Pike survived a lethal injection execution on Wednesday. She was sentenced to death for the 1995 killing of her classmate, Colleen Slemmer.
Christa Pike, the woman who survived an execution attempt in Tennessee earlier this week, is on a ventilator as she receives care in the hospital, her lawyers said in a new statement Friday.
“Christa remains critically ill and is receiving medical care for the devastating effects of Wednesday night’s events,” the lawyers’ statement said. “She is critically ill, unconscious, intubated and receiving breathing assistance through a ventilator.”
The statement said she is being treated for “the serious effects of the pentobarbital administered during the execution attempt, including significant injuries to both arms.”
Yeah, a cruel (or just incompetent) hangman would shorten the drop so that you die from slow strangulation instead of a quick snap. And given the cruelty is the point, I wouldn’t trust Tennessee to do it properly.
Guillotines are effective, but if not kept properly maintained, they can fail to completely sever the head. And there is some evidence that death is not instant.
Personally, if I was to choose my manner of execution, it would be firing squad. But the most effective would be sedative overdose or nitrogen asphyxiation, again only if done properly.