hey, this was the one strangled a
woman and then a pregnant woman and then cut the
(19:24):
baby out of this woman. The woman died, that bleeds out.
The baby actually survives, right, and it ends up with family.
But that was the crime. This woman again mental illness,
long history of mental illness. But she was executed in
January of twenty twenty one. However, twenty twenty three rogues,
there is conversation and we have to explain at least
(19:45):
and just be fully honest here about what happened.
Speaker 2 (19:49):
Well, it was a little confusing because we actually were
trying to remember any headline where a woman had been
executed in this country in recent history and modern history,
and we couldn't think of one, so we googled it,
and turns out Amber McLaughlin in twenty twenty three of
Missouri was executed.
Speaker 3 (20:07):
But then upon further.
Speaker 2 (20:09):
Review, it's a little interesting, and look, she's the first
transgender person ever executed, but she was convicted as a
male and it was for the rape and murder of
a woman, so it's tough to say. Look, I understand
there was a transition after she was convicted, but her
conviction was as a male. She was executed as a
(20:32):
transgender female. So we just wanted to at least put
that out there, that that is technically the last woman
transgender woman who was executed. But Lisa Marie Montgomery, that
story is just beyond I also think it's interesting because
we say in Tennessee that this will now be the
(20:53):
first execution of a female in more than two hundred years.
You have to go back to eighteen oh seven, between
eight eighteen oh seven in eighteen nineteen to find any
other woman who's been executed in the state of Tennessee.
Speaker 1 (21:06):
And again they call it executed. But these were three
black women, enslaved women. I believe and do I see
right that they don't even have the names of two
of them.
Speaker 2 (21:19):
They don't have the names of two of them, and
they don't have the crimes listed, which is also just
scary and sad. So the last three women before this
case were enslaved black women whose crimes were not listed,
who two of whose names.
Speaker 3 (21:37):
Weren't even listed.
Speaker 2 (21:38):
That just speaks of volumes about how they were regarded.
Speaker 1 (21:42):
This is going to be the first woman executed in
modern history in the state of Tennessee, without a doubt,
Christ the Pike, and that's coming. So we want to
tead you and she had again we've talked about this.
In other executions, they get to choose their method of execution.
Her options in Tennessee aren't as plentiful as in some
(22:02):
other places.
Speaker 3 (22:03):
Correctly so, the standard.
Speaker 2 (22:06):
Mode of operation in terms of execution is lethal injection.
And the way it was described or written was that
she would be notified by the state as to what
her form of execution would be, and it would most
likely be lethal injection. How desert is well, that was
what it for most inmates. That is the truth. But
if you committed your crime before nineteen ninety nine, you
(22:29):
can choose electrocution. So it appears as if she could
choose the electric chair because her crime was committed in
nineteen ninety five, so she would technically have the right
to ask for the electric chair rather than lethal injection.
And you know, she's run out of options at this point,
she's been in death row for thirty years. That is
pretty much the case the way it works in this country,
(22:51):
for the extensive and exhaustive appeals process that has to
be in place for folks, because look, we were looking
into how many people are executed who after they're killed,
after they're executed, have been found to be innocent.
Speaker 1 (23:06):
They say, on average four a year. On average we
have four people a year who are on death row
who end up exonerated. That is what I was discussing
with your heads. That is the case for getting rid
of the death penalty. This is just a mistake you
cannot make.
Speaker 2 (23:19):
It's a case for getting rid of the death penalty
on a moral level, but on a financial one. It
costs I don't know the exact numbers, but it's at
least ten times. It costs more than a million dollars
to execute one prisoner in this country because of the
expensive and exhaustive legal proceedings that have to take place
to try and make sure we don't execute innocent people.
(23:41):
But what ends up happening is the bill. It is
I believe you can house up to ten inmates for
life for the same cost you can to execute one.
Speaker 3 (23:51):
So it is cost prohibitive.
Speaker 2 (23:53):
It is immoral in a lot of folks, eyes and
a lot of crime would argue that it is not
a deterrent because no one thinks they're going.
