WEBVTT - Death Chamber 0:00:00.760 --> 0:00:02.500 I'm very happy to see you again, though obviously the 0:00:02.540 --> 0:00:04.360 circumstances are horrific. 0:00:06.700 --> 0:00:11.219 Certainly Wednesday didn't unfold the way we expected it to, 0:00:12.090 --> 0:00:14.890 and that has put us on an emotional roller coaster. 0:00:15.550 --> 0:00:18.470 I'm doing okay because I believe Krista's going to be okay. 0:00:19.230 --> 0:00:22.630 She is in critical condition. She's receiving life-saving care. 0:00:25.670 --> 0:00:29.160 Kelly Gleason and Steve Farrell are two of Krista Pike's attorneys. 0:00:29.910 --> 0:00:34.670 On Wednesday, September 30th, 2026, the state of Tennessee attempted 0:00:34.870 --> 0:00:38.310 and failed to execute Krista Pike by lethal injection. 0:00:39.150 --> 0:00:39.510 It was a. 0:00:39.510 --> 0:00:42.839 Scenario both Krista and her lawyers had been warning about 0:00:42.880 --> 0:00:46.670 for months. But the magnitude of what had actually transpired 0:00:47.240 --> 0:00:48.820 was still hard to grasp. 0:00:50.900 --> 0:00:53.500 She has been very clear that in the last few 0:00:53.560 --> 0:00:56.900 weeks of her life, she has known and received more 0:00:56.960 --> 0:01:00.400 love than she ever has experienced before. And that was 0:01:00.440 --> 0:01:04.200 very meaningful and still is meaningful for her. And I 0:01:04.240 --> 0:01:07.980 believe that all the tremendous outpouring of love and support 0:01:08.020 --> 0:01:11.820 that she has received will carry her through and bring 0:01:11.860 --> 0:01:13.080 her back fully to us. 0:01:17.430 --> 0:01:20.670 When my co-host Sarah Treleaven and I made the original 0:01:20.850 --> 0:01:24.569 eight episodes of this podcast, we spent months tracking the 0:01:24.670 --> 0:01:28.000 efforts of Krista's lawyers to save her life. They were 0:01:28.060 --> 0:01:31.740 determined to tell Krista's story, to humanize a woman who 0:01:31.800 --> 0:01:36.620 committed the brutal murder of 19-year-old Colleen Slemmer. Krista was 0:01:36.670 --> 0:01:39.369 just a teenager when she was charged with first-degree murder. 0:01:39.890 --> 0:01:43.190 She was convicted and sentenced to death 30 years ago. 0:01:43.910 --> 0:01:46.750 And she went on to spend her entire adult life 0:01:46.930 --> 0:01:52.010 in prison, most of it in solitary confinement. For her lawyers, 0:01:52.410 --> 0:01:55.920 much of Krista's life and her impending death were symbols 0:01:55.960 --> 0:02:00.030 of a broken system. But now, the failed attempt to 0:02:00.190 --> 0:02:04.830 execute Krista has cast everything in a horrifying new light. 0:02:10.380 --> 0:02:14.380 I'm Beth Karras. In a special bonus episode of Unrestorable 0:02:14.440 --> 0:02:18.519 Proof of Life, recorded on Saturday, October 3rd, we sit 0:02:18.560 --> 0:02:21.440 down with Kelly and Steve to hear about what went 0:02:21.500 --> 0:02:25.480 wrong and what the future might hold for Krista and 0:02:25.520 --> 0:02:27.780 for those still searching for justice. 0:02:57.010 --> 0:02:59.570 She was trying to do everything she could to help 0:02:59.630 --> 0:03:03.230 them kill her. So much so that while they were 0:03:03.290 --> 0:03:06.609 doing multiple sticks on her left arm in particular, she 0:03:06.690 --> 0:03:11.000 knew that she's got veins up towards her shoulder on 0:03:11.030 --> 0:03:13.120 both sides that were the best point of access. 0:03:15.820 --> 0:03:18.800 Krista and her lawyers had long argued that, because of 0:03:18.860 --> 0:03:22.650 her small veins and blood disorder, her death by lethal 0:03:22.710 --> 0:03:26.930 injection was likely to be unsuccessful and even result in torture. 