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Thread: Christa Gail Pike - Tennessee Death Row

  1. #41
    Administrator Heidi's Avatar
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    Murder victim's mother begs TN to release skull fragment

    This week marked 20 years since the brutal murder of a teenage girl in Knoxville. After two decades, the victim's mother says she is still waiting to bury her daughter because part of her skull is locked away in Tennessee as evidence.

    "I need to fight for Colleen. I am her voice," said May Martinez of Jacksonville, Florida, to WBIR's Gannett sister-station WTLV.

    Martinez is the mother of Colleen Slemmer. Slemmer was murdered in Knoxville on January 13, 1995, by Christa Pike. Pike was convicted of murder and sentenced to death. She is Tennessee's only female death row inmate.

    Colleen Slemmer was a student at Job Corps in Knoxville when she met Pike. Pike believed Slemmer was trying to steal her boyfriend and lured her into a violent trap.

    "Christa Pike wanted a human sacrifice and my daughter was it," said Martinez. "They basically cut her over 300 times and carved a pentagram on her chest."

    Pike bashed Slemmer's head with a chunk of asphalt and kept part of her skull as a trophy. That portion of Slemmer's skull is the missing piece that prevents Martinez from giving Colleen a proper burial.

    Tennessee says it will not return the skull fragment until after Pike is executed. The chunk of skull is considered evidence in an open case. Pike's death sentence is currently being appealed in federal court.

    "I think it's wrong. I think they should have taken a pictures, they could have made a mold," said Martinez.

    At Martinez's Florida home, a pewter box contains the cremated remains of most of Colleen Slemmer's body. Martinez says she will not bury Colleen until she can bury all of her remains.

    Martinez says Tennessee has returned other parts of Colleen through the years, sometimes without any warning.

    "Over the years, Tennessee has mailed me body parts in a box not saying what is or anything like that and I just get body parts," said Martinez.

    Now Martinez has to wait indefinitely for an unscheduled execution. When Tennessee finally closes the case against Pike, Martinez will hopefully be able to permanently close the box in her home and put her daughter to rest. But she says nothing will provide true closure.

    "I don't think you ever have closure because her friends can't go see her and talk to her. I can't put flowers on a grave. There is nothing there. She is just in a box," said Martinez.

    No execution date has been set for Christa Pike. During her time in prison, Pike has been convicted of attempting to murder a fellow inmate in 2001. She also attempted to escape from prison in March 2012.

    http://www.wbir.com/story/news/2015/...kull/21885919/
    An uninformed opponent is a dangerous opponent.

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  2. #42
    Administrator Heidi's Avatar
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    Somewhat related

    Tennessee prisoner faces 45 more counts in N.J.

    A former Raritan Township resident has been indicted by the Grand Jury of the Hunterdon County Superior Court on 45 criminal charges related to an identity theft and credit card fraud investigation.

    The indictment of Donald J. Kohut Jr. 37, was handed down on Jan. 29 and announced today by Hunterdon County Prosecutor Anthony P. Kearns, III and Chief of Detectives John Kuczynski.

    Kohut made headlines in 2012 when he was charged with bribery and conspiracy to commit escape. He had been trying to break Christa Gail Pike out of prison. She was Tennessee's lone death row inmate, having been convicted of the 1995 torture slaying of Colleen Slemmer, who was a student in the Knoxville Job Corps.

    Kohut is currently in Northeast Correctional Complex in Johnson County, Tenn., serving a sentence that began May 31, 2012, and ends June 22, 2019.

    According to Prosecutor Kearns, "Detective Sgt. Peter Pfeifer of the Hunterdon County Prosecutor's Office Major Crimes Unit conducted a detailed, two-year investigation that uncovered an extensive network of fictitious businesses and related fraudulent credit card accounts. These businesses and credit card accounts were created in the names of several individuals without their knowledge or consent through the unauthorized use of their personal information. Victims were located in New Jersey, Pennsylvania, South Carolina and Tennessee."

    Kearns thanked the U.S. Secret Service Newark Field Office, the U.S. Attorney's Office for the District of New Jersey, the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation, and the Nashville, Tenn., District Attorney's Office for their assistance in this case.

    An indictment means that a Grand Jury has decided that enough evidence exists to warrant a trial. A defendant is presumed innocent until and unless proven guilty in court.

    http://www.nj.com/hunterdon-county-d...ectives_i.html
    An uninformed opponent is a dangerous opponent.

