# Tennessee Fails to Execute the Execution of Christa Pike. Twice **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [October 1, 2026, 8:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tennessee-fails-to-execute-the-execution-of-christa-pike-twice/1033507 "2026-10-01T08:24:07Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 8
**Author:** ![RitterSport](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rittersport/32/6326_2.png) [@RitterSport](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RitterSport)\ **Post date:** [October 3, 2026, 11:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tennessee-fails-to-execute-the-execution-of-christa-pike-twice/1033507/141 "2026-10-03T11:13:33Z")
Yeah? She was raped at age 11 by her neighbor and tried to kill herself at age 12. Later, child protective services removed her from her home because her mother’s boyfriend was physically and sexually abusing her. Put her mother, mother’s boyfriend, and neighbor on death row instead. Pike never had a chance. ---
**Author:** ![Kimstu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/ecd19e/32.png) [@Kimstu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kimstu)\ **Post date:** [October 3, 2026, 12:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tennessee-fails-to-execute-the-execution-of-christa-pike-twice/1033507/142 "2026-10-03T12:00:38Z")
I can feel sorry for Pike as a victim of child sexual abuse without in any way excusing or sympathizing with her for her brutal victimization of someone else. Plenty of people go through as bad or worse abuse and **don’t** commit deliberate heinous murders. Pike’s still responsible for her own choices and actions. (Which, as I said, is an entirely different issue from whether society should inflict the death penalty on heinous murderers.) ---
**Author:** ![OldeFattBugger](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/ac8455/32.png) [@OldeFattBugger](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OldeFattBugger)\ **Post date:** [October 3, 2026, 1:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tennessee-fails-to-execute-the-execution-of-christa-pike-twice/1033507/143 "2026-10-03T13:43:13Z")
It probably isn’t true, but I once heard about a sadistic, vicious, unrepentant murderer who actually tried to claim that they had been mistreated in their tragic youth in an attempt to garner sympathy from well meaning liberal types to hopefully use public opinion and misplaced compassion to escape the brutal (and doubtless racist, transphobic, misogynistic, xenophobic, and lycanthrophobic) justice that they had been so uncaringky served with. A few years back, poor, sweet Christa Pike once savagely beat a fellow prison inmate so brutally that the woman permanently lost sight in one eye, and suffered irreversible neurologic damage, but that was likely just a one-time situation. (OK, technically a two time situation, if you somehow count the teenage girl she butchered) ---
**Author:** ![OldeFattBugger](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/ac8455/32.png) [@OldeFattBugger](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OldeFattBugger)\ **Post date:** [October 3, 2026, 2:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tennessee-fails-to-execute-the-execution-of-christa-pike-twice/1033507/144 "2026-10-03T14:33:54Z")
I should have stated that "It probably isn’t true **because people that savagely torture, brutalize and gleefully butcher teenage girls are widely recognized as faunts of truth, unfettered candor and straight talk."** ---
**Author:** ![dcbwhaley](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dcbwhaley/32/21437_2.png) [@dcbwhaley](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dcbwhaley)\ **Post date:** [October 3, 2026, 4:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tennessee-fails-to-execute-the-execution-of-christa-pike-twice/1033507/145 "2026-10-03T16:30:39Z")
In England in 1895 three attempts wer made to hang convicted murderer John “Babbacombe” Lee. On each occasion the trap jammed. His sentence was commuted to life imprisonment ---
**Author:** ![EinsteinsHund](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/einsteinshund/32/8400_2.png) [@EinsteinsHund](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EinsteinsHund)\ **Post date:** [October 3, 2026, 4:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tennessee-fails-to-execute-the-execution-of-christa-pike-twice/1033507/146 "2026-10-03T16:34:32Z")
> [@dcbwhaley](#): > > In England in 1895 three attempts wer made to hang convicted murderer John “Babbacombe” Lee. Isn’t there even a folk song of that name? ETA: I misremembered, there’s even a whole concept album about the guy by the British folk rock band Fairport Convention. > **[Fairport Convention: "Babbaco... Tracks & Reviews | AllMusic](https://www.allmusic.com/album/babbacombe-lee-mw0000468975)** > > "Babbacombe" Lee by Fairport Convention released in 1971. Find "Babbacombe" Lee reviews, track lists, credits, awards and more at AllMusic. ---
