449: “The B*tCh Wouldn’t Die”: Stabbed 300x with Pentagram Carving | Christa Pike’s Botched Execution | Colleen Slemmer

It is probably one of the most disturbing crime scenes I've ever dealt with. The morning of Friday the 13th, police recovered Slemmer's tortured body behind the abandoned steam plant at the University of Tennessee. Knoxville police recovered evidence of possible assault activity. I'm here, I'm here, I'm here. You just got a lot of control. If Krista Pike is executed, she will be the first woman our state has executed in 200 years. I love you! Hey true crime besties, welcome back to an all-new episode of Serialistly. Hello, hello, hello, and welcome back to an all-new episode of Serialistly with me, your host, Annie. Annie Elise, also your true crime bestie, here to clock in for duty. You know what I say, I hope you're having a good day because I'm about to ruin it. I'm about to ruin it with all this shit we're going to be talking about today. And look, this case, it first came on my radar when I was out of town. Gosh, when was it? Not last week, the week before. I was away in Korea and I started getting flooded on my social media feed about this failed execution. And I was like, what? Heck, first of all, how does that even happen? But also like, what resulted in this woman being sentenced to death and being the first woman in Tennessee on death row? And I knew I needed to dig a little deeper because while the failed execution was, yes, absolutely upsetting, I wanted to know what the crime was and like what warranted the death penalty. What was the backstory? Because I knew there was going to be, you know, obviously there's more to the story. And when I tell you. The stuff that I have learned over the last week, it is so deeply unsettling and just so disturbing. And I think everybody's talking about this case right now because of the failed execution and how stunning that is. But no one is talking about the details of the crime that got her to that point. And I think that really does need to be revisited because I think if you look, at least in my opinion, if you look at the details of the crime that got her to that point, if you look across at the entire thing, the crime, the conviction, the sentence, and then this failed execution, it feels, I don't know, is the word serendipitous, maybe? Kind of like, ooh, maybe this is a form of justice, almost. Especially when you hear some of the exact same words that were said at the time of the murder and also said in happening while this execution failed. So, like I said, I really started looking into the Krista Pike case immediately. And guys, I do want to warn you, the details are unbelievably gruesome, barbaric, and downright frightening. So let's rewind a little bit and really lay all of that out to see how we even got here. Back in 1996, at just 20 years old, Krista was sentenced to death, making her the youngest woman to receive the death penalty in the United States. Now, if her execution had been, she would have become only the 19th woman executed nationwide since 1976 and the first woman executed in Tennessee in more than 200 years. But as we know, the execution failed. And if you haven't been following this because you're not on social media or you just haven't dug into it, don't worry. I also am going to talk all about the execution and what happened and how it failed, why it failed, and all of that. But more than that, I want to give the backstory again of what happened. But really quick, the high level is that during her scheduled execution on September 30th, something happened that had never been documented before. Krista was administered not one, but two full doses of the lethal injection medication, fentobarbital. And somehow, even after both of those doses were administered, she remained alive and she was ultimately rushed to the hospital, which again, more details to come on that. According to reports from the death penalty information, that makes Krista the only person in modern U.S. history known to have survived an execution attempt after receiving a full dose of lethal injection drugs. Which, that's crazy enough that she survived one dose, but then to be administered a second dose and survive that as well? Nobody was expecting this. But before we get into those details about what happened to Krista, her current condition, and what happens next, I want to make one thing very, very crystal clear. If I haven't already, Krista is not the victim of the crime that brought us here today. The real victim is Colleen Slimmer. Her life was taken at just 19 years old, and her story should never get lost in all of the attention that is surrounding Krista and this failed execution. That's why I'm here today, to talk about Colleen, the crime that got Krista where she was, and the fact that Colleen's parents are still fighting not only for justice for their daughter, but to finally have, all of her remains returned to them. Now, as you guys know, when I do these real-time deep dives, or cases that are unfolding as we speak, I like to walk you through the entire timeline of everything we know. Which, in this case, there are 31 years to unpack. So, I want to jump right in and take you through everything. Colleen Slimmer was born on September 20th, 1975 in Orange Park, Florida. She grew up in a very close-knit family with her mother, Mae, her stepfather, and her younger sister. And those who knew her described her as compassionate, generous, kind, quiet, dependable, independent, and driven. And much of Colleen's caring nature actually developed around her mother's daycare business. She loved babysitting, she loved spending time with children, and so much so that she also volunteered with the Special Olympics and helped children who had special needs. And Colleen, in addition to being compassionate and loving with children and just people, in general, she also was especially passionate about computers. She enrolled in the Federal Job Corps program in Knoxville, Tennessee, so that she could train for a career in technology. Now, the Job Corps Center in Knoxville was a federally funded residential program for at-risk youth. It was part of the National Job Corps program, providing free housing, education, and career training to low-income people between the ages of 16 and 24 years old. So, Colleen was there, she was very passionate, she was enrolled there, and this is where Colleen and Krista's paths crossed. At the time, both Krista and Colleen were students at the Job Corps Center in Knoxville, Tennessee. And the two of them apparently had a pretty strained relationship with one another, with Krista even later claiming that Colleen had, quote, "been trying to get her boyfriend" and that she had been running her mouth everywhere. Now, this boyfriend was 17-year-old Tardaryl Shipp. And unfortunately, that jealousy and their strained relationship, that is what ultimately would lead to what happened next. And before we go any further, I do want to give you a trigger warning here. From this point on, I am going to be reading the case facts directly from the court records, which, that means that some of the details are extremely disturbing. And as always, for my YouTube watchers, those of you who like the video version of this, YouTube highly censors me, some of it will be censored, but for the uncensored version, you can either listen to the audio podcast, where it's always uncensored, or if you are a video watcher solely, you can watch the uncensored video over on Patreon, but YouTube likes to restrict a lot of