0:03:27.570 --> 0:03:30.549 She had asked instead to be killed by hanging. The 0:03:30.610 --> 0:03:35.840 court rejected those arguments. Krista's attorneys filed a petition for 0:03:35.900 --> 0:03:39.300 clemency to the governor of Tennessee, asking that her sentence 0:03:39.320 --> 0:03:44.010 be commuted to life without parole. Days before her execution date, 0:03:44.250 --> 0:03:48.950 Governor Bill Lee denied it. The night before her execution, 0:03:49.510 --> 0:03:52.680 she was transferred to a Nashville area men's prison, the 0:03:52.760 --> 0:03:57.920 site of the state's sole death chamber. On the evening 0:03:57.980 --> 0:04:01.600 of September 30th, Krista was prepped to become the first 0:04:01.700 --> 0:04:04.620 woman killed by the state of Tennessee in more than 0:04:04.620 --> 0:04:08.660 200 years. She was strapped down to a gurney in 0:04:08.700 --> 0:04:13.050 the execution chamber. Colleen's mother, members of the media, and 0:04:13.170 --> 0:04:21.000 others were sitting in viewing rooms. Almost immediately, things started 0:04:21.060 --> 0:04:21.900 to go wrong. 0:04:23.300 --> 0:04:26.500 So she asked them to please start there. They did not. 0:04:26.640 --> 0:04:29.230 They started in more, you know, where they would normally 0:04:29.260 --> 0:04:32.850 look around the bend of the arm. And there were 0:04:32.870 --> 0:04:36.410 multiple sticks, particularly in her left arm, without success in 0:04:36.450 --> 0:04:40.339 lodging and getting a vein and establishing proper access. I 0:04:40.360 --> 0:04:42.800 think there were multiple blown veins during the night is 0:04:42.880 --> 0:04:45.080 what we're going to find out. But at one point 0:04:45.100 --> 0:04:47.140 she said, could you please just try up here, try 0:04:47.200 --> 0:04:50.990 up here. And when the nurse thought she had it set, 0:04:51.250 --> 0:04:52.070 Krista thanked her. 0:04:52.790 --> 0:04:56.850 Randy Spivey, another of Krista's attorneys, was there with her 0:04:56.870 --> 0:04:57.529 that night. 0:04:58.450 --> 0:05:02.560 The execution team attempted to establish an IV line for 0:05:02.740 --> 0:05:06.500 an hour. I counted at least seven needles used in 0:05:06.560 --> 0:05:09.840 her left arm alone. one of which appeared to be 0:05:09.920 --> 0:05:14.720 bent when it was pulled from her arm after an unsuccessful. 0:05:15.250 --> 0:05:18.490 Attempt. At 7.27 p.m., with an IV in Krista's arm, 0:05:18.990 --> 0:05:23.230 the curtain was opened to the viewing rooms. According to witnesses, 0:05:23.930 --> 0:05:27.740 Krista spoke her last words that included she is ready 0:05:27.800 --> 0:05:31.599 to be free, and this is a happy day, that 0:05:31.640 --> 0:05:34.580 she's going to leave this world the way she spent 0:05:34.640 --> 0:05:38.540 most of her life, and that is with love. Krista 0:05:38.680 --> 0:05:42.339 also reportedly said she loves the people who are angry 0:05:42.420 --> 0:05:45.060 with her just as much as she loves the people 0:05:45.100 --> 0:05:48.680 who are on her side. She said, I'm at peace 0:05:49.500 --> 0:05:58.700 and I'm ready to go. At 7.34 p.m., Krista said 0:05:59.260 --> 0:06:01.520 her arm felt like it was going to burst. She 0:06:01.560 --> 0:06:04.830 was kicking her feet. Her jaw was moving. She took 0:06:04.870 --> 0:06:08.920 a deep breath at 7.44 p.m. and a large yawn 0:06:08.950 --> 0:06:14.820 at 7.45. Then at 7.46, the curtain closed, but opened 0:06:14.880 --> 0:06:20.980 again within three minutes at 7.49 p.m. Execution protocols allow 0:06:21.020 --> 0:06:23.580 for a second dose to be administered if the first 0:06:23.670 --> 0:06:27.870 dose fails. Witnesses could hear what sounded like snoring or 0:06:27.990 --> 0:06:33.130 struggling to breathe from behind the closed curtain. At 7.49, 0:06:33.130 --> 0:06:37.280 the curtains opened again. Krista's mouth was open. and some 0:06:37.339 --> 0:06:41.120 witnesses reported sounds of choking. She was able to lift 0:06:41.140 --> 0:06:46.450 her head and continue making noises. At 8.05 p.m., the 0:06:46.490 --> 0:06:51.589 curtain closed for the last time. After two lethal doses 0:06:51.650 --> 0:06:56.979 of pentobarbital, Krista was still alive. There's no protocol on 0:06:57.000 --> 0:07:01.760 the books after two doses fail. Randy Spivey jumped into action. 