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Around twenty years ago, Helen Roberts conducted an interview with Christa Pike, a Tennessee death row inmate, aiming to uncover the person behind the violent murder of Colleen Slemmer. At that time, Pike was 30 years old and had spent 11 years on death row, having been the youngest woman in the United States to receive the death penalty. More recently, Pike, now 50, underwent a scheduled execution but survived after receiving two lethal doses of pentobarbital, leaving her in critical condition.
Roberts, who was then the real life editor for a women’s lifestyle magazine, reflected on her complex experience meeting Pike and how it left a lasting impression on her both as a journalist and as a human being. She noted the difficulty in reconciling the composed woman sitting before her with the brutal nature of the crime she committed. “They were like two very separate people, I could not imagine the person I met to have been so horrifically violent,” Roberts said.
The interview took place in December 2006 at Tennessee’s maximum-security women’s prison in Nashville, now called Debra K Johnson Rehabilitation Center. Roberts, originally from Conwy, North Wales, was working for More Magazine and traveled to the US for this opportunity. After passing security and numerous doors, she conducted the interview with Pike through a glass window using a speaker. Despite being close in age, Roberts had entered the meeting expecting a hardened, brutal woman but was instead met by someone quite different. She described Pike as well put together with curly hair like her own, and she felt they shared small connections. Pike appeared warm, eager to please, and displayed a sense of humor and openness that surprised Roberts.
While their time was limited, Roberts recalled how Pike quickly engaged and answered questions clearly and honestly, never defensive or secretive. Pike maintained eye contact and was forthcoming, sometimes coming across as an ordinary person rather than someone hardened by violence. Roberts explained, “I didn’t meet her with any animosity… she could obviously feel, I guess, the vibe that we were going to be very placid, and just talk.” Pike wanted to be seen as a person—the woman behind one terrible mistake—and Roberts sought to understand her life and how she had been coping with her circumstances.
The crime that put Pike on death row occurred in 1995 when, at age 18, she and her boyfriend Tadaryl Shipp brutally beat, tortured, and murdered 19-year-old Colleen Slemmer. The attack stemmed from accusations that Slemmer had insulted Pike and attempted to steal her boyfriend. Witnesses from their job training camp testified that Pike had bragged about the murder and even showed a piece of Slemmer’s skull. Pike received the death penalty in 1996, while Shipp, who was 17, was sentenced to life with the possibility of parole. Pike told Roberts that she didn’t fully grasp the trial’s magnitude but admitted to enjoying being the center of attention during that time. When asked about the murder itself, Pike spoke matter-of-factly without emotional display, describing her actions as an out-of-body experience and stating the event was like someone else had taken control of her.
Pike’s background included a troubled upbringing in Beckley, West Virginia, where she endured neglect from alcoholic parents and periods of abuse, including being raped twice before adulthood. The loss of her grandmother to cancer when Pike was 12 triggered intense anger and suicidal thoughts. After moving between schools, Pike sought a fresh start at the Knoxville Job Corps at age 18, hoping to become a nurse. Pike’s legal team submitted a clemency petition, but it was denied, despite calls from UN human rights experts to halt the execution. Roberts shared that Pike hoped someone might acknowledge how her difficult childhood and mental health challenges influenced her decisions, and that she preferred prison over death. Roberts described feeling haunted by the approach of the execution and shock upon hearing that Pike had survived an attempt at lethal injection, calling the experience “absolutely barbaric” and grappling with the contradiction of being subjected to a death sentence but then rushed to hospital for life-saving care.
During the 2006 interview, Pike’s daily life was marked by isolation, confined to her cell for 23 hours a day, with limited time outside and no interaction with other inmates, as she was the only woman on death row. Despite this, she had developed routines involving reading, watching television, and writing to pen pals. Shortly after their meeting, Roberts received a handmade card from Pike, a purple butterfly-shaped note expressing gratitude for being treated with kindness and respect as a woman. For Roberts, this small gesture felt deeply meaningful.
Reflecting on her experience, Roberts acknowledged the gravity of Pike’s crime and the necessity of punishment but also questioned whether earlier intervention and support might have changed the course of Pike’s life. She emphasized the complexity of her feelings toward Pike, stating, “I can’t deny the woman I met, the woman I had in front of me and how I bonded with her and how she reacted to me and how she responded to me and my questions. She’s still a human being.” Roberts believes Pike recognizes the wasted potential of her life and the possibility of having done good, had circumstances been different
Read the full article from The BBC here: Read More
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