things. So want to just give that warning ahead of time. So on January 11, 1995, Krista told her friend Kim, another Job Corps student, that she intended to kill Colleen because she, quote, "just felt extra mean that day." So then, the following night, on January 12, around 8 p.m., Kim saw Krista, Colleen, another student named Shandola Peterson, and Krista's boyfriend, Tardarel. They were walking from the Job Corps Center toward 17th Street. Around 10:15 p.m., Kim saw Krista, Shandola, and Tardarel return to the center, but Colleen was no longer with them. Then later that night, Krista went to Kim's room, and she told her that she had killed Colleen. Krista also claimed that she had taken a piece of Colleen's skull as a "souvenir" or "trophy" and started describing the attack, and describing it in disturbing detail, including repeatedly cutting and beating Colleen, and using weapons and objects against her. And according to Kim, Krista appeared almost celebratory as she described what had happened, even dancing and singing while she was talking about the murder. I mean, just truly, clearly. I mean, there's no way that she would have done that. It's absolutely unremorseful. But also, kind of like a sociopath, right? Like, describing this in such deeply disturbing detail and laughing and joking and singing. And get this, the next morning at breakfast, Kim asked Krista what she had done with that piece of Colleen's skull that she was keeping as a trophy, as a souvenir, and Krista reportedly told her it was still in her pocket, saying, quote, "And yes, I'm eating breakfast with it." Which, that is so insane. First of all, it's disgusting in and of itself to take that as some kind of trophy for what you did to this poor girl. But then to be like eating breakfast with it and wanting it on your person all the time to just remember what you did and relish in it. It is so diabolical. It's an evil. And Krista didn't stop bragging there. She allegedly told another Job Corps student, Stephanie Wilson, a very similar story that morning. She pointed out what she claimed were bloodstains on her shoes. Then she showed Stephanie a piece of bone that she said belonged to Colleen. She also described the attack and claimed that she had taken that piece of the bone when she left the scene. So again, just very proud of it, bragging about it to other people. And what's very concerning is none of Krista's friends or fellow students reported this murder to the police. I don't know if it's because they were scared. I don't know if it's because they wanted to not betray Krista. But even with Krista openly sharing this information, they never reported it. However, on January 13th, so a couple of days later, a University of Tennessee Grounds Department employee discovered Colleen's body. The employee later testified that the body had been so badly beaten that he initially thought that he found the remains of an animal, which let that just sink in for a moment. First, it's not like he's finding this body months later or weeks later and the heat has gotten to it. And that, you know, it's not like he's that it's decomposed so badly or animals have gotten to it. This was two days later. He finds this body, but it has been so badly beaten that it looks like it's animal remains. It is so unnerving to think about. It wasn't until he noticed Colleen's clothing and an exposed breast that he realized that this victim was a human being, a woman. Then later that same day in the afternoon, then Tardaro went to get ID cards from the Job Corps orientation specialist. And while they were there, Krista left her jacket behind, which that jacket was eventually turned over to the Job Corps security supervisor, who then gave it to a Knoxville police department office. They searched the jacket and inside they found that piece of Colleen's skull. It was still tucked away in one of the pockets. So police quickly connected Krista and Tardaro to the crime. And on January 14th, investigators interviewed Krista. She waived her Miranda rights. She gave police a complete statement about her involvement in Colleen's murder. And she even walked investigators through the crime and the crime scene, which buckle up because things are about to get very wild here. Krista claimed that she had never planned to kill Colleen. According to her statement, she had only intended to confront Colleen and to tell her to leave her the hell alone. However, Krista also admitted that she brought a box cutter with her and a miniature meat cleaver with her when she and Colleen left the Job Corps center that day. She said that she had borrowed the miniature meat cleaver, but she refused to identify who had given it to her. She then told investigators that she asked Colleen to walk with her to the Blockbuster music store. Along the way, she told Colleen that she had marijuana hidden in Tyson Park. So like, hey, I have some weed stashed away. Let's go smoke. And what was really odd in all of this, is although Krista appeared to be very forthcoming and transparent with the order of events and what happened, she refused to identify everyone else involved. But she said that the group eventually made their way toward the University of Tennessee campus. And when they reached the steam plant on the university's agricultural campus, Krista and Colleen got into an argument. And because of that, Krista said she then attacked Colleen, repeatedly beating her and kicking her. According to Krista, Colleen was the one who killed Colleen. And she said that she was the one who killed Colleen. And asked her why she was doing this and eventually threatened to report her, which Krista said made her attack Colleen again. Kind of like, you're not going to like tattle on me. You're not going to tell anyone. Fuck you. It just continues to wail on her. Colleen eventually tried to run away, but another person who was with Krista caught her and she forced her back to the ground. Krista said that she and this other person then held Colleen down and dragged her to another area. Then at that point, once she was isolated, in another area, Krista began attacking Colleen with a box cutter. According to her statement, Colleen was crying. She was screaming for help, all while Krista said that she began hearing voices telling her that she needed to stop Colleen from reporting the attack. Krista said that when Colleen tried to escape again, she attacked her again. Colleen repeatedly tried to get away and she begged Krista to just let her go, even telling her that she would return to Florida. She would leave the Job Corps program and just leave. She said that she would return to Florida. She would leave the job program entirely and just leave it all behind if Krista would just release her. But Krista said that she told Colleen to just shut up because it was harder to hurt someone when they were talking to you. Almost as if she was angry that Colleen was distracting her, being like, shut up, shut up, you're making this more difficult than it needs to be or than it should be for me. Stop talking, stop distracting me. So the attack continued and Krista eventually admitted to the investigators that she cut Colleen multiple times with that box cutter. And when Colleen continued begging for her life and trying to get away, Krista and this other person who was involved repeatedly forced her back down to the ground. Krista also admitted that rocks were used to strike Colleen and that she continued attacking her even well after Colleen was no longer able to defend herself and fight back. Eventually, Krista