Witness reveals chilling new details of Christa Pike's failed execution including song she sang
A witness to Christa Pike's failed execution has claimed she 'let out a joyous cackle' in the execution chamber.
Christa Pike had been on death row for the best part of three decades, after she was convicted of the 1995 murder of student, Colleen Slemmer.
WVLT anchor William Puckett, who was one of the few people to witness Pike's execution, told the Daily Mail she 'offered no apology to her victim's family in her final statement,' and 'took a jab at her haters.'
Journalists inside the execution chamber reportedly recalled the 50-year-old 'snoring loudly' for up to 40 minutes after she was administered the so-called 'lethal' drug, but Puckett revealed there was something else that they heard.
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He told the outlet that Pike 'let out a joyous cackle and laugh' as she 'jovially sang about love.'
Journalists were taken into the viewing chamber at 6.41 p.m., after Pike's scheduled execution was halted just an hour before it was set to take place. However, the US Supreme Court later overturned the stay, allowing the execution to go ahead as planned.
Pike was administered with the first dose of injection around 7:27 p.m. Five minutes later, she was heard speaking, and seen with a tear rolling down her cheek.
It was previously revealed that moments before the first injection, Pike said: "I'm going to leave this world the way I spent most of my life and that is in love."
By 7:37 p.m, he Puckett told the outlet that she broke into song, repeating the lyrics of a Buddhist meditation.
“Be kind and gentle to yourself and may you be at peace," she could be heard singing.
Later on, she let out the 'joyous laugh and cackle.'
Pike was later given another dose of pentobarbital.
Explaining what this is, Jonathan Groner, MD, Emeritus Professor of Clinical Surgery at Ohio State University College of Medicine told UNILAD: "It is a short acting barbiturate. It is used to treat seizures and can be used for 'medically induced coma' for patients with severe head trauma.
"It can also be used for procedural sedations. It is no longer used for general anesthesia."
The second dose was administered at 8.01 p.m. with the curtains going down just minutes later. However, the media could hear the snoring for another 50 minutes.
Puckett told the Daily Mail that 'seemed no sadness in the way she reacted.'
Pike was later taken to hospital after surviving two doses, where it was said she was receiving life-saving care.
A spokesperson for the Tennessee Department of Correction told UNILAD: "The Tennessee Department of Correction followed every step of the State’s lawful, established execution protocol approved by the Attorney General’s Office. The lethal injection chemical in the protocol has consistently been effective, and the protocol does not allow for additional procedures beyond what was carried out this evening. Christa Pike has been transported to an off-site medical facility."
It is currently unclear how Pike survived two doses of the lethal injection, and Gov. Bill Lee has ordered an investigation into the matter.
Kiesha Dosanjh