Speaker 3 (24:04):
To get caught.
Speaker 1 (24:05):
Who says it's a moral.
Speaker 3 (24:06):
Catholics a lot of folks who were Catholics.
Speaker 1 (24:10):
In this country, and I'm setting you up for something.
Speaker 2 (24:12):
Here in the northeat I mean the Catholic the Catholic community,
the large Catholic community is in the Midwest and the Northeast.
Speaker 1 (24:18):
The nineteen seventy six, this is the date people use.
That's when the federal moratorium on executions was lifted, and
that's when executions kind of started back up again. They
call that the modern era, if you will, of executions.
I asked you about where people were, where Catholics are,
because since nineteen seventy six, and if you will, there's
a great resource I know you've been looking at it
as well, called the Death Penalty Resource Center. You're the
(24:40):
Death Penalty Information Center. They are the kind of the
gatekeepers of all this information. But where since nineteen seventy
six in the country the executions have taken place? The
South thirteen hundred and forty two, in the South, in
the northeast.
Speaker 3 (24:55):
Four and yes in those south, yes.
Speaker 1 (25:00):
Eighteen hundred plus four in the northeast, the midwest two
hundred and four, the west ninety one. But in the
South thirteen hundred plus. Texas has six hundred just on
their own. That doesn't count in the South number. But
if you see go from Texas on over to the Atlantic,
(25:22):
and that is where almost ninety plus percent of the
executions take place.
Speaker 2 (25:28):
And look in the world, we are the only Western
civilized country that still legalizes.
Speaker 3 (25:37):
Executions period.
Speaker 2 (25:39):
In fact, I looked up which country executes the most
people and they don't have exact numbers because so much
of the information in this country is secretive.
Speaker 1 (25:47):
We comte China, China, China.
Speaker 3 (25:50):
Yeah, Saudi Arabia, Iraq and Iran.
Speaker 2 (25:53):
Woo, We're compete with those those are the countries that
have the highest number of state sanctioned country sinc executions.
Speaker 3 (26:00):
But we're right there, up there with them.
Speaker 1 (26:03):
I had no qualms with anybody, this victim's mother. You can't,
you can't ever question that. No, But just there's been
a lot of death penalty, a lot of talk of death,
a lot of talk of these methods that are used,
a lot of talk of the descriptions of how people die,
and people have their own opinions about the death penalty,
(26:24):
and the conversation will now ramp up, and I think
we'll have this for a year plus in a different
way because now it's a woman, and that's just a
different death penalty conversation than.
Speaker 3 (26:35):
We're used to see.
Speaker 2 (26:35):
It certainly will be. And Slummer's mother, May Martinez is
her name. I just wanted to end with her quote.
She said, I would like Tennessee to hear my plea
and finally end this after thirty years. We will continue
to follow this case. It certainly is going to be
a historic one, and we'll see what ensues in terms
(26:57):
of appeals and any possible last ditch efforts she may have.
We know this petition is circulating. I think they have
a couple thousand signatures on the petition. Don't know how
much that is going to sway the Tennessee governor at
this point, but certainly there will be more to the
story and we will be on it.
Speaker 3 (27:13):
So thank you for listening to us. Everyone. I'm Amy
Roback alongside TJ. Holmes. We'll talk to you soon.
Hey, folks, it is Thursday, October the second, and for
the first time in a long time, a woman is
scheduled to be executed in the United States of America.
And with that, welcome to this episode episode of Amy
and TJ Roapes. It's got a lot of attention, a
lot of headlines. I got us thinking, wait a minute,
(00:23):
we execute women first of all, but it is extremely rare.
So this is making headlines.
Speaker 2 (00:29):
It's making headlines on a national level. But even if
you look specifically in the state of Tennessee, where her
execution date was just scheduled, if the state of Tennessee
follows through and executes this woman, forty nine year old
Christa Gail Pike, she will be the first woman in
more than two hundred years to be executed in the
(00:51):
state of Tennessee, certainly in modern times, the first woman
in that state.