**Author:** ![dcbwhaley](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dcbwhaley/32/21437_2.png) [@dcbwhaley](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dcbwhaley)\ **Post date:** [October 3, 2026, 4:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tennessee-fails-to-execute-the-execution-of-christa-pike-twice/1033507/147 "2026-10-03T16:38:15Z")
I don’t understand this. If she hadn’t been taken to hospital she would have died which was the whole point of the exercise. If she is nursed back to good health will they make a third attempt to execute her? Sideways thought. She has been in prison for thirty years before the attempted execution. In UK we either hung murderers (prior to 1965) or, now, sentence them to a long term of imprisonment. In the USA you apply both punishments ---
**Author:** ![filmore](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/7993a0/32.png) [@filmore](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/filmore)\ **Post date:** [October 3, 2026, 4:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tennessee-fails-to-execute-the-execution-of-christa-pike-twice/1033507/148 "2026-10-03T16:48:17Z")
If someone is not healthy enough to be executed, they delay the execution until a later date. But this situation is not exactly like that. There’s not a standard procedure for a case like this. What happens will likely be decided by lawyers and judges. I might guess the governor would commute her sentence from execution to life in prison. ---
**Author:** ![TreacherousCretin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/treacherouscretin/32/476_2.png) [@TreacherousCretin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TreacherousCretin)\ **Post date:** [October 3, 2026, 4:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tennessee-fails-to-execute-the-execution-of-christa-pike-twice/1033507/149 "2026-10-03T16:49:40Z")
> [@Kimstu](#): > > I can feel sorry for Pike as a victim of child sexual abuse without in any way excusing or sympathizing with her for her brutal victimization of someone else. Plenty of people go through as bad or worse abuse and **don’t** commit deliberate heinous murders. Pike’s still responsible for her own choices and actions. > > (Which, as I said, is an entirely different issue from whether society should inflict the death penalty on heinous murderers.) Exactly. ---
**Author:** ![Dr.Drake](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ad7895/32.png) [@Dr.Drake](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr.Drake)\ **Post date:** [October 3, 2026, 5:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tennessee-fails-to-execute-the-execution-of-christa-pike-twice/1033507/150 "2026-10-03T17:10:36Z")
> [@filmore](#): > > If someone is not healthy enough to be executed, You realize that this is sort of a silly statement (this isn’t a dig at you: I know you’re just reporting reality). If you’re going to KILL someone, why does their health in the hour or so beforehand matter? I suspect the answer is that it’s only humane to kill healthy people, but I have a hard time wrapping my head around that. The culture around the American death penalty is truly strange. ---
**Author:** ![ricepad](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/b38774/32.png) [@ricepad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ricepad)\ **Post date:** [October 3, 2026, 6:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tennessee-fails-to-execute-the-execution-of-christa-pike-twice/1033507/151 "2026-10-03T18:46:26Z")
> [@Dr.Drake](#): > > If you’re going to KILL someone, why does their health in the hour or so beforehand matter? There’s also the notion of a “suicide watch” in the hours leading up to an execution. We wouldn’t want the condemned to have control over the end of their life, would we? The common phrase is “cheating the hangman”. ---
**Author:** ![Bill\_Door](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/50afbb/32.png) [@Bill\_Door](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bill_Door)\ **Post date:** [October 3, 2026, 7:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tennessee-fails-to-execute-the-execution-of-christa-pike-twice/1033507/152 "2026-10-03T19:19:09Z")
I think the issue here is that if you’re not competent enough to understand what is happening and why it’s happening they can’t kill you. I don’t know if it’s ironic or not, but it’s possible the botched execution left her brain damaged enough to make another attempt impossible. ---
**Author:** ![Dr.Drake](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ad7895/32.png) [@Dr.Drake](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr.Drake)\ **Post date:** [October 3, 2026, 7:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tennessee-fails-to-execute-the-execution-of-christa-pike-twice/1033507/153 "2026-10-03T19:24:42Z")
Even if you were able to understand 20 years ago when the sentence was read? ---
