Christa Pike: The Execution That Failed

Christa Pike was set to become the first woman executed in Tennessee in more than 200 years. On September 30, 2026, an appeals court stopped the execution an hour before it was due, the Supreme Court restarted it, and then two doses of the execution drug failed. She was taken to hospital, and Tennessee has paused all executions for the rest of the year. We go back to January 1995, when Pike, then 18, killed 19-year-old Colleen Slemmer, a fellow student at a Knoxville job-training center. Pike confessed and was sentenced to death in 1996. We look at the childhood abuse her lawyers say was never properly weighed, what Colleen's mother has waited 31 years for, and what happens now. This episode discusses violence and abuse. In the US, if you need support, call or text 988. Chapters: 00:00 The night of September 30, 2026 04:10 Christa Pike's childhood 07:17 Colleen Slemmer and January 1995 10:25 The satanic panic and the 1996 trial 16:02 Thirty years on death row 21:33 Clemency denied 24:12 A stay, a reversal, an execution that failed 29:53 Where the case stands now Follow The Headline Case on Spotify for new cases every Monday, Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday. This episode was produced with AI voices, from a research brief of court records and news reports. Sources are listed below. Sources: CBS News: Christa Pike's execution temporarily halted, as Tennessee seeks to put to death first woman in 200 years, https://www.cbsnews.com/news/what-to-know-christa-pike-first-woman-executed-tennessee-200-years/ PBS NewsHour / AP: Court halts execution of Christa Gail Pike for a Tennessee murder she committed at age 18, https://www.pbs.org/newshour/nation/court-halts-execution-of-christa-gail-pike-for-a-tennessee-murder-she-committed-at-age-18 Al Jazeera: Tennessee death-row prisoner Christa Pike survives lethal injections, https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2026/10/1/us-supreme-court-clears-way-for-christa-pikes-execution-in-tennessee Death Penalty Information Center: Governor Bill Lee Denies Clemency for Christa Pike, https://deathpenaltyinfo.org/governor-bill-lee-denies-clemency-for-christa-pike-refusing-to-stop-tennessees-first-execution-of-a-woman-in-more-than-200-years The Intercept: The "Satanic Panic" Made Her a True-Crime Obsession. The Truth Is More Haunting., https://theintercept.com/2026/09/27/christa-pike-execution-women-death-row/