31 Years Later, 'Satanic' Murder Scene Still Haunts Former Police Chief

Former Knoxville Police Chief Phil Keith stated that the crime scene of the 1995 murder of Colleen Slemmer, a 19-year-old woman, still haunts him more than three decades later, describing the event as "pure evil."

Pike, then 18, led three vocational school classmates in luring Slemmer to her death under the pretense of going to a music store and retrieving marijuana. According to Keith, Slemmer was subjected to nearly an hour of torture, including beatings, cuts, and gagging, before her skull was crushed against the ground with a piece of asphalt. Pike reportedly kept a fragment of Slemmer's skull as a trophy.

Her boyfriend at the time, who was 17 and therefore not subject to the death penalty, carved pentagrams into Slemmer's chest and face. A trial expert described the attack as having "satanic elements" and involved "collective aggression," where a group engages in extreme violence.

Keith recounted that the University of Tennessee groundskeeper who discovered Slemmer's remains initially mistook the scene for an animal carcass until he noticed her clothing amidst the blood. "The images are as vivid today as the day I saw them," Keith said. "All I have to do is shut my eyes, and I can see everything."

Reflecting on the investigation, Keith expressed a wish that the Knoxville Police Department had access to modern post-trauma therapy counseling at the time. "We didn’t have therapy services or counseling or anything at that time, and we, I wish we had, because these images will never be erased," he stated.

Pike was scheduled for execution on Wednesday. A stay was briefly issued by the U.S. Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals due to a last-minute appeal, but the Supreme Court ultimately lifted the stay, allowing the execution to proceed.

Following two doses of lethal injection, Pike remained alive. She was admitted to an undisclosed hospital in critical condition and receiving medical care. Her attorneys stated on Friday that she was unconscious and on a ventilator. They reported she was being treated for the effects of pentobarbital, including significant injuries to her arms.

Randy Spivey, one of Pike's attorneys, mentioned that Slemmer's mother was on Pike's mind prior to the scheduled execution. Spivey commented, "I cannot imagine what this was like for the family of Ms. Slemmer, or anyone who loves that family or is close to that family — or anyone who loves Christa or is close to Christa. This is awful, and this kind of thing should never happen again."