**Author:** ![Bill\_Door](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/50afbb/32.png) [@Bill\_Door](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bill_Door)\ **Post date:** [October 3, 2026, 7:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tennessee-fails-to-execute-the-execution-of-christa-pike-twice/1033507/154 "2026-10-03T19:28:08Z")
My understanding is yes, if you could understand at sentencing but became mentally incompetent during your subsequent incarceration they have to make you sane to kill you. ---
**Author:** ![Ancient\_Nerd](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ed655f/32.png) [@Ancient\_Nerd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ancient_Nerd)\ **Post date:** [October 3, 2026, 8:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tennessee-fails-to-execute-the-execution-of-christa-pike-twice/1033507/155 "2026-10-03T20:17:20Z")
> [@Bill\_Door](#): > > I don’t know if it’s ironic or not, but it’s possible the botched execution left her brain damaged enough to make another attempt impossible. So after 30 years on death row, she spends the next 30 as a vegetable. ---
**Author:** ![Al128](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/al128/32/16541_2.png) [@Al128](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Al128)\ **Post date:** [October 3, 2026, 9:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tennessee-fails-to-execute-the-execution-of-christa-pike-twice/1033507/156 "2026-10-03T21:11:46Z")
> [@Bill\_Door](#): > > I don’t know if it’s ironic or not, but it’s possible the botched execution left her brain damaged enough to make another attempt impossible. botch-22 ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [October 3, 2026, 10:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tennessee-fails-to-execute-the-execution-of-christa-pike-twice/1033507/157 "2026-10-03T22:41:33Z")
Has anyone mentioned that Tennessee Department of Correction Commissioner Frank Strada has just resigned? ---
**Author:** ![needscoffee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/needscoffee/32/1076_2.png) [@needscoffee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/needscoffee)\ **Post date:** [October 3, 2026, 10:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tennessee-fails-to-execute-the-execution-of-christa-pike-twice/1033507/158 "2026-10-03T22:48:53Z")
> [@TreacherousCretin](#): > > Although I’m not in favor of the death penalty, I’ve just read the details of exactly how she tortured her victim. I have no sympathy for her > [@TreacherousCretin](#): > > I failed to make it clear that my statement intended only to share my lack of sympathy for Pike. I believe that while many, many people truly _deserve_ to be put to death (not necessarily Christa, but certainly many others), it’s not something the State should have the power to do to its citizens. And not because of the vast room for error, although that’s also huge. ---
**Author:** ![I\_Love\_Me\_Vol.I](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/i_love_me_vol.i/32/521_2.png) [@I\_Love\_Me\_Vol.I](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/I_Love_Me_Vol.I)\ **Post date:** [October 3, 2026, 11:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tennessee-fails-to-execute-the-execution-of-christa-pike-twice/1033507/159 "2026-10-03T23:34:42Z")
> [@dcbwhaley](#): > > If she is nursed back to good health will they make a third attempt to execute her? This reminds me of that [infamous comment](https://aphelis.net/destroy-village-order-save-unknown-1968/) made during the Vietnam War but in reverse: “_ **It became necessary to save the inmate in order to kill her** _.” ---
**Author:** ![ASL\_v2.0](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/asl_v2.0/32/3525_2.png) [@ASL\_v2.0](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ASL_v2.0)\ **Post date:** [October 4, 2026, 4:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tennessee-fails-to-execute-the-execution-of-christa-pike-twice/1033507/160 "2026-10-04T04:14:50Z")
> [@needscoffee](#): > > I believe that while many, many people truly _deserve_ to be put to death (not necessarily Christa, but certainly many others), it’s not something the State should have the power to do to its citizens. I admit that I actually do think treason and insurrection might warrant the death penalty. In particular, I believe our country would be better off today if we hadn’t somehow managed to execute more frightened young men and boys for desertion during the Civil War than we did confederate traitors for treason after. Although I suppose I’d be okay with life sentences, had those sentences actually been imposed and carried out. As opposed to the, you know, _nothing_ that the ring leaders got. Did y’all know George Pickett hanged a bunch of loyal union men (POWs), and yet got off scot free himself? [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tennessee-fails-to-execute-the-execution-of-christa-pike-twice/1033507.md?page=7) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tennessee-fails-to-execute-the-execution-of-christa-pike-twice/1033507.md?page=9)