Trooper's Crime Desk | True Crime & Investigation
Sep 28, 2026 · 41 min · 9 segments
The episode delves into the Christa Pike case and the murder of Colleen Slemmer, discussing the victim's background, the details of the murder, the trials and legal outcomes, and Christa Pike's…
Colleen Anne Slemmer, who was a 19-year-old Bucks County, PA, native, born on September 20th, 1975, before moving to Florida and growing up with her mom, May Martinez, and her stepfather, Rob Martinez.
Colleen was described by friends and family as bright, funny, and deeply caring.
She was also a community volunteer, so she frequently worked with special education and handicapped students.
She volunteered with the Special Olympics and painted school buildings over her summer breaks.
She was also known as a computer geek, which I absolutely love nerds.
She had a great love for computers and spent hours taking them apart and rebuilding them with her stepfather.
To keep her memory close, her family had one of her favorite computer-themed shirts sewn into a teddy bear that they always keep with them.
She wanted to build a better future for herself, and Job Corps seemed to be that perfect stepping stone toward that.
Now, for those of you that don't know, Job Corps is a free federally funded career training and education program that's administered by the U.S. Department of Labor for low-income young adults, typically age 16 through 24.
It's completely free with no student debt, mostly residential, providing like room and board at campuses nationwide.
They also have training that can last up to two to three years, depending on the program.
But in January of 1995, Colleen crossed paths with another Job Corps student, Krista Gail Pike.
Now, Krista was 18 at the time of the crime, which plays a huge factor later on during the trial, so I want you guys to keep pinning that.
Keep, keep it close in your brain.
Now, the two girls actually arrived at the facility at the same time and went through the exact same orientation program together.
In the program, Colleen was studying computer training while Krista was pursuing a vocational training to become a nurse technician.
Despite coming into the program together, their paths quickly diverged into a toxic and deeply volatile relationship due to a few key factors.
First and foremost being the romantic triangle.
Now, shortly after arriving, Krista Pike began dating 17-year-old Tadaryl Shipp, another Job Corps student.
And I wanna point this out here as another pin because it comes up later.
Colleen Anne Slemmer, who was a 19-year-old Bucks County, PA, native, born on September 20th, 1975, before moving to Florida and growing up with her mom, May Martinez, and her stepfather, Rob Martinez.
Colleen was described by friends and family as bright, funny, and deeply caring.
She was also a community volunteer, so she frequently worked with special education and handicapped students.
She volunteered with the Special Olympics and painted school buildings over her summer breaks.
She was also known as a computer geek, which I absolutely love nerds.
She had a great love for computers and spent hours taking them apart and rebuilding them with her stepfather.
To keep her memory close, her family had one of her favorite computer-themed shirts sewn into a teddy bear that they always keep with them.
She wanted to build a better future for herself, and Job Corps seemed to be that perfect stepping stone toward that.
Now, for those of you that don't know, Job Corps is a free federally funded career training and education program that's administered by the U.S. Department of Labor for low-income young adults, typically age 16 through 24.
It's completely free with no student debt, mostly residential, providing like room and board at campuses nationwide.
They also have training that can last up to two to three years, depending on the program.
But in January of 1995, Colleen crossed paths with another Job Corps student, Krista Gail Pike.
Now, Krista was 18 at the time of the crime, which plays a huge factor later on during the trial, so I want you guys to keep pinning that.
Keep, keep it close in your brain.
Now, the two girls actually arrived at the facility at the same time and went through the exact same orientation program together.
In the program, Colleen was studying computer training while Krista was pursuing a vocational training to become a nurse technician.
Despite coming into the program together, their paths quickly diverged into a toxic and deeply volatile relationship due to a few key factors.
First and foremost being the romantic triangle.
Now, shortly after arriving, Krista Pike began dating 17-year-old Tadaryl Shipp, another Job Corps student.
And I wanna point this out here as another pin because it comes up later.
The rest of this transcript — segmented and speaker-labeled, so you land on the exact moment something was said
Search every transcript — by keyword, by phrase, or by meaning, across every show Radar indexes
Trends — what is surging across podcasts, measured against its own baseline
Alerts — when a name you follow appears in a newly indexed episode
No account is needed to search Radar.
