I interviewed Tennessee death row inmate Christa Pike 20 years ago
Journalist Helen Roberts reflects on her 2006 interview with Christa Pike, a Tennessee death row inmate who recently survived a botched execution. Roberts discusses the difficulty of reconciling the violent crimes committed by Pike with the person she encountered during their meeting.
Why it matters
The piece provides a humanizing perspective on a high-profile criminal case and touches on the ethical complexities of capital punishment.
Figure caption, Helen Roberts says she "could not imagine the person I met to have been so horrifically violent"
Two decades ago, Helen Roberts met Tennessee death row inmate Christa Pike to understand the woman behind the brutal murder of Colleen Slemmer.
Aged 30, Pike had served 11 years on death row and was the youngest woman to receive the penalty in the United States when Roberts interviewed her as real life editor of women's lifestyle magazine.
Pike, now aged 50, faced her long-awaited execution on Wednesday, but survived two lethal doses of pentobarbital and remains in critical condition.
Roberts, who has been following the developments, reflected on her conflicting encounter with Pike and how it had stayed with her as both a journalist and a human being.
"It was really hard sometimes to reconcile the woman in front of me to the crime she had committed," she said.
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