0:07:01.779 --> 0:07:06.320 After the second dose of the lethal drugs, chemicals and 0:07:06.360 --> 0:07:09.360 the five minute waiting period passed, it was clear that Ms. 0:07:09.430 --> 0:07:12.370 Pike was still breathing. I demanded you to use a 0:07:12.430 --> 0:07:15.090 phone to connect with Chris's legal team to let them 0:07:15.150 --> 0:07:18.530 know what was happening as best I could, again, from 0:07:18.590 --> 0:07:23.850 a dark room. It took approximately seven minutes and passage 0:07:23.910 --> 0:07:26.910 through six locked doors to finally get me to a 0:07:26.970 --> 0:07:30.030 phone where I could alert Chris's legal team to what 0:07:30.070 --> 0:07:34.750 was happening. That was at about 8.22. a full 40 0:07:34.750 --> 0:07:39.490 minutes after the first dose of chemicals were given to Krista. 0:07:40.090 --> 0:07:42.810 I was returned to an area near the media room 0:07:42.860 --> 0:07:45.700 where I demanded that the execution be stopped and that 0:07:45.740 --> 0:07:48.960 life-saving medical care be given to Krista. I did not 0:07:49.020 --> 0:07:52.400 get any information or confirmation that an ambulance was on. 0:07:52.400 --> 0:07:53.640 Its way until 8.50. 0:07:53.640 --> 0:07:57.850 I had no idea when and if medical professionals began 0:07:57.930 --> 0:07:58.970 to assist Krista. 0:08:00.810 --> 0:08:05.010 Here's Kelly Gleason again. She was with Krista's family that night. 0:08:06.050 --> 0:08:09.570 The plan was, if something goes wrong, Randy's going to 0:08:09.610 --> 0:08:11.870 step out and he's going to call Steve, who will 0:08:11.890 --> 0:08:15.120 immediately start doing the stay motions. And then I was 0:08:15.130 --> 0:08:18.760 to contact Governor's Council. So if the phone rang while 0:08:18.780 --> 0:08:22.360 we were waiting, that meant that the execution had gone wrong. 0:08:22.520 --> 0:08:24.480 So I was in a conference room full of people 0:08:24.560 --> 0:08:27.840 and my phone rang. So I immediately got out of 0:08:27.920 --> 0:08:30.300 the conference room so as not to expose the rest 0:08:30.320 --> 0:08:33.540 of the people that were there to a difficult conversation. 0:08:33.559 --> 0:08:36.439 And it was Steve telling me, you know, what Randy 0:08:36.460 --> 0:08:39.679 had relayed to him, which was Krista had received two 0:08:39.920 --> 0:08:44.300 lethal doses of pentobarbital and was still alive and was snoring. 0:08:46.480 --> 0:08:48.990 We needed to immediately do what we could to stop 0:08:49.000 --> 0:08:52.230 the execution. So I called the numbers that I was 0:08:52.270 --> 0:08:55.990 provided for Governor's Council. There are three Governor's Council, a 0:08:56.030 --> 0:08:59.270 senior person and the two deputies. I called them and 0:08:59.309 --> 0:09:03.470 received no answer. And then At 9 0 8, I 0:09:03.490 --> 0:09:06.570 called 9 1 1 and I was asked, you know, 0:09:07.030 --> 0:09:10.489 what location are you calling about? 7 4 7 5 0:09:10.490 --> 0:09:14.770 Cockrell Bend Boulevard, River Bend maximum security prison. He asked 0:09:15.030 --> 0:09:18.440 who the person was. I said, my client, Krista Pike, 0:09:19.000 --> 0:09:23.420 date of birth, March 10, 1976. And then she said, 0:09:23.679 --> 0:09:26.959 are you calling from central control or command? And I said, 0:09:27.000 --> 0:09:30.240 wait a minute. No, I'm her defense attorney. Are you 0:09:30.260 --> 0:09:32.990 telling me an ambulance has already been called? And she said, yes. 0:09:37.970 --> 0:09:41.070 Meanwhile, Steve Farrell was filing a petition to stop the 0:09:41.190 --> 0:09:45.690 execution in the Tennessee Supreme Court and in federal district court. 0:09:46.990 --> 0:09:53.170 Before there's an execution, always, we put together several draft 0:09:53.270 --> 0:09:57.010 motions for stay to different courts with their headings, their 0:09:57.030 --> 0:10:00.420 case numbers and whatever, with a little blank area. in 0:10:00.440 --> 0:10:03.120 the middle where we're going to fill in what's happening. 0:10:03.960 --> 0:10:06.679 So we had all of those ready and open on 0:10:06.730 --> 0:10:10.770 my desktop. And we had also double checked with the 0:10:10.910 --> 0:10:14.330 state court for their numbers, the Tennessee Supreme Court, because 0:10:14.350 --> 0:10:17.720 that's who we thought would be our first line of defense. 