About This Episode
What is this episode about?
The episode "Christa Pike: The Devil On Death Row - Part Three" from The Devil Within closes out the series The Devil On Death by following Christa Pike through nearly thirty years on Tennessee's death row, from her sentencing at nineteen to the state's attempt to carry out her execution in 2026.
The episode traces decades of appeals, challenges to her original sentencing, and arguments over childhood trauma and adolescent brain development, alongside her attorneys' final push for clemency. It describes how Pike changed over her years of incarceration, moving from a teenager associated with pentagrams to a fifty-year-old practicing Buddhist, while the state's method of execution shifted from the electric chair to lethal injection.
The narrative follows the events of September 30, 2026, when a federal appeals court temporarily halted the execution before the United States Supreme Court cleared the way for it to proceed. At Riverbend Maximum Security Institution, pentobarbital was administered to Pike, who remained alive and reported burning in her arm. A second dose was given, and witnesses could still hear her breathing before being removed from the room. Pike was transported to a hospital, and the state confirmed she had survived the execution attempt. Governor Bill Lee subsequently halted Tennessee's remaining executions scheduled for 2026 and ordered an independent review, leaving the case, thirty-one years after the murder of Colleen Slemmer, unresolved once again.
Hosts and release
Branden Morgan hosts the show. The episode runs 22 minutes and is available on Amazon Music, Spotify, Apple Podcasts, and YouTube.