said that she and this other person dragged Colleen to another area near some trees and then just left her body on a pile of dust. And then they left Colleen's clothing in the surrounding bushes. She estimated that this entire attack, this brutal barbaric attack, it lasted somewhere between 30 minutes and one hour. She also admitted that Colleen had been forced to remove some of her clothing during the attack. That's why she stashed her clothing in the nearby bushes. And she said that she had used a piece of cloth to keep Colleen from talking at one point. So forcing her to remove her clothing and then also to remove her clothes. And then she said that she had used a piece of cloth to keep Colleen from talking at one point. So forcing her to remove her clothing and then also stuffing that clothing in her mouth so she couldn't scream, so she couldn't fight back. However, despite all of that being so unsettling, so deeply disturbing, the most shocking part of Krista's statement, I think that came when she described repeatedly cutting Colleen's throat six times. And when the detectives asked why the attack had taken so long and why she continued and why even after Colleen was no longer able to defend herself and clearly not a threat to her at that point, she said, and why Krista just kept attacking her, Krista allegedly responded, quote, the bitch wouldn't die. Which, talk about the irony, right? Because as we know, Krista herself just had a failed execution. The bitch wouldn't die. The one thing that Krista did not admit to, though, was the carving of what was later found on Colleen's body. Because there was a carving of a knife. And what's interesting is Krista had previously claimed that to Kim, but now with the investigators, she wasn't. Instead, Krista was saying that the other person had done that. And I want to pause here just for a second, because the pentagram, it actually is going to play a very big role in this case and in the attention that the case received at the time. Because once people heard about the pentagram, they started wondering if Colleen's murder had been part of some kind of satanic ritual or if it was connected to witchcraft. Somehow. Because if you remember the timing in all of this, this was during the height of satanic panic, of Manson family, of not, I don't want to say demons, but demonic stuff, the devil, all of the evil things that go within it. And I actually think I talked about satanic panic relatively recently in another case I covered, the Ron Baker case. However, I think the term does get thrown around so much that sometimes people don't even understand where it came from and the origin story. So let me give you a little bit more context. Satanic panic was a widespread moral panic that took hold throughout the 1980s and 1990s. And it was fueled by thousands of unsubstantiated claims about organized satanic ritual abuse and underground satanic cults. A lot of those fears were then amplified by sensationalized media coverage and highly suggestive psychological techniques, even law enforcement seminars that focused on these so-called occult crimes. This idea of some massive organized network of these generational satanists who are operating across the country. And it was ultimately found to be fictional. But at the time, people truly did believe that there was this underground network. And it's kind of interesting because I think a lot of people today also still believe of a version of that or a sect of that. And the truth was there were real criminals who used satanic or occult imagery. And those cases, understandably, made the public spheres even stronger. And even law enforcement seminars that focused on these so-called occult crimes. But the truth was there were real criminals who used satanic or occult imagery. One of the biggest examples was Richard Ramirez, also known as the Night Stalker. He terrorized California in 1984 and 1985. And he openly invoked Satan during his crimes. And some of his victims were even forced to swear allegiance to Satan during the crimes. He also used pentagrams, which only added fuel to the growing panic. Then you also have the West Memphis Three in Arkansas in 1993. After three young boys were murdered in Robin Hood Hills, police quickly focused on three teenagers, Damian, Jason, and Jesse. Their interest in heavy metal music, dark clothing, and Stephen King books, that became part of the case against them. And prosecutors ultimately argued that the murders were all connected to a satanic ritual. And the case became a major example of how powerful satanic panic could be, especially when there was already fear and suspicion surrounding anything associated with the occult. So when a pentagram became part of the story surrounding Colleen's murder, people were already primed to wonder whether there was something much darker and more organized going on. And on the surface, it looked like there was. Because according to. According to Tardarell and the court records, a few days before Colleen's murder, he reportedly told another Job Corps student, Kip O'Hara, that he needed to make a human sacrifice because the celestial bodies were in alignment. And he reportedly had a Ouija board with him when he made this statement, which if you remember Ouija boards, those were also all the rage in the 90s where you would like talk to ghosts or try to like bring someone back from the dead. Now when police questioned Tardarell about what happened the night that Colleen was murdered, he told the police that the group had lured Colleen into the woods so that Krista could confront her about what she believed was Colleen's romantic interest in Tardarell. Krista made Colleen take off her shirt, and then the confrontation quickly became physical. Krista began hitting Colleen, and the other friend, Shandola, also struck her. As Colleen tried to fight back, Krista pushed her and slapped her before beginning to cut her with a miniature meat cleaver. The confrontation continued to escalate, and Shandola, the other friend, who also had a box cutter, joined Krista in attacking Colleen. All as Colleen pleaded with them to stop and promised that if they let her go, she would leave and never return. Tardarell admitted that he tripped Colleen when she tried to run away, causing her to then fall and hit her head on a rock. He also admitted cutting Colleen several times, including once on her arm with that box cutter. Now by this point, Colleen was obviously very seriously injured, but she was able to survive. She was able to survive. She was still talking, and she was still screaming. So at Krista's request, according to Tardarell, he went to check the surrounding area to make sure that nobody was nearby. And while he was searching, he found a rag near a dumpster, so he tied it over Colleen's mouth to try to keep her quiet. Colleen tried to escape again, but she fell into some mud. So Tardarell then went after her, and he brought her back, almost like he was a hunter catching his prey, and brought her back to the group. Colleen began hitting Colleen with rocks, while Shadola struck her with a brick or a piece of asphalt, something that was much harder than a rock. And I want you to remember this part about the asphalt, because it is going to come back into play in just a minute here. Tardarell said that it was at that point that he became uncomfortable with what was happening. And so because of that, he decided to excuse himself from the situation, and he walked down a hill. However, he later returned to the scene, and he found Colleen with