0:10:18.470 --> 0:10:21.229 And we had gotten a number from the clerk. We 0:10:21.350 --> 0:10:23.510 emailed her the day before to make sure that that 0:10:23.550 --> 0:10:27.150 was still the good number. I called it. It went 0:10:27.200 --> 0:10:27.840 to voicemail. 0:10:29.020 --> 0:10:29.719 I called again. 0:10:29.740 --> 0:10:34.380 It went to voicemail. We went ahead and electronically filed 0:10:34.460 --> 0:10:38.640 the motion. And it was only at this time, probably 10, 0:10:38.640 --> 0:10:42.319 15 minutes later, she emailed me her cell phone number. 0:10:43.320 --> 0:10:45.900 So then I called and she said that she was 0:10:45.940 --> 0:10:48.849 getting the court together. And then we had a fairly 0:10:48.929 --> 0:10:52.740 short hearing. I had very limited details from Randy. The 0:10:52.780 --> 0:10:55.839 court was asking me questions. I was simply relaying what 0:10:55.920 --> 0:10:59.180 Randy had told me, that she had been administered both 0:10:59.240 --> 0:11:01.699 doses under the protocol and that she was still alive 0:11:02.120 --> 0:11:06.079 and snoring. And that time, that there had been a 0:11:06.100 --> 0:11:09.380 lot of delay. And I was really trying to emphasize 0:11:09.420 --> 0:11:13.010 that this has to be ended quickly to avoid injuring 0:11:13.090 --> 0:11:16.479 her further. And the state of Tennessee attorney, the attorney 0:11:16.620 --> 0:11:21.020 general who was on the other side, had no more 0:11:21.059 --> 0:11:24.960 information than I did, or very little. He finally said, yes, 0:11:25.000 --> 0:11:28.300 there is an ambulance on the way. The justices wanted 0:11:28.340 --> 0:11:30.720 to know what the instructions were for the ambulance. He 0:11:30.740 --> 0:11:35.580 didn't know. At one point, then, the justices said, we're 0:11:35.960 --> 0:11:39.750 going to take a little recess. We had a U.S. 0:11:39.780 --> 0:11:42.760 Supreme Court case that says that that there's an obligation 0:11:42.800 --> 0:11:45.760 for prisons to give medical care to inmates, and that's 0:11:45.800 --> 0:11:48.480 what we cited to. But we didn't have a case 0:11:48.620 --> 0:11:51.260 of what happens when someone survives an execution because that, 0:11:51.850 --> 0:11:56.030 to my knowledge, hasn't happened in the modern era. So 0:11:56.050 --> 0:11:58.449 they took their recess, and then when they came back, 0:11:59.429 --> 0:12:04.250 the state attorney general represented to them that an ambulance 0:12:04.290 --> 0:12:07.290 had been called, that they were not restricting. They wouldn't 0:12:07.330 --> 0:12:10.700 say that they asked the ambulance to help. They simply 0:12:10.750 --> 0:12:13.020 said they weren't going to restrict what they could do. 0:12:13.620 --> 0:12:16.679 So from that, I said, does that mean that they 0:12:16.720 --> 0:12:18.980 are going to try to save her life? To which 0:12:19.040 --> 0:12:21.980 they repeated, we are not going to restrict what they're 0:12:22.020 --> 0:12:24.600 going to do. And I'm like, well, if your honors, 0:12:25.000 --> 0:12:27.020 if they are going to save her life, I think 0:12:27.070 --> 0:12:27.990 this motion is moot. 0:12:37.130 --> 0:12:40.630 While waiting for the ambulance to arrive... personnel inside the 0:12:40.670 --> 0:12:43.260 prison tried to administer some aid. 0:12:43.960 --> 0:12:48.380 So what did happen was at some point, TDOC personnel 0:12:48.440 --> 0:12:51.480 decided that she needed to get oxygen. They didn't have 0:12:51.520 --> 0:12:54.210 it on hand. They had it at the clinic. So 0:12:54.290 --> 0:12:57.130 there was some delay while they retrieved the oxygen from 0:12:57.170 --> 0:13:00.190 the clinic, brought it over to the execution chamber, and 0:13:00.270 --> 0:13:04.930 started administering oxygen to Krista. So she was getting oxygen. 0:13:05.130 --> 0:13:07.780 She was snoring. So we know she was getting oxygen 0:13:08.340 --> 0:13:12.240 just through that process. And then she was administered oxygen 0:13:12.580 --> 0:13:15.780 while still there at Riverbend before she went to the ambulance. 