Christa Pike’s confederate boyfriend Tadaryl Shipp’s life behind bars after avoiding loss of life penalty
Tadaryl Shipp, then-boyfriend of Christa Pike, was convicted of murder along with Pike – but he did not face the death penalty for killing Colleen Slemmer
Tadaryl Shipp, convicted in 1997 for the murder of Colleen Slemmer
The failed execution of Christa Pike has sent shockwaves around the world, as the 50-year-old survived two lethal injections last Wednesday, and remains in hospital. But her accomplice in the murder of Colleen Slemmer was also convicted – yet faced a different fate.
Pike was sentenced to death in 1996 for the murder of classmate Colleen Slemmer in January 1995. However, Pike did not act alone, and carried out the brutal fatal attack in Tennessee woodland with her then-boyfriend, Tadaryl Shipp.
Pike was 18 when the offence took place, while Shipp was 17 — so considered a minor, reports People Magazine. That’s why he has spent his life behind bars, whereas Pike was sentenced to death.
In his trial, jurors were told Shipp, Pike, and another accomplice Shadolla Peterson — who accepted a plea deal to testify against the others — lured Colleen Slemmer from their dorm rooms at the Knoxville Job Corps. They then took Slemmer to a nearby woodland, tortured her with a box cutter, and killed her, leaving her in the woods.
The trio went back to their dorms. They were arrested 36 hours later.
In their trials and in subsequent interviews, it has been suggested Satanic Worship played a role in the motive for the killing, as has a theory that Slemmer was a love rival for Shipp’s affections. Pike and Shipp were in a relationship at the time.
Colleen Slemmer was killed in 1995(Image: WVLT 8)
After a trial, Shipp was sentenced to life imprisonment in 1997, more than two years on from the murder. He is currently jailed in the Northwest Correctional Complex in Tiptonville, Lake County, Tennessee, per inmate records.
He was first eligible for parole last year, but it was denied. He will next be eligible for parole in 2031.
Pike is now on a ventilator after a last-minute court hearing ruled she could be the first woman executed in Tennessee for 200 years, but the procedure failed in horrifying circumstances.
The failure has left people on both sides of the death penalty debate demanding answers, and the state’s governor has ordered an independent review.
In an interview with NBC News on Thursday, Colleen’s mum, May Martinez, described the failed execution as a “mess”.