severe injuries to her head. According to his statement, she was still breathing and making gurgling noises. However, despite how badly Colleen had already been injured, the attack continued. And his court records state that both he and Krista are the ones who carved the pentagram into Colleen's chest. Now, was that done because they were trying to create a diversion and make it look like somebody else had done this, and that it was part of the satanic panic? Or was it done because they felt like they were a part of the satanic following and cult and followed those things? Because remember, according to Kip O'Hara, Tardarell had confided in him that he needed to make a human sacrifice when he had that Ouija board. So was it because they truly believed that's what they were doing, or was it as a means to try to cover it up? Detectives questioned Krista and Tardarell separately. And while Krista seemed to be trying to protect the other people involved, remember, she wasn't giving any names. Tardarell ended up giving the police a lot of information, essentially throwing everyone under the bus, especially Krista. However, there was one detail where Tardarell specifically shifted the blame onto the other friend, Shandola. He told police that she was the one who delivered the final blow to Colleen, using that piece of asphalt. When, according to the evidence and other accounts, it was actually Krista who did it. And while that little piece of information is, yeah, pretty interesting, what really caught my attention was the amount of detail that Tardarell shared with investigators about his personal interest in satanic worship. Because during his interview, he told detectives that he had been involved with satanism since he was about 10 years old. And he also described Krista as being, quote, pretty deep into satanic worship. Both Tardarell and Krista were also wearing pentagram necklaces. And he admitted that he had satanic paraphernalia in his job corps room. He was also wearing a hexagram earring and a hat pin during his questioning. He claimed, however, that Colleen's murder had not been planned as some sort of satanic sacrifice. But he said that after carving that pentagram into Colleen's chest, he began thinking that she could be a satanic sacrifice, saying, that's not, no, no, no, that's not at all how this was planned out. That's not why we committed this murder. But, you know, that's not how this was planned out. But, you know, now that we've come to think of it, now that we've carved the pentagram in her chest, maybe it could be a satanic sacrifice. He also insisted that in his mind, the murder itself had nothing to do with the fact that the following day was Friday the 13th, which he referred to as the devil's birthday, saying that's all just a coincidence. This wasn't some sort of satanic offering for the devil's birthday. And it happened, you know, right before then. That was all just a happy coincidence. A detective later testified that he had been trained to recognize the pentagram as a symbol that is associated with a goat's head, which in satanism, it represents Satan. He also explained that the hexagram can be associated with conjuring or controlling demons. However, Tardaro maintained that he had no idea that Krista and Shadola had planned to kill Colleen. He said that they told him that they were just going to get her somewhere to do whatever they could do to her and to threaten her and to confront her. But he interpreted that to just say, you know, that's not how this was meant. They were going to beat her up, yell at her, certainly not kill her. He also said that he knew that Krista and Shadola had that box cutter and that miniature meat cleaver, but he claimed that he thought that they were only going to use those weapons to scare Colleen. He insisted that he had no idea that they intended to cut her, which whether or not you knew that that was their intention or not, you knew they had weapons. And then you admittedly also used that weapon to cut Colleen. So what if you were really all that surprised? Why would you not only then, why would you watch it happen and not intervene? But then why would you also grab the weapon and participate yourself? Doesn't make sense to me. So following those police interviews, Krista, Tardaro and Shadola were all arrested within about 36 hours of Colleen's body being discovered. And honestly, that probably shouldn't come as a surprise. I mean, what exactly did Krista think was going to happen when she was essentially terrifying everyone at the Job Corps facility, showing them a piece of Colleen's skull? Bragging about what she had done. Certainly she thought that this would catch up to her, right? Which think about how insane it must have been for all of the students there. And look, I understand that they were at risk, that they were housed there and that they probably come from a very tumultuous background. But the fact that they heard all of this firsthand and still didn't tell anyone or report anything. I don't know. I don't know what to think about that. Meanwhile, an autopsy was performed on Colleen, and according to the findings, Colleen had been stabbed over 300 times. But the wounds that she sustained before death, they were not enough to render her unconscious. Which think about that. We know she was screaming. We know that this attack lasted between 30 minutes and one hour. The fact that she was stabbed over 300 times, but that these were also wounds pre-death and that they weren't enough to make her unconscious means she felt every single one of those 300 stabbings. And that she was coherent and knew what was going on. Can you imagine how terrifying that must have been for her? At just 19 years old, it was ultimately determined that Colleen died from blunt force trauma to her head. And following that injury, she suffered severe internal bleeding that affected her ability to breathe, ultimately resulting in her death. And remember, as we know, the friend or possibly Krista, we don't really know the truth, I guess, but a big, piece of asphalt was used to crush her skull. Now, even though Krista, Tardarell, and Shadola were all charged in connection with Colleen's murder, a lot of people are wondering what happened to each of them, where they are today, and why Krista is the one who received the death penalty. So I want to walk you guys a little bit through the legal proceedings and the current status of all three of them. Now, again, as you know, when I do these real-time deep dive cases, I usually cover everything in chronological order. However, to make sense of the events that ultimately led to Krista's complete botched execution attempt, I'm going to switch things up a little bit and I'm going to start with the friend Shadola and Tardarell and their legal proceedings. So let's start with Shadola. She was initially indicted on first degree murder charges but ultimately agreed to cooperate with the investigators and testify against Krista and Tardarell. Colleen's mother May was furious about this deal though and she believed that Shadola should have gone before a jury saying that a jury might have held her more accountable for being present. But prosecutors defended the agreement saying that they lacked enough evidence to prove that she intended for Colleen to be killed or helped cause her death. During the trials she testified that all she did was act as a lookout saying that she was afraid that they would get caught breaking curfew or smoking marijuana. She maintained that she did not physically participate