0:13:16.620 --> 0:13:20.280 And I know I've seen one story where the media 0:13:20.300 --> 0:13:23.180 was speculating that the squeaking sound that they heard, that 0:13:23.220 --> 0:13:26.120 they did not understand what that was, might be related 0:13:26.200 --> 0:13:28.199 to the provision of oxygen in that moment. 0:13:31.720 --> 0:13:32.340 Is this a first? 0:13:33.390 --> 0:13:37.020 For an attempted execution, two lethal doses, right? 0:13:37.760 --> 0:13:38.600 Yes, it is. 0:13:38.760 --> 0:13:44.500 There have been failed executions previously, very small number of them. 0:13:44.559 --> 0:13:48.059 I believe I've seen seven reported possibly, but certainly less 0:13:48.080 --> 0:13:51.990 than 10 that were failed because there was no venous access. 0:13:52.620 --> 0:13:55.410 So it never came to the point of administering the 0:13:55.429 --> 0:14:00.290 drugs and being failed until Krista. And I would emphasize 0:14:00.410 --> 0:14:04.880 she was not given one set of lethal pentobarbital. She 0:14:04.900 --> 0:14:07.980 was given two. And at that point, you know, I 0:14:08.040 --> 0:14:10.120 think there might have been people in the room who 0:14:10.160 --> 0:14:12.750 wanted to try a third, but my understanding is the 0:14:12.770 --> 0:14:15.650 protocol would not have allowed that. And that is why 0:14:15.670 --> 0:14:20.490 the execution stopped. But that is a massive amount. So 0:14:20.530 --> 0:14:24.250 it's basically four syringes worth of pentobarbital of 50 milligrams each. 0:14:27.270 --> 0:14:29.790 What are they telling you now? The prison officials or 0:14:29.820 --> 0:14:30.400 the hospital? 0:14:30.920 --> 0:14:31.180 Anything? 0:14:32.740 --> 0:14:37.420 The protocol was followed, and it had worked. It had 0:14:37.460 --> 0:14:40.070 been effective in the past, and that's it. 0:14:46.660 --> 0:14:50.160 As of this recording, state officials have not explained what 0:14:50.220 --> 0:14:53.980 went wrong. The Tennessee Department of Correction maintains that it 0:14:54.140 --> 0:14:57.790 acted according to its protocol and released the following statement 0:14:57.850 --> 0:15:02.450 on Wednesday. Quote, the Tennessee Department of Correction followed every 0:15:02.550 --> 0:15:06.650 step of the state's lawful established execution protocol approved by 0:15:06.670 --> 0:15:10.640 the Attorney General's office. The lethal injection chemical in the 0:15:10.700 --> 0:15:14.739 protocol has consistently been effective and and the protocol does 0:15:14.840 --> 0:15:18.480 not allow for additional procedures beyond what was carried out 0:15:18.580 --> 0:15:19.200 this evening. 0:15:22.340 --> 0:15:28.680 From the hospital, we're getting information from Krista's medical power 0:15:28.700 --> 0:15:32.620 of attorney, and we've released some of that with her permission, 0:15:33.090 --> 0:15:36.310 just saying that she is unconscious on a ventilator and 0:15:36.350 --> 0:15:39.290 critically ill. And I think it's going to be a 0:15:39.310 --> 0:15:42.650 little while before that progresses in either direction. 0:15:47.110 --> 0:15:51.450 Tennessee has a complicated history with lethal injection. In fact, 0:15:51.490 --> 0:15:55.930 the state stopped executions for three years in 2022 after 0:15:55.990 --> 0:15:59.070 discovering that the drugs in their three-drug cocktail were not 0:15:59.190 --> 0:16:03.310 stored and tested properly. When Krista's execution date was set 0:16:03.350 --> 0:16:06.110 last year, she was slated to be the third of 0:16:06.230 --> 0:16:11.100 four scheduled in 2026 under the new one-drug protocol released 0:16:11.140 --> 0:16:13.500 in early 2025. 0:16:17.000 --> 0:16:21.180 Can I ask, you know, I mean, obviously, there's already 0:16:21.200 --> 0:16:26.940 a recent moratorium on executions to review lethal injection protocol. 