Oct 13, 2026 · 35 min · 12 segments
Join Mark and Jeremy as they discuss two cases of capital punishment that have been dominating the news this month – that of Christa Pike and Nidal Hasan, both charged with murder. They break down…
Mark Williams-ThomasHost
Jeremy VineHostOf course, in America, there is loud, you know, the lethal execution of an individual for crimes that they've committed that have been deemed to be so.
And they go through an awful long process, in fact, getting to the point where actually that execution is authorized.
And indeed, in Christa Pike's case, even on the morning of her execution, it was stayed, and then it was subsequently allowed in the afternoon.
And she survives now to a position where, of course, she's in hospital, uh, and she has limited functions in a way.
But I was quite shocked to listen to her legal team talking outside the hospital, where they were effectively talking in terms of almost making her a victim, and that sat very uncomfortably with me.
We have to go back to the case, don't we? We have to remember what actually happened.
It was a, a young woman called Colleen Slemmer, who was nineteen, who was killed by Christa, who at the time was eighteen.
And, and the, the motive seemed to be that Christa thought that this other, this poor lady, Colleen, was interested in this fellow called Tadaryl.
They then brutally killed her, tortured her, somehow slashed a pentagram sign on her body, and smashed her skull in so badly that Christa then was able to take a piece of it as a souvenir.
And the family then had to fight to get it back so they could bury their daughter in one piece.
In mitigation, Tadaryl was too young to be executed, so that's, that case is basically parked.
Christa's mitigation was that very complicated thing where she says, "Wait a minute.
Of course, in America, there is loud, you know, the lethal execution of an individual for crimes that they've committed that have been deemed to be so.
And they go through an awful long process, in fact, getting to the point where actually that execution is authorized.
And indeed, in Christa Pike's case, even on the morning of her execution, it was stayed, and then it was subsequently allowed in the afternoon.
And she survives now to a position where, of course, she's in hospital, uh, and she has limited functions in a way.
But I was quite shocked to listen to her legal team talking outside the hospital, where they were effectively talking in terms of almost making her a victim, and that sat very uncomfortably with me.
We have to go back to the case, don't we? We have to remember what actually happened.
It was a, a young woman called Colleen Slemmer, who was nineteen, who was killed by Christa, who at the time was eighteen.
And, and the, the motive seemed to be that Christa thought that this other, this poor lady, Colleen, was interested in this fellow called Tadaryl.
They then brutally killed her, tortured her, somehow slashed a pentagram sign on her body, and smashed her skull in so badly that Christa then was able to take a piece of it as a souvenir.
And the family then had to fight to get it back so they could bury their daughter in one piece.
In mitigation, Tadaryl was too young to be executed, so that's, that case is basically parked.
Christa's mitigation was that very complicated thing where she says, "Wait a minute.
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