First woman to be executed in US state in over 200 years has prison letters offering rare glimpse into her life
Christa Pike, the only woman currently on Tennessee's death row 'fell madly in love' with a pen pal, a man who owns the largest collection of murderabilia claims.
Pike was convicted of the murder just 18 when she killed fellow student Colleen Slemmer, 19, and became the youngest woman to be sentenced to death in American history.
After being sentenced to death in 1996, Pike began writing and responding to a number of letters she received, many of these being letters of support.
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The 50-year-old's execution date, via lethal injection, is set for September 30. Should it go ahead, she will be the first woman executed in Tennessee for over 200 years.
Now, WBIR have obtained copies of correspondences from the late 1990s to the early 2000s, between herself, and someone known as Richie of Yonkers, from New York.
Speaking to the outlet while going through these letters, David Adamovich, who now owns the letters, said: "I see she did the same thing many of the other females did in the letters to Richard, which were to madly fall in love with him, and want to marry him once they got out of prison."
He claimed that they 'were all love-starved' and 'extremely excited to have a male take interest.'
In Pike's first letter to Richie, she signed it off as 'your new found friend,' which then changed to 'all my love,' later on.
A letter from Valentine's Day was also obtained, in which an outline of Pike's lip stick marks could be seen planted on the paper. At the time of these letters, Pike was around 20-years-old.
In 2002, when Pike asked to dropped her appeals and have an execution date set, it was Richie who she told about it, the outlet reports.
She continued opening up to the man, telling him she was 'so broken' and 'couldn't quit crying.'
The last letter between the two which has been obtained in the collection is a Christmas card with a cartoon of a man on an electric chair.
However, Adamovic, who owns 9000 letters from inmates in his collection, said Pike had a minimal collection of correspondence compared to others.
Before being convicted for the murder of Slemmer, Pike was in a relationship with Tadaryl Shipp, was also convicted. However, as he was 17 years old at the time, he was ineligible for a death sentence. He received a life sentence with the possibility of parole.
Now, Pike's legal team have been working to prevent the execution from going ahead, with her lawyers having filed for clemency with a 226-page document.
On Wednesday, September 23, the Tennessee Supreme Court denied a request to stay the execution.
“We are deeply disappointed in the Tennessee Supreme Court’s decision, but we will press forward, seeking relief from the U.S. Supreme Court while also continuing our request that Governor Lee grant Christa clemency," a statement from Stephen Ferrell from the Federal Defender Services of Eastern Tennessee and Kelly Gleason from the Tennessee Office of the Post-Conviction Defender said.
The request for clemency is still pending.
Topics: True crime, Death Row, US News
Kiesha Dosanjh