0:16:27.900 --> 0:16:31.300 Then they restarted executions. Now we have this happen. There 0:16:31.520 --> 0:16:33.840 have been calls to return to the electric chair or 0:16:33.940 --> 0:16:38.360 even the firing squad. How is all of this not 0:16:38.600 --> 0:16:41.900 cruel and unusual, even as it increasingly becomes usual? 0:16:41.920 --> 0:16:46.290 I mean, I think it was a In many ways, 0:16:46.330 --> 0:16:48.810 the death penalty, and this is not what the courts 0:16:49.310 --> 0:16:51.790 want to endorse, but in many ways, the death penalty 0:16:52.350 --> 0:16:54.850 in and of itself is cruel and unusual. And I 0:16:54.890 --> 0:16:58.680 want to emphasize one thing that Krista went through that's, again, 0:16:58.800 --> 0:17:01.580 kind of unique to my knowledge. Maybe other people have 0:17:01.620 --> 0:17:05.619 sat through these things also. But when we had the 0:17:05.680 --> 0:17:09.570 hearing about lethal injection that was all about how we 0:17:09.609 --> 0:17:12.090 are going to kill this woman and what the dangers are, 0:17:13.010 --> 0:17:18.840 the appointed special master insisted that Krista be present. We 0:17:19.180 --> 0:17:22.390 had filed a waiver from her saying she didn't want 0:17:22.450 --> 0:17:26.850 to be present. She didn't need to hear this. He 0:17:26.950 --> 0:17:31.510 insisted that she be present electronically. But she had to 0:17:31.570 --> 0:17:34.450 sit there for two and a half days and listen 0:17:34.910 --> 0:17:39.580 to smart professional people discuss how we are going to 0:17:39.760 --> 0:17:43.280 kill her. And at the end of the second. 0:17:43.020 --> 0:17:43.439 Day, she. 0:17:45.580 --> 0:17:48.920 Was literally physically ill and had to be taken to 0:17:49.160 --> 0:17:53.230 the prison medical facility. And when I heard, I kept thinking, 0:17:53.310 --> 0:17:57.150 we are characters in her worst nightmare. This is something 0:17:57.310 --> 0:18:00.390 out of Kafka. I'm trying to think of what these, 0:18:00.890 --> 0:18:04.909 what literally, if someone wrote a play about torturing a 0:18:04.950 --> 0:18:09.040 human being in this way, no one would believe that 0:18:09.060 --> 0:18:12.160 that's actual reality. That is what they put her through. 0:18:12.920 --> 0:18:15.980 And we, I feel partly responsible because I stood up 0:18:16.040 --> 0:18:17.600 there and talked about how she. 0:18:17.540 --> 0:18:18.160 Was going to suffer. 0:18:24.980 --> 0:18:28.669 Krista's lawyers have repeatedly argued over the past 30 years 0:18:28.730 --> 0:18:31.629 that she should not have been sentenced to death because 0:18:31.670 --> 0:18:35.409 she had significant mitigating factors in her decision to lash 0:18:35.650 --> 0:18:39.270 out in a violent rage and kill Colleen Slemmer, along 0:18:39.290 --> 0:18:44.730 with her two co-defendants, in 1995. Krista was severely neglected 0:18:44.790 --> 0:18:49.230 as a child and brutally sexually assaulted multiple times. Her 0:18:49.310 --> 0:18:53.800 original court-appointed attorney declined to raise this mitigating evidence at trial. 0:18:54.730 --> 0:18:57.460 Until a few months ago, the state of Tennessee did 0:18:57.520 --> 0:19:01.540 not believe Krista experienced sexual abuse as a child. They 0:19:01.600 --> 0:19:06.060 accused her of lying. But in August 2026, at a 0:19:06.119 --> 0:19:11.270 hearing about Krista's upcoming execution, the Attorney General pivoted, and 0:19:11.330 --> 0:19:15.390 conceded that Krista was indeed horribly abused as a child. 0:19:16.100 --> 0:19:19.520 Kelly says there's an inherent contradiction in the state's new 0:19:19.580 --> 0:19:23.820 position on Krista and a 2024 law passed in Tennessee. 0:19:25.740 --> 0:19:30.989 Tennessee recently passed laws that make child rapists eligible for 0:19:31.010 --> 0:19:35.310 the death penalty because raping, according to the legislators that 0:19:35.330 --> 0:19:38.449 passed this law, raping a child is so horrific that 0:19:38.490 --> 0:19:41.810 it leaves lifelong scars and damages. But we want to 0:19:41.850 --> 0:19:47.420 move forward and execute this woman who experienced excruciating sexual violence. 