Speaker 1 (00:56):
Well, the first one in a long time in the
United State. As we sit here, we've been talking a
lot about executions. We have past several weeks and months,
because we are on in this country an uptick, a
faster pace than usual. We've had more executions in the
United States this year than we've seen at least since
twenty fifteen, and Florida is leading the way. We're used
(01:20):
to Texas leading the way, but they're doing It's forgiven
me for the phrase. They're doing gang busters down there,
if you will.
Speaker 2 (01:26):
In terms of execution, yes, I believe Nashley, we're more
than three dozen, and I think we have nine or
ten more scheduled for this year alone. So yes, we
are on a recent record pace. Florida leading the way,
and I believe the other states are Texas and South Carolina,
and that is where I witness my execution. In the
state of South Carolina. They are certainly known for meaning business.
Speaker 3 (01:49):
When they say you are sentenced to death, they follow through.
Speaker 1 (01:52):
So these have been making headlines lately. A lot of
the reasons A lot of people are wondering the robes why,
Like what's going on with the issue is and have
something changed? Well a few things. Actually you had COVID,
and you had a lot of states actually couldn't get
their hands on the right drugs and what not to
do lethal injections. There were issues about cruel and unusual punishment,
(02:16):
so there was not necessarily a moratorium, but things slowed
down because they couldn't get the right drugs, and now
everybody's got access once again to a lot of things,
and that's why we're seeking uptick correct.
Speaker 2 (02:26):
And they've also a lot of states during that period
of time when they couldn't figure out how to get
the drugs right and to make it less cruel, they
were expanding even options for inmates as to how they
should die. So many states tried to continue the process
by expanding ways to die. So we've seen some states
add nitrogen gas. We've seen some states add the firing squad,
(02:50):
and in the state of Tennessee they actually added it's
a strange thing because it was outlawed to electrocute someone.
But bottom line, if you've committed a crime before nineteen
ninety nine, you can still choose electrocution other than lethal injection.
That's how concerned death row inmates were about the pain
they may suffer in dying with lethal injection, that they've
(03:12):
chosen methods like the electric chair, which seems insane to me,
but that's just how concerning it's become, certainly with the
headlines about it being an incredibly painful way to die.
Speaker 1 (03:23):
Yeah, we've seen firing squad and a couple of nitrogen
gas executions here as of late. But what we're talking
about now is a woman by the name of Christa
Gail Pike. She is on death row. She's been on
death row nearly three decades in Tennessee. She's forty nine
years old now. But robe she was convicted of a
pretty not just murder, but a pretty heinous crime. That
(03:47):
is really it kind of makes your skin crawl when
you hear some of the details of what she was
accused of. And we should say she is not denying,
has admitted to right.
Speaker 2 (03:56):
She was convicted of this, so we don't need to
say allegedly or anything that anything like that. But yes,
this wasn't just a murder. This was a torture that
ended in murder. Basically, they've called it a gruesome and
prolonged attack against nineteen year old Colleen Slummer, who Pike
considered to be a romantic rival. Basically, she thought this
(04:18):
young girl was going after her boyfriend, so she got
her boyfriend, a friend, and herself to lure Colleen Slummer.
This was all in Knoxville, Tennessee. They were at a
Knoxville Job Corps program for students who maybe had gone awry.
But this was near the University of Tennessee campus and
they got her to come out.
Speaker 3 (04:39):
They lured her to this wooded area and with.
Speaker 2 (04:42):
A box cutter, Pike carved a pentagram and her forehead
on her chest. They beat her, they stabbed her, they
taunted her. Reportedly she was pleading for her life, and this,
they say, went on. This torture went on for an hour.
This was a horrific, awful, gut wrenching crime that was committed.
Speaker 1 (05:06):
So the question about the crime and the guilt, it's
not one of those situations. There are still people out
there and I guess this robe is in every case
we've seen, every death penalty case, that will be people
out there who are just against the death penalty. Not
necessarily always trying to prove innocence, but they are against
the death penalty and they say, no, we shouldn't put
(05:27):
someone to death. We have cases where people are pleading
that someone is actually innocent, and then you have a
case like this where some are saying there are factors
that need to be taken into consideration, including the age,
the trauma she went through, her maturity level at the time,
and her mental illness. That is why some people now
(05:51):
robes are trying to save this woman's life.