in Colleen's assault or her murder and prosecutors said that there was no physical evidence directly tying her to the attack. So in exchange for her cooperation she pleaded guilty to the reduced charge of accessory after the fact. She spent about a year in county jail awaiting trial and then she was sentenced to six years of probation which she later completed. Since then she's remained largely out of the public eye and has maintained a relatively private life. Now as for Tardarell, his trial took place in Knox County Criminal Court in Knoxville, Tennessee in January of 97. This was after the trial and Christa would be tried as adults in separate proceedings. However there was one major difference between his case and Christa's case. His age. Because he was 17 years old when Colleen was murdered making him completely ineligible for the death penalty. Now during his trial prosecutors argued that he was an active participant in Colleen's murder. The state also presented forensic evidence and testimony from the co-defendant Shadola who described Tardarell's role in the attack. Prosecutors argued that he helped lure Colleen to an isolated wooded area on the University of Tennessee agricultural campus and that he participated in assaulting her. The jury ultimately found him guilty of first degree premeditated murder and also conspiracy to commit first degree murder. Prosecutors sought life in prison without the possibility of parole but the jury could not reach a unanimous decision on the sentencing. So instead he received life in prison with the court's decision along with a consecutive 25 year sentence for conspiracy. So he has remained incarcerated since his arrest in January of 95 and he's currently held at the Northwest Correctional Complex in Tiptonville, Tennessee. And after serving approximately 30 years he became eligible for parole and appeared before the Tennessee Board of Parole in October of 2025. However the board luckily denied his release citing the extreme seriousness of the crimes and everything that he did. So his next parole sentence was in January of 1995. So he's currently held at the Northwest Correctional Complex in Tiptonville, Tennessee. However his next parole review is scheduled for October 2031 meaning he's going to remain in prison for at least the time being. Now as for Krista, well her legal history it spans more than three decades beginning with the 1996 capital murder trial in Knox County, Tennessee. The case quickly became one of the state's most high profile and most controversial cases. However the trial itself only lasted about a week and it marked the decades of legal battles that would continue long after her conviction. So as I mentioned Krista was tried as an adult and after deliberating for less than an hour the jury found her guilty of first degree premeditated murder and conspiracy to commit first degree murder. So initially she was sentenced to death by electrocution making her the youngest woman on death row in the United States at the time. It is therefore ordered that you shall be put to death by electrocution and transferred to custody of the warden at the Tennessee prison for years and further until the 12th day of January 1997 your body shall be subjected to shock by sufficient current of electricity. May God have mercy upon you. Can I please go with my mom before I go? Mr. Bates please hold her and tie her to the docks. Please let me just go. And I have to say if you just watched that clip for all my video watchers and for my listeners I highly suggest you timestamp this and go watch the clip on YouTube. It's so interesting how Krista can go from smiling and waving in court to then weeping during her sentencing and begging to be able to hug her mom. I mean it's so interesting how Krista can go from smiling and waving in court to then weeping during her sentencing and begging to be able to hug her mom. This murder wasn't going to be the only crime that affected Krista's sentence. Because in June of 2001, while incarcerated at the Deborah K. Johnson Rehabilitation Center in Nashville, Krista attacked a fellow inmate named Natasha Wallin. She attempted to strangle her to death with a shoestring. So she was convicted of attempted first degree murder and received an additional 25 year sentence. Which I don't know who's trying to strangle somebody with a shoestring, but again, even if she felt remorse during her crying and wailing and her begging to hug her mom because the reality set in, obviously that didn't last very long. Because literally just a few years later in 2001, she tried to kill her cellmate, right? Then in 2002, Krista briefly told the court that she wanted to abandon her appeals and she wanted to proceed with her execution. However, within weeks, she changed her mind and she reinstated her defense team. Which is kind of interesting because it feels like in that moment, maybe she was going to waive all the appeals. She was just she just wanted her execution. She wanted life to be over. She had come to terms with that, you know, found peace in that. But then we know she rescinded that. And fast forward a few years and in 2012, the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation and the Department of Corrections uncovered a plot to break Krista out of the Tennessee prison for women. Authorities intercepted the conspiracy early on preventing what officials described as a plan that would have been nearly impossible to stop once fully organized. But she fully spoiled her plan, fully was planning to escape prison. The plot involved a former prison employee, an outside accomplice, and a plan to smuggle Krista out of Tennessee. Donald Cohut was arrested at his home in New Jersey and extradited to Tennessee, where he was convicted for bribery and conspiracy to commit escape. And he was sentenced to eight years in prison. He also faced separate unrelated charges in New Jersey involving mortgage fraud and identity theft, which that all resulted in additional concurrent sentences. So he served his time in Tennessee, and then he was released in 2018. Now, Officer Justin Heflin was fired from the Tennessee prison for women on March 5, 2012. And he was indicted on charges of bribery, official misconduct, conspiracy to commit escape, and facilitation to commit escape. His final sentencing details were not widely reported. But his defense reportedly said that he had cooperated with investigators after the plot was uncovered. While his family all maintained that he had initially been coerced into participating through outside threats, which I don't know if that family is just in denial, because anytime we see a prison guard helping aid an escape plot, it's usually because they're boning or they're in love. So the fact that they're saying, oh, he was coerced into this because outside people, people on the outside were threatening him, maybe that's possible. Or maybe Krista got her claws in him. Who knows what the truth is. But following the escape plot, Krista's communication privileges and visitation were reportedly more closely restricted so that it could prevent her from coordinating another escape attempt with people on the outside. So over the years, Krista's attorneys pursued multiple appeals arguing that her original defense had been ineffective. They pointed to evidence that had also not been presented during her trial, including her history of severe childhood sexual abuse, brain damage, bipolar disorder, and a variety of other things. Specifically that she had been repeatedly sexually abused while she was a minor and