0:19:50.840 --> 0:19:53.940 It's unclear what this all means for not only Krista, 0:19:54.100 --> 0:19:57.760 but the state of Tennessee. Governor Bill Lee paused all 0:19:57.880 --> 0:20:02.640 executions for the remainder of 2026 and ordered an investigation 0:20:02.660 --> 0:20:05.600 into what happened. So at least for now, Krista Pike 0:20:05.680 --> 0:20:09.939 will not be executed in 2026. But Governor Lee is 0:20:10.040 --> 0:20:14.040 term limited. Tennessee is electing a new governor who will 0:20:14.080 --> 0:20:19.160 take office on January 16, 2027. That governor could continue 0:20:19.260 --> 0:20:24.409 the executions. In fact, the GOP gubernatorial candidate has already 0:20:24.490 --> 0:20:33.030 called for bringing back the electric chair. As for Krista, 0:20:33.109 --> 0:20:36.770 things remain uncertain. At the time of this recording, she's 0:20:36.810 --> 0:20:40.190 in a hospital, unconscious and on a ventilator with four 0:20:40.310 --> 0:20:44.449 guards in her room. If she never regains consciousness, she 0:20:44.530 --> 0:20:50.620 cannot be executed. The state cannot execute an unconscious person. Likewise, 0:20:50.730 --> 0:20:55.919 if she regains consciousness but is seriously cognitively impaired, the 0:20:55.960 --> 0:21:07.159 state cannot execute her. Krista's attorneys continue to ask that 0:21:07.180 --> 0:21:11.220 her sentence be commuted to life without parole. Governor Lee 0:21:11.300 --> 0:21:14.300 can do that at any time on his own. He 0:21:14.340 --> 0:21:18.030 does not need another petition for clemency from Krista's attorneys. 0:21:19.190 --> 0:21:21.790 We appreciate that the Governor Lee called for a study 0:21:21.810 --> 0:21:24.389 of what's happened. There was breaking news this morning that 0:21:24.410 --> 0:21:29.670 Commissioner Strada has resigned, which will not fix the systemic 0:21:29.710 --> 0:21:32.109 problems in the way that Tennessee kills people. 0:21:32.680 --> 0:21:36.600 Frank Strada was the Tennessee Department of Correction commissioner who 0:21:36.660 --> 0:21:41.100 stepped down days after Krista's failed execution. He arrived in 0:21:41.140 --> 0:21:46.580 the state after allegedly overseeing three botched executions in 2022 0:21:46.580 --> 0:21:47.399 in Arizona. 0:21:48.100 --> 0:21:51.889 So what I hope for is that the whole system 0:21:51.930 --> 0:21:56.850 will be held accountable for this debacle, this horrific failed execution. 0:22:12.490 --> 0:22:14.530 I assume she has an IV in her now with 0:22:14.550 --> 0:22:15.770 saline for hydration. 0:22:16.810 --> 0:22:19.629 I saw a comment on the internet that said the 0:22:19.730 --> 0:22:22.660 ironic thing is the EMTs probably got it in right 0:22:22.700 --> 0:22:27.300 away as soon as they got there. Because they're qualified 0:22:27.340 --> 0:22:30.100 people who want to save people's lives. I mean, I 0:22:30.140 --> 0:22:32.680 have no idea who that team is, but that's what 0:22:32.740 --> 0:22:36.190 I'm assuming. And that then once she was in a hospital. 0:22:37.530 --> 0:22:39.270 You know, that those people are qualified and want to 0:22:39.310 --> 0:22:41.369 save lives. That was what we had suggested as an 0:22:41.430 --> 0:22:44.950 alternative is that Tennessee find a qualified doctor. If they're 0:22:44.970 --> 0:22:48.929 going to do this semblance of a medical procedure, they 0:22:48.970 --> 0:22:53.590 need qualified doctors doing it. The trouble is any ethically 0:22:54.010 --> 0:22:57.869 sound doctor is going to follow his or her Hippocratic 0:22:57.990 --> 0:22:59.090 oath and not do this. 0:23:04.180 --> 0:23:07.600 I heard Randy mention that at the time of, and 0:23:07.619 --> 0:23:09.240 you may have mentioned earlier in the call, at the 0:23:09.280 --> 0:23:12.879 time of Krista's execution, she was at peace. That as 0:23:12.920 --> 0:23:15.580 she was being prepared for what she believed would be 0:23:15.640 --> 0:23:19.220 her death, she was at peace. Can you tell us 0:23:19.260 --> 0:23:21.359 a little bit more about her state of mind at 0:23:21.500 --> 0:23:25.340 the time and how she was thinking about both her 0:23:25.400 --> 0:23:26.550 life and her death? 