Speaker 3 (05:53):
That's correct.
Speaker 2 (05:54):
So the crime was committed in nineteen ninety five, she
was convicted in nineteen ninety six. Are arguing for some
sort of clemency so that she, yes, she belongs in prison,
she should spend the rest of her life in prison.
I don't think anyone is arguing against that, including Pike herself.
But they're fighting for the government, or at least for
the state of Tennessee, to spare her life. Because yes,
(06:16):
she was eighteen at the time of the crime. She
had suffered for her entire life sexual and physical abuse.
She had undiagnosed bipolar disorder. And so when you take
into consideration, and this is something that states can and
do consider these days in modern times, mental illness and age.
Those two things weren't argued or considered, they claim in
(06:39):
her case, and that her lawyers didn't bring this to light,
that the jury didn't take this into consideration.
Speaker 3 (06:44):
But when they chose to death, we.
Speaker 1 (06:46):
Consider those things. So again, if not even brought up,
but even if it is brought up today we view
those things so differently.
Speaker 3 (06:54):
We do, Mike, I mean, she shouldn't.
Speaker 1 (06:55):
Be okay, we don't mind making that case. But it's
just a matter of we look at it. It's just
no matter if we didn't consider it back in ninety
five or ninety six. Even if you did, you'd look
at it differently. We consider mental illness a different monster
than we did at that time.
Speaker 3 (07:12):
Without a doubt.
Speaker 2 (07:13):
And here's the other interesting part of this. So she
had her boyfriend to Darryl Ship with her at the time,
the man who she thought or the I hate to
say man, the.
Speaker 3 (07:24):
Young guy who she was dating who she thought.
Speaker 2 (07:26):
This other woman, Colleen Slummer, who ended up being murdered,
was after he participated, along with another eighteen year old
Shadala Peterson. They were all a part of this. Now,
obviously Pike was the ringleader, but according to everything I'm
rating to Darryl's Ship contributed to it.
Speaker 3 (07:46):
But here's the deal. He was a few months younger
than her, so.
Speaker 2 (07:49):
He was seventeen and she was eighteen. And so now
to Darryl Ship, who was seventeen at the time, he
also was sentenced to life in prison, but he wasn't
given the penalty because he wasn't eligible for it because
he wasn't eighteen. And so get this next year, when
she is set to be executed, he is up for parole.
Speaker 3 (08:11):
There's the difference of a few months.
Speaker 1 (08:14):
Look the look the laws, the law, and all those
little legal details are what they are. Again, some are
making the argument, obviously that's not fair. Literally next year
he's eligible to leave rison, she is set to be executed.
Obviously people argue that's not fair. I was, and I
think this made headlines ropes. There have been a lot
(08:34):
of executions this year. You and I've covered probably two
or three that rose to a level. For some reason,
we're just not used to seeing women on death row
and talking about them being executed. We just don't do it.
And to think that we're going to see the first
one in this country in five years, possibly next year,
(08:55):
I guess brings attention to the death penalty, don't you
think in a different way than you usually does? Why
does it? Why should it? Some of these crimes I
hear about women I've been We've been doing deep dies
than women who've been on death row, just as hainous
of crimes as you will ever hear. But why do
we look at it differently when we're talking about putting
a women to death? Versus a mantagm.
Speaker 2 (09:15):
I was just going to ask you that same question,
because a human is a human, and so I don't
think I think, especially those of us who would like
to be treated equally when it comes to pay and
given certain opportunities to be looked at the same as men,
we then can't also say, oh, but treat us differently
when it comes to punishments, when it comes to owning
up to our mistakes. In terms of yes, all of
(09:38):
those punishments, however we see fit in this country to
choose to punish people. Shouldn't it be a one size
fits all? Should it not be only given out to
men and rarely given out to women? Look obviously, well
I shouldn't say obviously, but I do believe more violent
crimes and more murders are committed by men than women.