an alleged rape at the age of 17. So coupling that with the brain damage and the bipolar disorder, they were trying to argue that there should be some sort of relief that this wasn't even brought in to trial, that it was ineffective counsel. But the courts repeatedly denied her request for relief and her appeals continued for years. Then on September 30th, 2025, the Tennessee Supreme Court scheduled Krista's execution. They scheduled it for exactly one year later, September 30th, 2026. And as that date approached, her legal team made several final attempts to stop the execution. In August of 2026, her attorneys argued that her medical condition, thrombocytosis, which is a condition where your body produces too many platelets, they said that combined with her unusually small veins could make lethal injection unconstitutionally painful. A special judge, however, rejected the challenge, ruling that Krista had not established that the procedure. violated the constitution and i don't know at what point it went from electrocution to lethal injection i think it's because we no longer as a society do electrocution right um so because initially if you remember she was sentenced to the chair so then on september 3rd 2026 her attorney submitted a clemency petition titled mercy for krista the case for life to tennessee governor bill lee they asked him to commute her death sentence to life without parole but the petition was ultimately denied by mid-september krista's legal team had also filed a federal lawsuit challenging tennessee's execution protocol the lawsuit argued that the state's rules restricted her buddhist spiritual advisor from appropriately touching her or speaking to her during the final hours and then as we know came september 30th krista's scheduled execution river been the maximum security institution in nashville tennessee gearing up for lethal injection and putting this monster under once and for all but as we know this planned execution turned into what was described as an unprecedented procedural failure and here's how the day unfolded at 10 a.m krista's execution was originally scheduled to take place but a federal appears court panel issued a temporary stay while it reviewed her final legal challenges then late afternoon the u.s supreme court overturned the stay and they cleared the execution to proceed resulting in roughly a nine hour delay then at 6 41 p.m media and official witnesses were escorted into the viewing chamber about what 45 minutes later at 7 26 p.m the curtains to the execution chamber opened and krista gave her final statement alongside her spiritual advisor saying she was at peace and she was looking forward to being free within moments at 7 34 p.m krista complained that her right arm where the iv had been placed felt like it was quote about to burst open and was severely throbbing a few minutes later at 7 37 krista took four very deep very distinct breaths that caused her body to literally lift from the gurney so much so people said it looked like she was levitating a couple of minutes later at 7 39 so she was able to breathe and she was able to all of this happening like two minutes back to back she raised her head to look toward her iv line and she continued making visible movements and audible sounds five minutes later at 6 46 p.m the blinds were closed for the first time the curtains shut and at that time a second dose of the phentobarbital was administered then the curtains opened back up two minutes later but krista was still somehow alive witnesses reportedly saw her moving and heard her make a noise and she was able to breathe and she was able to breathe and she was able to breathe making sounds and even snoring with her mouth open almost like she was taking a nap of some sort so realizing that it still wasn't working after about 15 more minutes at 8 0 5 p.m the curtains were abruptly closed for a second time then after 8 0 5 p.m witnesses remained in that viewing room for nearly 50 minutes and they reportedly could hear heavy breathing continued snoring until ultimately the microphone was cut and everybody was ordered to leave leave the room after that state corrections officials suspended the execution and they transported krista by ambulance to a hospital while she was in critical condition and this shocked everybody and i think that's why it kind of sent waves through social media because everybody's like what do you mean this execution failed and she was given two lethal doses she's alive she's snoring she's singing she's talking and then like she's whisked away by ambulance to the hospital well after the failed execution christina's attorneys and several media witnesses held a press conference detailing exactly what they said happened inside that room and according to them there were serious problems from the very beginning one of the biggest issues was getting an iv started in krista's arm krista's legal team said that they had warned the state nine months earlier about her blood disorder and also about her small veins but the execution team still spent about an hour trying to establish a vein that would work and you know intravenous access they reportedly attempted to place the iv in her left arm at least seven different times with one of the needles even bending and look it's not that uncommon for an iv line not to start the first couple of times it does depend on your vein size but also on who is administering the iv i know for me i have very small veins childlike veins so i usually if i go to the doctor for any medication i ask for what is it is it a butterfly needle like a kid's size needle and i also have to ask for a very experienced technician because there have been times when even just on a simple blood draw it's blown my veins or it hasn't even hit one probably at least five or seven times too where finally i'm so poked and prodded and bruised that i'm like fuck this like i'm not getting my blood drawn today get someone competent in here who can do it or like get the right size needle like because it does get frustrating so the fact that she had a medical condition medical condition or not i guess it is possible it's possible that it's difficult to find a vein however usually and look i'm not a what is it called like a flambotist or whatever i'm not somebody who knows how to do this but usually when they do catch the vein you see the blood come out from the port and go back in like you know that you've made contact so the fact that they had all these failures and then finally hit one you would think they would have confirmed the they hit one because they would have seen you know the rush of fluid and all of those things and apparently the reason the lethal injection didn't take is because the iv never got into her vein where it was going into her bloodstream instead i don't know if the right word is topical but it it didn't make intravenous contact so that medication was going on spreading all throughout her tissue throughout her whole body but not going directly into her bloodstream that's why even the didn't work and then there was what happened after the lethal drugs were administered according to media witnesses and krista's attorneys she not only survived both full doses but she continued showing signs of life and i want you to actually listen to some of the statements that they made because the way that they described what they heard inside that chamber it sounds absolutely terrifying honestly like something out of the exorcist or poltergeist or some other like evil haunted movie i will say i've witnessed i