    "Y'all be makin shit up" ~ Markeith Loyd

  3. #43
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    Chattanooga Judge Hearing Appeal Of Woman Who Has Been On Death Row Since She Was 20

    A Chattanooga judge is hearing the appeal of a Tennessee woman who has been on death row since she was 20.

    Christa Gail Pike turned to Federal Court after exhausting her appeals to avoid the death penalty in state court for the torture murder of a romantic rival when she was 18.

    Judge Sandy Mattice is holding evidentiary hearings in Nashville on Tuesday and Wednesday of this week.

    Police said Ms. Pike was at a Job Corps Center for troubled youth at Knoxville when she, her boyfriend and another youth lured 19-year-old Colleen Slemmer to a remote location on Jan. 12, 1995.

    Authorities said the victim was attacked by Ms. Pike and boyfriend Tadaryl Shipp. The victim was beaten and slashed, and a pentagram was carved in her chest while she was still alive. Ms. Pike smashed Ms. Slemmer's skull with a large chunk of asphalt paving, killing her.

    Those involved were soon arrested after Ms. Pike kept a piece of the victim's skull and showed it off to friends.

    Ms. Pike was sentenced to die, while Shipp is serving a life prison sentence. The other youth got probation after he agreed to help the state.

    Ms. Pike at one time briefly said she wanted to be executed, but she soon resumed her appeals.

    http://www.chattanoogan.com/2015/5/2...Appeal-Of.aspx

  4. #44
    Senior Member CnCP Legend Mike's Avatar
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    Federal court denies Pike's request to overturn death penalty

    KNOXVILLE - A federal court has denied a request to release and overturn the death penalty conviction for Christa Gail Pike, a former Knoxville resident who was sentenced two decades ago for the brutal torture and murder of a fellow co-worker that included carving a pentagram into her chest and bashing her skull.

    She is Tennessee's only female death row inmate.

    Pike had previously drained all her state appeals. She filed her latest appeal in U.S. District Court in October of 2012.

    Pike, who turned 40 on Thursday, was a teenage girl when she and her boyfriend, Tadaryl Shipp, murdered Colleen Slemmer on Jan. 13, 1995.

    Shipp, who was 17 at the time of the killing, also was convicted. He is serving a life sentence at the South Central Correction Center in Clifton, Tenn. He is eligible for parole in 2031.

    No execution date has been set for set for Pike.

    Pike, in her request to overturn her conviction, claimed that she was provided with ineffective counsel, that the death penalty is unconstitutional and that she suffers from mental illness and brain damage that – under the 8th Amendment – would prohibit the death penalty for her.

    Slemmer, 19 at the time, was a student at now defunct Job Corps in Knoxville when she met Pike and Shipp. Pike believed Slemmer was trying to steal Shipp and lured her into a violent trap they set up at the University of Tennessee Agricultural campus.

    Pike bashed Slemmer's head with a chunk of asphalt and kept part of her skull as a trophy.

    http://www.wbir.com/news/local/feder...nalty/77588963
    "There is a point in the history of a society when it becomes so pathologically soft and tender that among other things it sides even with those who harm it, criminals, and does this quite seriously and honestly. Punishing somehow seems unfair to it, and it is certain that imagining ‘punishment’ and ‘being supposed to punish’ hurts it, arouses fear in it." Friedrich Nietzsche

  5. #45
    Administrator Moh's Avatar
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    On June 16, 2016, Pike filed an appeal before the US Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit.

    https://dockets.justia.com/docket/ci...ts/ca6/16-5854

  6. #46
    Administrator Moh's Avatar
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    On October 17, 2018, oral argument will be heard in Pike's appeal before the Sixth Circuit. The panel will be made up of Judges Cook (G.W. Bush), Griffin (G.W. Bush) and Stranch (Obama).

    http://www.ca6.uscourts.gov/sites/ca...152018_arg.pdf

  7. #47
    Moderator Bobsicles's Avatar
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    I think Pike might be the next female executed in the United States

  8. #48
    Administrator Moh's Avatar
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    What do you base that on?

  9. #49
    Administrator Aaron's Avatar
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    The 6th Circuit DENIED Pike's appeal on August 22.

    https://cases.justia.com/federal/app...?ts=1566498716
    Don't ask questions, just consume product and then get excited for next products.

    "They will hurt you. They will hurt your grandma, these people. The root cause of this is there's no discipline in the homes, they don't go to school, you know, they live off the government, no personal accountability, and they just beat people up for no reason, and it's disgusting." - Former Hamilton County Prosecutor Joe Deters

  10. #50
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    Has the victim's mom received everything for a burial or service of any kind? I just can't believe the disgustingly long waiting period.

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