Speaker 3 (09:58):
No, that's fact.
Speaker 2 (10:01):
But if women commit just as heinous crimes as men,
shouldn't they be held to the same standard. Shouldn't we
want that to be the case if we want equal
treatment on all the other avenues of our lives.
Speaker 1 (10:14):
So your point everything you said, yes, that should be
the case. My question still, why is it, though? I
guess just is it just a matter of that, it's rare,
we're more fast. What is my favorite true crime show? Snapped?
Because every story is about a woman committing this crime.
I think because it is so rare that there's some
(10:36):
fascination about it.
Speaker 3 (10:37):
Without a doubt.
Speaker 1 (10:37):
Maybe that's it.
Speaker 2 (10:38):
I think that's it because as women, we are looked
to and typically are. Whether it's biological or society driven,
I don't know, but we tend to be the nurturers,
the caregivers sex.
Speaker 1 (10:52):
We're not wrong to say, okay, that's yes.
Speaker 3 (10:55):
No, no, I don't think it is at all, and
we don't.
Speaker 2 (10:57):
We're not as likely to we're not as likely to
go into a murderous rage.
Speaker 3 (11:04):
Can it happen?
Speaker 2 (11:05):
Of course it can, but it's rarer, and yes, that
is why we look at it differently. And I think
that is perhaps why we treat women differently when it
comes to punishment.
Speaker 1 (11:15):
It feel it looks it just it feels different to say, oh,
a woman, oh, and the question is okay, well what
does she do? And then I hear, oh, she did that. Okay,
I kind of get it. This is not a death
penalty necessarily right now, discussion about whether or not it
is right or wrong. This is now a conversation at
(11:37):
least about the death penalty that we're only having because
we're talking about a woman. I'm saying that why is
a woman? I'm asking You've answered it clearly and we've
said yeah. But it's just interesting that the conversation now
goes a different direction or is heightened because of the
rarity of having a woman being on death row. Look,
(11:59):
we've got forty eight women. Isn't on death row in
the United States? But what is it? We got twenty
one hundred men?
Speaker 3 (12:03):
Yes, women?
Speaker 1 (12:04):
What is that percentage? Was it three? Was it one? Whatever?
Speaker 2 (12:06):
That I've seen percentages between one and three percent of
anyone on death row is a female. So yes, ninety
seven to ninety nine percent of death row inmates are men.
Speaker 1 (12:15):
Isn't that your first question? Wait? I want so they're
on death row. But now this is the only one
scheduled to be executed. Correct, there is an execution date,
and if we haven't said clearly, it's.
Speaker 2 (12:26):
Sept September thirtieth, twenty twenty six. And you know, I
want to point out too, because I mentioned what she
did with a box cutter and how she sliced and
brutalized this nineteen year old young woman.
Speaker 3 (12:39):
But she also this is I believe what the fatal
blow was.
Speaker 2 (12:42):
She actually took a piece a chunk of asphalt and
bashed it into this young woman's head.
Speaker 3 (12:50):
And then a part of this is really gruesome.
Speaker 2 (12:52):
I'm sorry to say this, but I just want to
give you an idea of what this woman did what
she was convicted of, Krista Pike. She actually then took
a piece of the skull that came off and showed
it off to schoolmates, to classmates saying, look what I
did here is a piece of a skull of a
young woman I just brutally murdered. So this was a
(13:13):
woman who not only took her time terrorizing, torturing, and
killing Colleen Slummer, but then showed off and bragged about
the murder later to classmates. That is especially despicable.
Speaker 1 (13:28):
And yeah, I agree, No one is disagreeing with what
you're saying. Yeah, we're just not used to and this
is one of those cases. We're just not used to
ropes hearing about women doing that. I keep going back
to this in the discussion we're having, we would not
(13:49):
be doing this if we had heard this was a
man who had done this exactly the same thing. We
just did a story about a man on death row.
