Inside the Twisted Mind of Christa Pike: Death Row’s Youngest Satanist

Youngest Satanist on Death Row: Shocking Crimes of Christa Gail Pike

Christa Pike, her boyfriend, Tadaryl Shipp, and their friend, Shadolla Peterson, lured Slemmer to a nearby woods with the promise of smoking marijuana. The raven-haired killer and Shipp then tortured and beat Slemmer for 45 harrowing minutes and then cut a pentagram in her chest. For good measure Pike bashed Slemmer’s skull with a chunk of asphalt. And Pike kept a piece of the dead girl’s skull as a souvenir. Cops say the devastated mom will not get it back until Pike is executed. Because Shipp was a minor at the time of the torture killing, he was given a life sentence.

In a chilling revelation of premeditated brutality, evidence presented at the trial of Christa Gail Pike established a narrative of murder marked by macabre details and coldblooded intentions. Pike, a student at the Job Corps Center in Knoxville, on January 11, 1995, confided in her friend, Kim Iloilo, her intent to murder fellow student Colleen Slemmer, citing a base desire to act on her mean-spirited impulses that day.

The following evening, Pike, along with Slemmer and two other students, Shadolla Peterson and Pike’s boyfriend Tadaryl Shipp, were seen departing from the center. Hours later, only Pike, Peterson, and Shipp returned, with Slemmer notably absent.

In a grim confession laced with macabre pride, Christa Pike visited Kim Iloilo’s room under the cloak of night to divulge the horrors she had just inflicted upon Colleen Slemmer. With a chilling calm, Pike revealed to Iloilo her gruesome keepsake: a fragment of Slemmer’s skull, boasting it as a souvenir of her savage deed.

According to Iloilo, Pike, in a chilling display, showed off the bone piece and detailed the brutality of the attack. “I cut the victim’s throat six times, beat her, and threw asphalt at her head,” Pike confided. As Slemmer’s pleas for mercy echoed in vain, Pike’s onslaught was relentless. “She begged ‘them’ to stop, but I didn’t,” Pike admitted, underscoring a callous disregard for the victim’s suffering. She painted a gruesome picture of the violence, describing how she pummelled Slemmer’s head with asphalt chunks and used a meat cleaver and box cutter in the assault. Adding to the savagery, Pike recounted carving a pentagram into Slemmer’s forehead and chest.

The following morning, Iloilo, still reeling from the night’s revelation, questioned Pike over breakfast about the fate of the macabre memento. “It’s in my pocket,” Pike declared with a sinister nonchalance, adding, “And, yes, I’m eating breakfast with it.”

The horror didn’t end there. During a class that morning, Pike, in a callous display to Stephanie Wilson, pointed to the brown stains on her footwear, stating, “That ain’t mud on my shoes, that’s blood.” Pike proceeded to show Wilson another shard of Slemmer’s skull, casually stored in a napkin from her pocket. Pike recounted to Wilson with disturbing detachment how she had repeatedly slashed Slemmer’s throat and bludgeoned her head with a rock, describing the gruesome aftermath of blood and brain matter, from which she had collected the skull fragment as a grim trophy of the atrocity.

In the wake of a gruesome murder, silence followed Christa Gail Pike’s confessions to her peers, Kim Iloilo and Stephanie Wilson, neither of whom immediately went to the authorities with the chilling details. It wasn’t until the following day, January 13, that a University of Tennessee Grounds Department employee stumbled upon the mutilated, semi-nude body of Colleen Slemmer near campus greenhouses. Mistaking the scene for animal remains due to the severe beating, the employee’s grim realization of the victim’s humanity prompted an urgent call to law enforcement.

Officer John Terry Johnson of the Knoxville Police Department described discovering Slemmer’s body “lying on debris and nude from the waist up,” the flesh marred with slashes and encrusted with blood and soil. The crime scene, initially believed to be confined, expanded to a substantial 100 by 60 feet as further signs of a struggle were uncovered—evidence of a violent scuffle marked by blood-soaked foliage, trampled undergrowth, and ominous drag marks.

Upon inspection, detectives found a pentagram etched into Slemmer’s chest, a symbol that would later resonate ominously with the investigation. The following day, criminal investigator Randy York interviewed Pike, who, after waiving her Miranda rights, narrated the events leading to Slemmer’s death in a harrowing forty-six-page statement. Pike alleged a history of tension with Slemmer, claiming self-defense against what she perceived as a threat to her relationship and her standing in the Job Corps program. This statement would become a critical component of the evidence presented to the jury, offering a window into the mind of the accused.