believe five executions in tennessee nothing about today was normal typical at all and the court delay was just the tip of the iceberg when we got inside i think it was around 641 we got into the witness chamber we were waiting there for almost an hour which is unusual normally it's 10 15 minutes and then things get underway we could hear like a little crying and whimpering at times but when the curtains finally opened yeah she said her last words which you heard in the courtroom she kept them about herself she mentioned her haters or people who don't like her um and mentioned that she was looking forward to being free um but yeah the her spiritual advisor was there uh with her touching her he was a man um they were singing i love you so much and talking you know saying i'll go in peace um at one point at 7 34 she said my arm feels like it's about to burst open and she said i'm going to go in peace and i'm going to go in peace and i'm going uh then she smiles really big then she starts talking about that one spot on her arm does this happen like that the one spot i didn't hear the rest and then her advisor says relax and she says i'm trying um yeah she's talking throughout this then starts breathing moaning snoring um the curtains close at first at 7 46 um and she was clearly still alive she was clearly still breathing and snoring we could audibly hear that at 7 54 she let out a loud grunt lifted her head up her mouth opened the snoring then began again just before 7 56 her body lifted off the gurney again both her head and her legs sort of like in a v shape almost at eight o'clock the breathing became more faint for a second she let out a heavy sign another sort at 80106 the rock was placed for a second time she's still audibly breathing in that snoring sound pattern at 802 louder snoring started at 803 it stopped for a second the snoring then returned she had a noticeable head and neck neck flex with every sound in that 803 to 805 again at 805 her body flexed as she gasped for air and then the curtain was abruptly drawn the second time from there it was the process of hearing her snore in a pretty consistent pattern you could hear doors opening and closing her lawyers were in and out her spiritual advisor was in and out from that point and then at 853 the mic was cut off after the warden said will the witnesses please exit the area now while all of this was happening krista's attorney said that prison officials closed the curtains preventing witnesses from seeing what was happening inside the chamber he also described major delays in getting access to the room to a secure phone line so that he could contact the tennessee supreme court and demand that the execution be stopped then came the medical response And according to the defense team, roughly 40 minutes had passed between administering the initial drugs and confirmation that an ambulance would transport Krista to a hospital for emergency medical care. And the fallout didn't stop there, because the same medical team involved in Krista Pike's failed execution had already overseen another botched execution in May, back when this guy Tony Carruthers' execution at Riverbend was halted before any lethal drugs were even administered due to very serious procedural failures. During his execution, the supervising physician, Dr. Mark Fowler, unsuccessfully attempted to place a central line near Tony's car. The court depositions later revealed that the doctor had not attempted to place a central line in more than a decade, so obviously wasn't well-versed enough to do this, wasn't qualified. The failed attempts reportedly lasted about 90 minutes, with witnesses and attorneys in the viewing room describing him as being in significant distress as medical staff made more than a dozen punctures trying to catch the vein. Eventually, the governor contacted the warden and ordered the execution to be halted. And he granted Tony a one-year temporary reprieve from his death sentence. So, following Krista's failed execution, the governor announced an immediate pause on all Tennessee executions for the remainder of the year, all while an independent review was conducted. And the corrections commissioner, Frank Strada, he resigned, because there was just too much intense public and legislative scrutiny over the execution and questions about transparency. So, he basically just. Just took the L and resigned. Meanwhile, though, Krista's attorneys filed emergency motions to preserve written records, communications, and any potential video from inside the execution chamber. Against all odds, and I mean all odds, Krista is now awake. And not only awake, but she is speaking and she is walking. And according to her attorneys, her recovery is something that they are describing as medically unprecedented. Take a listen. Krista is a survivor. She survived child sexual abuse. She survived rapes of multiple men. She survived a suicide attempt when she was 12. And she survived the state's attempt to execute her. She deserves answers about what was done to her. And the people of Tennessee deserve those answers, too. On Monday night, it was our understanding that Krista was brain dead and that life support would be removed the next day. But on Tuesday, to the shock of everyone, including me, including her team, and including the medical staff, I said, I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry. Krista woke up and began talking. And then she woke up in a hospital surrounded by people she didn't know with a tube down her throat. We don't know the toll all of this will take. Her attorneys also gave an update on what Krista said when she woke up, as well as her current cognitive state. I was not in the room when she woke up, so I don't want to speculate too much. Our understanding was the first thing she said was, where am I and who are you? There's still a lot of cognitive confusion, and so I will say that. She has wanted to know what's happened, and she's asked about several people. She's asked about her team. She's asked about the victim's family. I think she is angry and confused about everything right now. Is she aware of the state by the exit of the door? Go ahead. Has she said anything? She is very aware that the state tried to execute her, and again, I don't want to say what she remembers and what she doesn't remember at this point because I think that's evolving, and I want to be very, very careful of that, but she's very aware of what they did to her up to a point, and that's as best I can do. Now, look, I understand being angry and confused, especially if you either have no recollection over the fact. that you were supposed to be executed or you wake up thinking, like, hey, I'm supposed to be dead right now. What the hell is going on? Like, either of those scenarios is obviously going to really confuse someone and I would imagine incite some fear, and as my dad always said, fear generates anger, so I get that, but also don't really feel bad for her. Now, as far as the next steps legally, well, that storm has already begun. I mentioned earlier that Krista's legal team had filed emergency motions in order to preserve evidence. and expressed concerns about the botched execution, and a formal hearing ended up being held on Wednesday, October 7th. Now, during that hearing, Krista's team confirmed to the judge that Krista is not only awake, but that she is limitedly speaking. They also said that they were able to see Krista on Tuesday. However, her attorneys claimed that the Department of Corrections, quote, continues to put up roadblocks for