Former Police Chief Haunted by Christa Pike Murder Scene
Left 0%
Center 67%
Right 33%
0 left · 2 center · 1 right
What happened
In 1995 in Knoxville, Tennessee, Christa Pike and then-boyfriend Tadaryl Shipp lured 19-year-old Colleen Slemmer, a fellow Knoxville Job Corps student, into the woods, where Pike tortured and murdered her. Court documents state Pike cut Slemmer’s throat, struck her with a meat cleaver and a piece of asphalt, carved a pentagram into her forehead and chest, and kept a piece of her skull; Pike was later convicted and sentenced to death. On Wednesday, Tennessee attempted to execute Pike by lethal injection; she survived two rounds of the procedure in what was described as a botched execution. Former Knoxville Police Chief Phil Keith, who oversaw the original investigation, then gave interviews saying the crime scene remains imprinted in his memory. Governor Bill Lee ordered a review of the execution and paused all executions in Tennessee for the rest of the year; Sen. Marsha Blackburn said she would restore the electric chair as a method of capital punishment if she becomes governor.
Sourcing check · Fully on the record · 3 articles
3 of 3 articles cite a named source for the story. It was on the record from the first report.
What these terms mean and how they're counted
- On the record · names a source 3 of 3
- On the record means the article cites a source by name for the story's main claim: a person, or an institution speaking officially, such as a company statement or a named agency's spokesperson. The opposite is an unnamed source. The count is how many of the counted articles cite at least one such source; the names are everyone named across them, each once however the articles spell it. Here: Keith and Phil Keith
- Primary evidence · cites a document or data 1 of 3
- Primary evidence means the article cites a record you could check yourself: a court filing or ruling, a dataset or report, a recording or transcript, an official statement or press release, market data. A quote is not a document. The count is how many articles cite one. Here: court documents
- Credits another outlet 0 of 3
- The article says the story comes from another outlet's reporting (“first reported by Reuters”). Those articles relay the story; they are not independent confirmation. Here: Each article presents its own reporting.
- Unnamed sources 0 of 3
- The main claim is attributed to people who are not identified: “people familiar with the matter”, “officials said”. The count is how many articles do this.
- How it developed
- When the first report landed and whether it named anyone; when the first named source and the first document appeared. Here: First report Oct 2, 04:59 UTC by NewsNation, naming its source. First document 3 hours later, from Daily Wire (court documents).
- Not counted 0
- Opinion, analysis and video pieces, and articles too short to assess. Every count above is out of the counted articles. An article republished under a new headline is one article.
This is about who is cited, not whether the story is true. Each source below says what it names. How we count
ONE-SIDED THIS WEEK.
Only right-leaning outlets have covered this story in the last two days;
The Guardian reported it on 2026-09-28.
Omitted — what each side leaves out
Unpacked
Left-leaning coverage has not reported this story at all, while right-leaning coverage recounts former Knoxville Police Chief Phil Keith saying a failed execution of Christa Pike will again put the killer, not the victim, at the center. The right-leaning account, in Daily Wire, includes Keith's view that the public now tends to "glorify the offender," and that he still cannot forget overseeing the investigation into Colleen Slemmer's murder. A reader who never sees that side therefore misses the former chief's firsthand memory of the crime scene, his plea to talk about Slemmer's life instead of Pike's, and the governor's pause on further executions.
Right-leaning coverage leads with the failed execution and with Keith saying Pike represents "pure evil," an emphasis left-leaning coverage does not present because it has published nothing on the case.
What, if anything, did Colleen Slemmer's family say after Pike survived the lethal injection?
Bottom line
Daily Wire is running former Knoxville police chief Phil Keith's appeal to remember Colleen Slemmer after Christa Pike's failed execution; left-leaning coverage has not reported that appeal.
The receipts — 2 facts one side's coverage lacks
- Keith said Pike tortured Slemmer for nearly an hour with a box cutter before crushing her skull with a piece of asphalt
- Pike kept a piece of Slemmer's skull
The Right View
The Daily Wire, drawing on Keith’s interviews with Fox News and WVLT8, frames the story as attention being pulled onto Pike and the failed execution instead of Slemmer. Keith said the public’s focus represented a tendency to “glorify the offender,” called Pike “pure evil,” described an hour-long torture with a box cutter and asphalt, and said Slemmer was a nonviolent 19-year-old with interest in computers whose life was cut short. He speculated Tennessee may not execute anyone again soon, contrasting it with Texas, Florida, Alabama, and South Carolina. Coverage also reports Lee’s pause on executions and Blackburn’s electric-chair pledge. Center-leaning NewsNation separately reported Keith’s line that “the brutality of this incident is branded in my brain.”
Our Take (balanced)
The story is substantive: it is built on a named 1995 conviction, court-documented crime details, on-the-record comments from the former police chief who ran the investigation, and a checkable official act—Governor Lee’s review and pause on executions. Established facts include Slemmer’s murder, Pike’s conviction and death sentence, the botched lethal-injection attempt as reported, Keith’s statements, and Lee’s order. Keith’s labels (“pure evil,” a culture that glorifies offenders) and his prediction that Tennessee may never execute again are opinion, not proven claims. No left-leaning outlet has reported this. Watch for Lee’s review findings, any medical or protocol records from the injection attempt, and whether Blackburn advances electric-chair legislation if she takes office.
3 sources
More stories
The week's bottom lines, in your inbox
One email a week: the five stories that mattered and what they actually mean. Free.