In a statement that laid bare the grim sequence of events leading to Colleen Slemmer’s death, Christa Gail Pike claimed her initial intent was not to kill but to confront Slemmer and warn her to “leave me the hell alone.” Yet, Pike conceded to arming herself with a box cutter and a miniature meat cleaver for the encounter, the latter borrowed from an unnamed individual.

The confrontation, Pike recounted, was to occur under the guise of a trip to the Blockbuster Music Store. On their way, Pike lured Slemmer with the promise of hidden marijuana in Tyson Park. As the group ventured towards the U.T. campus, an altercation erupted at the steam plant, where Pike attacked Slemmer with escalating violence.

Pike described the brutal assault: striking Slemmer’s head against her knee, throwing her to the concrete, and delivering a series of vicious kicks despite Slemmer’s pleas and attempts to flee. According to Pike, when Slemmer threatened to report her, possibly leading to Pike’s dismissal from the Job Corps, the violence intensified.

Pike chillingly narrated how Slemmer’s screams and pleas continued as she used the box cutter to slice her victim’s stomach. As Slemmer lay bleeding, Pike claimed she heard voices compelling her to silence Slemmer permanently. “I was just watching her bleed,” Pike stated, portraying a scene of cold indifference to the suffering she inflicted.

The attack reached a gruesome crescendo as Slemmer, desperate to survive, bargained for her life, promising to leave without a trace if released. To this, Pike’s response was heartless: “Shut up,” she instructed Slemmer, finding it “harder to hurt somebody when they’re talking to you.” Slemmer’s incessant pleading met with repeated kicks to the face.

Pike recounted leaving a heavily wounded Slemmer to investigate a noise, ensuring they were alone before returning to continue the assault. Despite multiple slashes to her throat, Slemmer’s will to live endured as she kept speaking, attempting to rise, only to be forced down again and again until the brutal attack reached its fatal end.The chilling testimony of Christa Pike revealed a prolonged and brutal assault on Colleen Slemmer, culminating in her death.

Pike confessed to striking Slemmer with a rock during a desperate attempt at escape and continued the assault even as Slemmer lay on the ground, “breathing blood in and out,” jerking from the blows. “I kept hitting her and hitting her,” Pike admitted. In a haunting interrogation, Pike asked the dying Slemmer if she recognized her attacker, only to be met by Slemmer’s groaning responses.

Pike recounted dragging Slemmer’s body to a secluded spot near trees, where she and an accomplice, referred to only as “he,” stripped Slemmer of her upper garments to prevent further escape attempts. Pike also detailed silencing Slemmer with a rag tied around her mouth.

Post-murder actions included Pike and the unnamed accomplice washing their hands and shoes in a mud puddle, discarding the box cutter used in the attack, and returning the borrowed meat cleaver. Pike chillingly recounted her attempt to conceal evidence by smearing mud onto her bloodstained jeans.

The day after the murder, Pike led Investigator York to the very spot where Slemmer’s body was discovered. Evidence presented during the trial included photographs of Pike and her boyfriend, Tadaryl Shipp, both donning pentagram necklaces, and items retrieved from a nearby Texaco station—Slemmer’s identification and gloves.

Forensic analysis confirmed the presence of human blood on the clothing and footwear of both Pike and Shipp, matching Slemmer’s DNA profile. Additionally, the gruesome scene was further detailed by a chart illustrating the location of blood and evidence, with photographs of bloodied asphalt and Slemmer’s clothing introduced as evidence.

Autopsy findings by Dr. Sandra Elkins painted a harrowing picture of the victim’s final moments, with a body riddled with so many slash and stab wounds that only the most severe could be cataloged. Defensive wounds and bruises consistent with an agonizing struggle to crawl and defend herself were also noted by the medical examiner.

Knox County Medical Examiner Dr. Sandra Elkins provided a grim catalog of the extensive injuries sustained by Colleen Slemmer, detailing the cruel reality of the victim’s last moments. Dr. Elkins detailed numerous major slash and stab wounds across Slemmer’s back, arms, abdomen, and chest, including a six-inch gash across her neck that cut through muscle and fat, accompanied by ten additional slashes. The presence of a pentagram carved into Slemmer’s chest suggested a ritualistic element to the brutality.

Central to the cause of death were the blunt force injuries to Slemmer’s head, with Dr. Elkins identifying multiple skull fractures indicative of at least four severe impacts. Most notably, a devastating blow to the left side of Slemmer’s head caused a fracture so intense it resulted in skull fragments embedding into the brain.