But the only reason we did it is because there
was something that pulled at our heartstrings. There was a
redemption story. There was something there even though he executed
a woman in a gas station, but the son of
(14:11):
that woman he executed forgave him and that was a
story to it. This is a woman, now, there's nothing
about There is nothing I have read that makes me sympathetic.
When I read her crime, when I read her story,
when I read her background, when I read her history,
when I read her upbringing, when I read what she
went through, it makes you pump the brakes. Not because
(14:33):
she's a woman.
Speaker 3 (14:35):
I think that's a very fair way to put it.
Speaker 2 (14:37):
And there is an entire campaign online hashtag Mercy for Christa,
and this is what they are saying.
Speaker 3 (14:46):
They're actually collecting.
Speaker 2 (14:48):
Signatures for the governor to try and stop the execution.
There on a mission as this execution date has just
been set.
Speaker 3 (14:57):
But their big point is Krista.
Speaker 2 (14:58):
Pike is the only woman on Tennessee's death row for
a crime committed when she was an eighteen year old
girl with untreated severe mental illness. And they have a
quote from Krista Pike and this, look, it doesn't take
away her crime. It doesn't undo what she did, and
we should point out her victim's mother is adamant that
she wants Krista Pike put to death. But this is
(15:21):
what Christa Pike had to say. There is no excuse
for what I did. There are reasons for the way
that I acted, but nothing excuses the crime and the
damage it has caused to so many lives.
Speaker 1 (15:35):
The victim's mom doesn't want to hear any of that,
and I understand that's nothing to talk about. And what
was she put it as a the way the mom
put it.
Speaker 2 (15:43):
That she wants her to be put down, it sounded
as if she was referring to her as an animal,
and I understand that because what she did to her
daughter was animalistic.
Speaker 1 (15:53):
And again, we talk about people in prison and there
to have these redemption stories and how much they have
worked and improved themselves and model prisoners. She actually, since
the time she's been in prison, Robes has been convicted
of another crime in prison that's pretty heinous as well.
That added a whole bunch of years to her already
life sentence.
Speaker 2 (16:12):
She got an extra twenty five years because she strangled
or attempted to strangle another inmate while in prison.
Speaker 3 (16:20):
So yes, she had another twenty five.
Speaker 2 (16:24):
Years added to her life sentence and death sentence. I
mean at that point, she really didn't have any reason
for good behavior.
Speaker 3 (16:33):
I guess there was really no incentive for her.
Speaker 2 (16:35):
To behave Well, it's still those speaks to and Look,
I don't know what prison environment or prison culture is like.
I don't know if it's a kill or be killed.
It sounds like it is when I watch movies or
here documentaries, but I don't know why or what the
circumstances were surrounding it. But certainly she has violent tendencies.
I think that has been well documented.
Speaker 1 (16:57):
But folks, it got us thinking about how many women
have been executed in this country. It got us thinking
about who was the last woman executed in this country?
And would you believe the answer? Isn't that clear cut?
Speaker 2 (17:25):
Welcome back to this edition of Amy and TJ. We
are talking about a big headline here in Tennessee. They
are set to execute a woman.
Speaker 1 (17:33):
You sit here in Tennessee.
Speaker 3 (17:34):
Yeah, you know what we're.
Speaker 2 (17:35):
Actually in Georgia to be perfectly frank. So we're in
the South, and maybe that's why I said that, But sorry,
Tennessee has just announced or they just scheduled the first
execution of a woman in more than two hundred years,
and it is set to happen September thirtieth, twenty twenty six.
We are talking about now forty nine year old Christa
(17:57):
Gail Pike.
Speaker 1 (17:57):
But she was just.
Speaker 2 (17:58):
Eighteen years old when she committed a gruesome and prolonged
murder of a romantic rival, a nineteen year old, another
young girl. But the manner in which she killed her,
the torture that was involved, no one's disputing how despicable
it was. But it certainly is of note that she
is and has been the only woman on death role
(18:19):
in that state for thirty years now, and.
Speaker 1 (18:25):
From what her attorneys say, she hasn't actually a lot
of that been able to interact with other prisoners. This
has been a miserable existence for her, and a lot
of people say, yes, she.
