About This Episode
What is this episode about?
The episode "True Crime Time For October 2, 2026 | Christa Pike Survives Execution & Tennessee Halts the Rest" from Real Life Real Crime covers the attempted execution of Tennessee death-row inmate Christa Pike, which failed when two doses of lethal-injection drugs did not kill her. Pike remained alive and was transported to a hospital after the botched procedure. Following the incident, Tennessee Governor Bill Lee ordered a third-party review of the state's execution protocol and halted the state's remaining executions for the year.
Woody Overton revisits the 1995 murder of Colleen Slemmer, the crime for which Pike was sentenced to death, and uses the case to open up a broader discussion of capital punishment and what happens when an execution goes wrong. The episode also references the execution attempt involving Tony Carruthers and looks back at Ted Bundy's execution, alongside a longer history of botched or failed executions carried out by lethal injection, the electric chair, gas chambers, hangings and historical beheadings. The discussion touches on how such failures can affect other death-row cases and the families of victims.
Hosts and release
Woody Overton hosts Real Life Real Crime, a weekly true crime podcast in which he takes listeners into cases he has personally investigated, offering a first-hand investigator's perspective. This episode, number 292, runs 47 minutes and was released on October 2, 2026. The show is available on Apple Podcasts.
