Christa Pike ‘ought to be killed by electrical chair regardless of botched execution’
US politician Marsha Blackburn has called for the return of the electric chair after death row killer Christa Pike survived a botched lethal injection
A call has been made to bring back the electric chair after Christa Pike survived a lethal injection(Image: J. Miles Cary, Knoxville News Sentinel)
A US politician has pledged to bring back the electric chair after death row killer Christa Pike survived two doses of a lethal injection. Senator Marsha Blackburn said the horrific botched execution of the 50-year-old “should not be grounds to halt” the death penalty.
Republican Blackburn promised to bring back electrocution if she wins her bid to become Tennessee’s next governor in November. Her fiery comments come after outgoing state governor Bill Lee paused all upcoming executions following Pike’s survival last Wednesday.
Pike, who was sentenced to death in 1996 for the brutal murder of classmate Colleen Slemmer, was rushed to hospital following the failed execution.
Pike was sentenced to death in 1996 for the brutal murder of classmate Colleen Slemmer(Image: Tennessee Department of Correction/AFP via Getty Images)
Lawyers initially feared she was brain dead after being put on ventilator support, but she miraculously woke up in her ICU bed and began talking on Tuesday.
However, Blackburn insists the gruesome mistake simply means it is time to switch methods.
“While there should be a thorough review of what happened and why the process failed, the answer is simple: bring back the electric chair and deliver justice for these victims swiftly,” she said. “As your governor I will do just that.”
Marsha Blackburn is favourite to be the next Tennessee Governor
The senator added: “If it’s lethal injection, if it is electric chair, what we do know is we have to find a way to do this – and do it successfully.”
Pointing to rival states, she said: “You look at Florida; they’ve had 19 executions this year. Not one of them has been botched.”
Under Tennessee law, convicts sentenced for crimes before January 1, 1999, are allowed to choose electrocution over lethal injection by signing a waiver. The electric chair can also be used if lethal injection drugs are unavailable.
Blackburn’s hardline stance stands in stark contrast to her Democrat opponent Jerri Green, who has demanded a complete halt on all future state executions.
Pike’s lawyers initially feared she was brain dead after being put on ventilator support(Image: Knoxville News Sentinel-USA TODAY NETWORK)
It remains uncertain whether Pike will be forced to face the execution chamber a second time. Her attorney, Stephen Ferrell, is demanding her sentence be commuted following the botched attempt.
“The least that could happen now is that we at least take death off the table and start looking for what the future could be for her,” he told CBS.
Pike was handed the death sentence after luring classmate Colleen Slemmer into an isolated area near the University of Tennessee campus in Knoxville alongside her then-boyfriend Tadaryl Shipp.
The helpless victim was brutally tortured with a box cutter, with a pentagram carved into her chest while she was still alive.
Pike was just 18 at the time of the horrific crime, while 17-year-old accomplice Shipp received a life sentence plus 25 years with the possibility of parole.
The killer was later diagnosed with bipolar disorder and post-traumatic stress disorder, claiming she was a “mentally ill 18-year-old kid” at the time of the murder.