Speaker 2 (18:33):
Got what she deserved, solitary confinement for twenty seven years.
Speaker 1 (18:37):
That's up. So now here we are she has an
execution date. She is the only woman I believe in
the United States of America who has an execution date.
There are forty eight women in the United States on
death row. None of them have a planned execution date.
She is the only one out of what twenty one
(18:59):
hundred men.
Speaker 3 (18:59):
We just said, yes, there's a big disparity.
Speaker 1 (19:01):
So who was the last You have to ask who
was the last woman executed? And certainly we asked that question.
The last woman executed from what we could tell, was
Lisa Marie Montgomery. That was in January of twenty twenty one.
Did I say this was tera hate Indiana? Again? Another heinus,
this was a hey, this was the one strangled a
woman and then a pregnant woman and then cut the
(19:24):
baby out of this woman. The woman died, that bleeds out.
The baby actually survives, right, and it ends up with family.
But that was the crime. This woman again mental illness,
long history of mental illness. But she was executed in
January of twenty twenty one. However, twenty twenty three rogues,
there is conversation and we have to explain at least
(19:45):
and just be fully honest here about what happened.
Speaker 2 (19:49):
Well, it was a little confusing because we actually were
trying to remember any headline where a woman had been
executed in this country in recent history and modern history,
and we couldn't think of one, so we googled it,
and turns out Amber McLaughlin in twenty twenty three of
Missouri was executed.
Speaker 3 (20:07):
But then upon further.
Speaker 2 (20:09):
Review, it's a little interesting, and look, she's the first
transgender person ever executed, but she was convicted as a
male and it was for the rape and murder of
a woman, so it's tough to say. Look, I understand
there was a transition after she was convicted, but her
conviction was as a male. She was executed as a
(20:32):
transgender female. So we just wanted to at least put
that out there, that that is technically the last woman
transgender woman who was executed. But Lisa Marie Montgomery, that
story is just beyond I also think it's interesting because
we say in Tennessee that this will now be the
(20:53):
first execution of a female in more than two hundred years.
You have to go back to eighteen oh seven, between
eight eighteen oh seven in eighteen nineteen to find any
other woman who's been executed in the state of Tennessee.
Speaker 1 (21:06):
And again they call it executed. But these were three
black women, enslaved women. I believe and do I see
right that they don't even have the names of two
of them.
Speaker 2 (21:19):
They don't have the names of two of them, and
they don't have the crimes listed, which is also just
scary and sad. So the last three women before this
case were enslaved black women whose crimes were not listed,
who two of whose names.
Speaker 3 (21:37):
Weren't even listed.
Speaker 2 (21:38):
That just speaks of volumes about how they were regarded.
Speaker 1 (21:42):
This is going to be the first woman executed in
modern history in the state of Tennessee, without a doubt,
Christ the Pike, and that's coming. So we want to
tead you and she had again we've talked about this.
In other executions, they get to choose their method of execution.
Her options in Tennessee aren't as plentiful as in some
(22:02):
other places.
Speaker 3 (22:03):
Correctly so, the standard.
Speaker 2 (22:06):
Mode of operation in terms of execution is lethal injection.
And the way it was described or written was that
she would be notified by the state as to what
her form of execution would be, and it would most
likely be lethal injection. How desert is well, that was
what it for most inmates. That is the truth. But
if you committed your crime before nineteen ninety nine, you
(22:29):
can choose electrocution. So it appears as if she could
choose the electric chair because her crime was committed in
nineteen ninety five, so she would technically have the right
to ask for the electric chair rather than lethal injection.
And you know, she's run out of options at this point,
she's been in death row for thirty years. That is
pretty much the case the way it works in this country,
(22:51):
for the extensive and exhaustive appeals process that has to
be in place for folks, because look, we were looking
into how many people are executed who after they're killed,
after they're executed, have been found to be innocent.
Speaker 1 (23:06):
They say, on average four a year. On average we
have four people a year who are on death row
who end up exonerated. That is what I was discussing
with your heads. That is the case for getting rid
of the death penalty. This is just a mistake you
cannot make.