both her medical providers and legal team. They requested that Krista have phone access to contact them. along with at least 48 hours notice if she is transferred. The state, however, denied trying to limit meetings between Krista and her attorneys, so the judge asked the state to provide more information about how Krista would use the tablet to communicate and what that would look like before ultimately deciding whether she should have access to it or not. And the judge made it clear that just because Krista is currently in a hospital, that does not mean that she should have any less access to her attorney than she would when she was in the women's hospital. Krista's legal team also revisited their earlier concerns about Tennessee's lethal injection protocol, arguing that her medical conditions, including the small veins, bipolar disorder, and PTSD, could make the process especially painful. One of her attorneys said, quote, The state has made no promises that Ms. Pike will not be subject to future execution, adding that the evidence that they're seeking to preserve could be, largely uncertain, especially because she is the first person to ever survive two doses of lethal injection. Her original death warrant has expired. Tennessee has paused executions for the rest of 2026. Her defense team says that the lethal medication leaked into her tissue during that failed IV placement, causing severe injuries to both of her arms. Doctors also reportedly can't yet determine whether she will suffer permanent brain damage or not or organ damage. Legally, her attorneys are asking the government to commute her death sentence to life in prison, arguing that attempting to execute her again would violate the Eighth Amendment. And if Tennessee seeks a new death warrant, it could lead to another major legal battle over whether a second execution attempt is even constitutional. Now, obviously, this has raised a lot of mixed feelings from a lot of people. Some believe that Krista may have intentionally starved herself because she didn't request a last meal and that she intentionally. dehydrated herself all in an attempt to make her veins collapse. Because she didn't want to die, she was trying to commute the whole ruling and that she was going to, you know, go down fighting. Yet others have gone in a completely different direction. One that I didn't quite expect, but others are suggesting that Krista used witchcraft or her spiritual advisor did to somehow summon an evil power that helped her survive. Which I don't know if that is just a callback to her earlier days of the satanic panic and the pentagram and all of that, or if she still believed that. And if they did do something, I don't know. But there are all kinds of opinions and theories out there surrounding what happened during Krista's execution. But honestly, despite all of that, I just can't help but think of Colleen's family. Because they have been fighting for justice for nearly 30 years. And what, they finally thought they were going to get it, only to be like, oops, surprise. As Krista said, the bits just won't die. I don't know. It is awful. Colleen's mom, Mae, has never held back when it comes to Krista. And she has remained a huge pillar of strength, demanding that Krista be held accountable for what she did. So when the execution went south, Mae spoke out about how angry she was, admitting, quote, I want to go kill Krista. How's that? She also said that if she had been able to get into that execution chamber, what she would do, saying, quote, if I could have gotten into that room, I would have taken the box cutter and cut her up like she did Colleen. Colleen's stepdad, Raul, was also equally furious over the failed execution. In a Facebook post, he criticized officials for failing to carry it out and said that in his view, Colleen's soul cannot rest until Krista is dead. And quote, this bitch will haunt Colleen's heavenly journey until she's been wiped off the face of the earth. But despite her family's determination to get justice for Colleen, there is also another thing that has continued to haunt them. The missing piece of Colleen's skull. Most of Colleen's remains were cremated and they were kept in a pewter box, but Mae felt that she couldn't fully lay her daughter to rest while part of her remained missing. For years, Tennessee kept that skull fragment as evidence while Krista's capital case remained open. Then in mid-2026, a local documentary reported that the state had finally returned a piece of Colleen's skull to Mae after 16 years of letters and public pleas. However, now there's a dispute over whether that specific fragment that Krista took was ever returned. Mae says that it wasn't and that it's now missing, while Krista's legal team says that they have confirmed with the state that all of Colleen's remains that were held as evidence, including the skull fragments, were returned to her mother. Which that, I don't know, that means that after more than 30 years, Colleen's case is still far from over. Krista's failed execution has created a whole new legal situation, while Colleen's family is still fighting for the justice and the closure that they have been waiting for since 1995. And although so much remains uncertain, I hope that no matter what happens next, we never lose sight of the person at the center of this case. Colleen. She deserves to be remembered for so much more than the person who took her life and then had a botched execution done on her. Colleen deserves to be remembered, not Krista. And look, I don't know if you believe in God, divine intervention, anything spiritual, but it's my belief that this execution failed for a reason. Either to subject Krista to more pain that I believe is very well deserved, or as some sort of serendipitous ironic moment of, again, a callback to what she said herself. The bitch won't die. Well, Krista, you're the only bitch I see, and you just won't die. And now, I hope that you are in pain. I hope that you are aware of the pain that you're in, that your arms are hurting. And I don't know if that makes me inhumane and evil, but thinking of what she did to Colleen, how evil it was, the carvings, the 300 stab wounds, while Colleen was alive and felt, every single one of those, she deserves this. It could not have happened to a better person, in my view. So, I don't know. When I first heard about this, I felt like Colleen's name was kind of getting shuttered in all of this, and all anybody was talking about was, Krista Pike, failed execution, this and that. And so, I was like, let's go back to the root of this. Let's go back to Colleen, and let's put Krista on blast for what she did, and how she even got there, and why she was being executed to begin with. Like, not poor Krista. There's got two lethal doses, and survived them, and is in pain, and how inhumane. No. Look at Krista, and poor Colleen. That's where I'm at with this. But, curious to know your thoughts. Thank you for tuning in to another episode of Serialistly. Do not forget, guys, take a quick second, if you're watching this on YouTube, like the video, share the video, subscribe to the channel. And if you are listening to this on any of your podcast apps, open your app, Apple, Spotify, whatever it is, make sure that you are following the podcast, so you do not miss future episodes. All right, thank you so much, and until the next one, be nice, don't kill people, and I would say stay away from Satan, but I feel like that's kind of the obvious, right? So, we'll just leave it at that. Be nice, don't kill people. Bye.