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Reason paperweight was placed in chamber during Christa Pike’s botched execution
Several new details have emerged about the failed execution of Christa Pike last week, including the disturbing reason a paperweight was placed in the execution chamber, with the convicted murderer now in hospital on life support.
Now 50, Pike was set to become the first woman in over 200 years to be executed in the state of Tennessee, with her scheduled execution date on Wednesday, September 30.
However, clinicians were unsuccessful in their attempt to administer the lethal injections, with Pike surviving both doses at Riverbend Maximum Security Institution, much to the astonishment of authorities.
The disturbing reason the paperweight was placed in the chamber
As more detail around the faulty procedure began to filter through, curiosity around the presence of a golf ball-sized paperweight in the execution chamber has grown, with the Associated Press reporting its alleged significance.
According to the report, the paperweight was used to symbolize the administering of the lethal injections to those attending the execution, but authorities are yet to confirm the legitimacy of such claims.
After it became evident that the injections had failed, Pike was rushed to hospital, and according to reports, remains there unconscious while receiving treatment.
Pike and her lawyers had contested her conviction over several years, most recently with a last-ditch clemency petition which was ultimately dismissed by the US Supreme Court on the day of her execution.
Her lawyers and healthcare professionals had voiced their concerns over her execution and the planned lethal injection due to Pike’s medical conditions, which were believed could interfere with the execution and make it particularly painful.
Pike's brutal murder of Slemmer
Pike was convicted of the murder of fellow US Job Corps student, Colleen Slemmer, in 1996, along with her then-boyfriend, Tadrayl Shipp, after Pike was convinced Slemmer was romantically interested in him.
Slemmer was beaten, cut, and disfigured, and eventually found with satanic symbols carved into her chest, as well as a piece of her skull missing, which Pike had allegedly kept.
As such, Pike was sentenced to death, while Shipp, who wasn’t legally an adult, was given a life sentence with the possibility of parole.
Since the events of last Wednesday, Pike’s future remains uncertain, with any further executions in the state suspended for the rest of the year pending investigation by authorities.