Speaker 2 (23:19):
It's a case for getting rid of the death penalty
on a moral level, but on a financial one. It
costs I don't know the exact numbers, but it's at
least ten times. It costs more than a million dollars
to execute one prisoner in this country because of the
expensive and exhaustive legal proceedings that have to take place
to try and make sure we don't execute innocent people.
(23:41):
But what ends up happening is the bill. It is
I believe you can house up to ten inmates for
life for the same cost you can to execute one.
Speaker 3 (23:51):
So it is cost prohibitive.
Speaker 2 (23:53):
It is immoral in a lot of folks, eyes and
a lot of crime would argue that it is not
a deterrent because no one thinks they're going.
Speaker 3 (24:04):
To get caught.
Speaker 1 (24:05):
Who says it's a moral.
Speaker 3 (24:06):
Catholics a lot of folks who were Catholics.
Speaker 1 (24:10):
In this country, and I'm setting you up for something.
Speaker 2 (24:12):
Here in the northeat I mean the Catholic the Catholic community,
the large Catholic community is in the Midwest and the Northeast.
Speaker 1 (24:18):
The nineteen seventy six, this is the date people use.
That's when the federal moratorium on executions was lifted, and
that's when executions kind of started back up again. They
call that the modern era, if you will, of executions.
I asked you about where people were, where Catholics are,
because since nineteen seventy six, and if you will, there's
a great resource I know you've been looking at it
as well, called the Death Penalty Resource Center. You're the
(24:40):
Death Penalty Information Center. They are the kind of the
gatekeepers of all this information. But where since nineteen seventy
six in the country the executions have taken place? The
South thirteen hundred and forty two, in the South, in
the northeast.
Speaker 3 (24:55):
Four and yes in those south, yes.
Speaker 1 (25:00):
Eighteen hundred plus four in the northeast, the midwest two
hundred and four, the west ninety one. But in the
South thirteen hundred plus. Texas has six hundred just on
their own. That doesn't count in the South number. But
if you see go from Texas on over to the Atlantic,
(25:22):
and that is where almost ninety plus percent of the
executions take place.
Speaker 2 (25:28):
And look in the world, we are the only Western
civilized country that still legalizes.
Speaker 3 (25:37):
Executions period.
Speaker 2 (25:39):
In fact, I looked up which country executes the most
people and they don't have exact numbers because so much
of the information in this country is secretive.
Speaker 1 (25:47):
We comte China, China, China.
Speaker 3 (25:50):
Yeah, Saudi Arabia, Iraq and Iran.
Speaker 2 (25:53):
Woo, We're compete with those those are the countries that
have the highest number of state sanctioned country sinc executions.
Speaker 3 (26:00):
But we're right there, up there with them.
Speaker 1 (26:03):
I had no qualms with anybody, this victim's mother. You can't,
you can't ever question that. No, But just there's been
a lot of death penalty, a lot of talk of death,
a lot of talk of these methods that are used,
a lot of talk of the descriptions of how people die,
and people have their own opinions about the death penalty,
(26:24):
and the conversation will now ramp up, and I think
we'll have this for a year plus in a different
way because now it's a woman, and that's just a
different death penalty conversation than.
Speaker 3 (26:35):
We're used to see.
Speaker 2 (26:35):
It certainly will be. And Slummer's mother, May Martinez is
her name. I just wanted to end with her quote.
She said, I would like Tennessee to hear my plea
and finally end this after thirty years. We will continue
to follow this case. It certainly is going to be
a historic one, and we'll see what ensues in terms
(26:57):
of appeals and any possible last ditch efforts she may have.
We know this petition is circulating. I think they have
a couple thousand signatures on the petition. Don't know how
much that is going to sway the Tennessee governor at
this point, but certainly there will be more to the
story and we will be on it.
Speaker 3 (27:13):
So thank you for listening to us. Everyone. I'm Amy
Roback alongside TJ. Holmes. We'll talk to you soon.
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