0:23:27.810 --> 0:23:31.250 Yes. Krista did not want to die. She was fully 0:23:31.290 --> 0:23:34.140 in support of clemency. We had high hopes she would 0:23:34.180 --> 0:23:37.810 receive clemency. After I got the email from the governor's 0:23:37.830 --> 0:23:42.209 council saying clemency was denied, I told Krista that clemency 0:23:42.230 --> 0:23:47.510 was denied. And she was very upset and disappointed because 0:23:47.550 --> 0:23:49.390 she wanted to live and she could see a life 0:23:49.410 --> 0:23:53.889 for herself in prison helping other women. She sat on 0:23:53.910 --> 0:23:57.139 the floor and was crying and I sat on the 0:23:57.160 --> 0:24:00.340 floor with her and we just talked her through the 0:24:00.380 --> 0:24:06.480 process as best we could. I bought a hummingbird necklace 0:24:06.859 --> 0:24:10.000 because Krista wears one to be in solidarity with her 0:24:10.100 --> 0:24:12.160 so that when she came into the room, you know, 0:24:12.340 --> 0:24:15.030 she would see that I was there with her and 0:24:15.070 --> 0:24:18.210 holding her up. And I still feel very connected to 0:24:18.270 --> 0:24:20.570 her and I'm talking to her when I'm holding the 0:24:20.609 --> 0:24:25.550 hummingbird because that was sort of her symbol of who 0:24:25.570 --> 0:24:28.910 she is. The hummingbird is very significant to her because 0:24:29.150 --> 0:24:32.040 she was at her grandmother's grave in mid to late 0:24:32.100 --> 0:24:35.880 October after her grandmother died. And it's way past hummingbird 0:24:35.900 --> 0:24:39.220 season in West Virginia. But there was a floral arrangement 0:24:39.260 --> 0:24:42.920 that had a bird of paradise flower there. And a 0:24:42.980 --> 0:24:46.260 hummingbird appeared from nowhere, drank from the flower, and then 0:24:46.320 --> 0:24:49.880 flew away. Which Krista took to mean that her grandmother said, 0:24:49.920 --> 0:24:52.520 it's okay. You know, I'm going to be okay and 0:24:52.560 --> 0:24:54.640 you don't have to sit here and keep me company. 0:24:55.920 --> 0:24:59.830 Krista said it was only after she was incarcerated that 0:24:59.850 --> 0:25:03.870 she learned that hummingbirds can't be caged. they beat their 0:25:03.910 --> 0:25:05.490 wings against the cage until they die. 0:25:21.970 --> 0:25:25.050 You know, last year, When we were making the podcast, 0:25:25.190 --> 0:25:28.200 one of the things we asked Krista was what she 0:25:28.260 --> 0:25:32.000 thought justice for Colleen might be. And it was clear 0:25:32.240 --> 0:25:35.400 it was something that she had sort of both long 0:25:35.440 --> 0:25:38.439 grappled with, but also did not believe she should be 0:25:38.480 --> 0:25:42.159 the arbiter of. Is there any justice for Colleen in 0:25:42.200 --> 0:25:43.710 what happened this week? 0:25:45.290 --> 0:25:46.540 No, I mean, I. 0:25:47.840 --> 0:25:52.060 failed to see how prolonged torture is justice for anyone. 0:25:52.200 --> 0:25:55.280 And that's what this was. I mean, Krista has been 0:25:55.340 --> 0:26:00.000 incarcerated for over 30 years. I don't know that that's 0:26:00.060 --> 0:26:06.790 justice because justice implies resetting the world in the right 0:26:06.850 --> 0:26:09.550 place where it may have been before. But Colleen Slimmer 0:26:10.070 --> 0:26:13.630 will never come back. And that's very sad for Colleen, 0:26:13.670 --> 0:26:16.710 for her family, for as Krista said, for all the 0:26:16.750 --> 0:26:20.910 good things Colleen may have done in this world. Justice 0:26:21.350 --> 0:26:25.780 may be that Krista lost the same opportunities Colleen lost. 0:26:25.980 --> 0:26:29.580 She was able to live, she was able to love 0:26:29.660 --> 0:26:34.160 and form some attachments, have friends, but her life was 0:26:34.240 --> 0:26:38.040 limited and what potential she had was taken away. I mean, 0:26:38.060 --> 0:26:42.199 there are times when I think justice is achieved by 0:26:42.420 --> 0:26:45.159 allowing that person to give back in positive ways. And 0:26:45.200 --> 0:26:48.790