The Full Story: The Murder That Put Christa Pike on Death Row, and the Execution That Failed

Christa Pike entered Tennessee’s death chamber last night, expecting to die for the 1995 murder of 19-year-old Colleen Slemmer. The execution did not end with a death certificate. After prison staff administered two doses of pentobarbital, Pike remained alive. Witnesses heard loud snoring and continued breathing behind a closed curtain.