Dr. Elkins’ testimony was particularly harrowing as she described using the victim’s skull to illustrate the injuries. To assist her analysis, forensic anthropologist Dr. Murray Marks reconstructed the skull, allowing for a missing piece, taken from Christa Pike’s jacket, to fit precisely into the damaged area. The meticulous reconstruction confirmed the vicious nature of the attack, with evidence suggesting Slemmer was likely conscious during much of the assault, as indicated by blood found in her sinus cavity. This analysis presented to the jury not only emphasized the severity of the attack but also linked Pike directly to Slemmer’s death through the physical evidence she had kept as a grotesque souvenir.

A pivotal moment in the trial came as Robert A. Pollock, an orientation specialist at the Knoxville Job Corps, recounted noticing a black leather jacket abandoned in his office by Christa Gail Pike, who was under investigation for the murder of Colleen Slemmer. When he discovered the jacket days later, Pollock turned it over to authorities, leading to a crucial piece of evidence being unearthed by Officer Arthur Bohanan—a fragment of bone hidden in the jacket’s pocket that forensic anthropologist Dr. Murray Marks confirmed fit perfectly into the reconstructed skull of the victim.

The case against Pike strengthened as the State concluded its presentation with an array of graphic exhibits, including the victim’s skull, photographs, and bloodstained clothing. In defense, clinical psychologist Dr. Eric Engum portrayed Pike as intellectually capable yet plagued by severe borderline personality disorder, suggesting her actions were not premeditated but rather a loss of control consistent with her psychological condition. He interpreted Pike’s display of the skull fragment as a twisted bid for identity and recognition.

However, under cross-examination, Dr. Engum acknowledged that Pike had willfully led Slemmer to the park and inflicted the pentagram wounds, acknowledging that her possession of weapons pointed to some level of deliberation. He also admitted that Pike had opportunities to cease the attack, implying she could have assessed her actions.

Further testimony from Dr. William Bernet, medical director at Vanderbilt’s psychiatric hospital, offered insight into the satanic aspects of the crime, identifying it as symptomatic of Pike’s adolescent dabbling in dark symbolism and group-induced violence. Yet, he conceded his limitations in providing a definitive opinion on Pike’s intent or premeditation, having not directly engaged with the defendant or other key individuals involved.

After a review of the evidence presented during the guilt phase of the trial, the jury found Christa Gail Pike guilty of first-degree murder and conspiracy to commit first-degree murder.

In the sentencing phase, the defense sought to mitigate Pike’s culpability with testimony from family members highlighting a turbulent and troubled upbringing. Carrie Ross, Pike’s aunt, detailed the defendant’s lack of maternal bonding and exposure to substance abuse and verbal abuse within the family. Pike’s father, Glenn Pike, recounted his own difficulties with her, including allegations of sexual abuse that led to Pike being kicked out of the family home. Pike’s mother, Carissa Hansen, painted a portrait of a relationship marred by drug use and behavioral issues, including Pike’s suicide attempt and aggressive tendencies.

However, under cross-examination, the image of Pike as merely a troubled youth was challenged by admissions of long-standing behavioral problems and deceit. The State’s rebuttal witness, Officer Harold James Underwood Jr., offered a telling anecdote about Pike’s demeanor at the crime scene, noting her pentagram necklace, which bore a striking resemblance to the symbol found carved on Slemmer’s chest.

The jury, unmoved by the mitigating factors, found two aggravating circumstances: the murder’s exceptional cruelty and the intent to avoid arrest. These factors led the jury to sentence Pike to death by electrocution. The trial court upheld the sentence, as did the Court of Criminal Appeals upon further review, affirming the judgment against Pike.

As the gavel fell, the courtroom’s air, once thick with the sordid details of a crime conceived in darkness, hung heavy with the weight of justice served. The tale of Christa Gail Pike, a narrative woven through testimonies of troubled pasts and heinous acts, reached its chilling denouement. With a verdict that spoke to the gravity of her actions, the jury’s decision echoed the community’s outcry for retribution and a family’s yearning for closure. The irony of Pike’s own pentagram necklace – an emblem of her sinister act – lingered in the minds of those present as an eerie reminder of the thin line between fascination and fatality.

In the silence of the aftermath, the world outside the courtroom doors continued its restless dance, oblivious to the darkness that had unfolded within. Yet, for those touched by the shadow of Colleen Slemmer’s untimely end, life would never again hold the same innocence. With the final chapter closed on this grim saga, the memory of Colleen and the stark reality of the evil that walks among us remain, indelible and haunting in the annals of true crime history.

You might be interested in Christa Pike, death row, and Slemmer.