Crime Stories with Nancy Grace - Horrific Details Emerge After Tennessee's Botched Execution Attempt of Death Row Inmate Christa Pike | Crime Alert 10.03.26

Episode Date: October 3, 2026

Witnesses recount the horrific scene inside the death chamber after Tennessee’s botched execution attempt of death row inmate Christa Pike left her in critical condition. A Massachusetts military veteran faces federal cyberstalking charges following an intense harassment campaign targeting former White House aide Katie Miller. Gymgoers in Cambridge are left shaken after 40-year-old Laquan Holland allegedly barged into a Planet Fitness women's locker room and sexually assaulted multiple people. Sydney Silvagni reports. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This is an I-Heart podcast. Guaranteed human. Crime alert, hourly update. Breaking crime news now. I'm Sidney. Witnesses have recounted the horrific ordeal inside the death chamber during Tennessee inmate Krista Pike's botched execution on Wednesday, September 30th. Pike 50 has spent three decades on death row for the 1995 murder of 19-year-old classmate Colleen Slimmer.

Pike was 18 when she, along with boyfriend to Daryl Schip and friend Shodola Peterson, lured Slemer into the woods. Slemer was tortured, found with a pentagram carved into her chest, and Pike took a piece of her skull as a souvenir. Ship was sentenced to life with parole because he was 17, while Peterson received six years probation after pleading guilty as an accessory after the fact. Pike was set to become the first woman executed in Tennessee in over 200 years.

Pike's scheduled execution drew intense protests, from anti-death penalty advocates outside the prison. Her lawyers had appealed her sentence, arguing she suffered severe childhood sexual abuse, undiagnosed mental illness, and a blood disorder that made her fear a prolonged painful death. After being denied a stay last week, Pike survived two attempted lethal injections over 30 minutes on Wednesday evening. The execution followed a fast-moving legal fight after the 6th U.S. Circuit Court granted a stay Wednesday morning, but the U.S. Supreme Court vacated it. Inside the death chamber, the curtain opened around 727 p.m.

At 7.31 p.m., Pike said the vein in her arm felt like it was about to burst. At 7.41 p.m., staff placed a rock at the window to indicate drug administration. Over five minutes, Pike spoke, yawned, and ground her jaw. Curtains lowered and reopened, showing her snoring. Witnesses heard choking and grunting as her body lifted off the gurney into a view. shape. A rock was placed again at 801 p.m. followed by louder snoring, and when curtains closed at 8.05 p.m., witnesses demanded they remain open because she was still snoring. During execution attempts, Pike even tried to guide executioners on where to find a vein. As she lay snoring with a heartbeat,

attorneys filed emergency motions in federal court demanding immediate medical care. Tennessee informed federal court during a conference call that medical personnel had already begun treating making the request moot and transferred her off-site. Defense attorneys Randy Spivvy and Stephen Farrell confirmed she is in critical condition receiving life-saving care, warning of potential brain damage from oxygen deprivation. Following the second botched execution in four months, Tennessee Governor Bill Lee halted all state executions while lawyers demand her sentence be commuted. More Crime and Justice News after this.

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with cyber-stalking Katie Miller, former White House aide and wife of President Donald Trump's Deputy Chief of Staff, Stephen Miller. John Anthony Proya III, a 41-year-old military veteran from Walton, was indicted by a Boston grand jury on cyberstocking charges and arrested Thursday October 1st by Boston's Joint Terrorism Task Force. The Justice Department revealed Miller was targeted in over 40 harassing sexually explicit calls and texts between August 3rd and September 23rd. Following his arrest, Miller publicly thanked law enforcement and Attorney General Todd Blanche for keeping her family safe. Prosecutors state Proia used voiceover internet protocol applications to cycle through free phone numbers, preventing Miller from blocking calls effectively.

The indictment details explicit texts, including derogatory messages sent to Miller's father regarding her marriage. Proa also posted on threads encouraging followers to call politicians late at night and left post referencing President Trump. Internal resistance within the FBI overcharging proia led senior leadership to remove two senior agents from a Washington counterterrorism team, with White House officials stating the agents were stifling serious threat investigations. Federal magistrate Judge Paul Levinson released Proa under strict conditions, ordering him not to contact the Miller family, any public officials or potential witnesses, barring him from using VOIP services, and requiring him to surrender all weapons, including knives, crossbows, and machetes. The case is prosecuted by

the U.S. Attorney's National Security Unit. Meanwhile, in Cambridge, Massachusetts, a man is accused of sexually assaulting multiple people inside a Planet Fitness locker room on Thursday morning, October 1st. Police date 40-year-old Laquan Holland entered the gym, located on the bottom floor of Leslie University's University Hall around 9 a.m. local time with a female guest. After an initial dispute arose between them, a gym employee intervened and immediately called authorities. Holland then allegedly forced his way into the women's locker room where he sexually assaulted multiple individuals. Cambridge police responded swiftly and arrested Holland at the scene, while one victim was transported to a local hospital for evaluation. The Planet Fitness franchise

group canceled Holland's membership and stated they are cooperating fully with local law enforcement. The attack has deeply alarmed frequent gym attendees. Speaking to NBC10, gym member Dr. Yana Doe expressed her shock in growing concern for personal safety. I've always felt safe now that I've heard that this had happened. I'll definitely have to look behind my back, which is not a great feeling. I'm going there to work out, undressing out of my scrubs, getting into my workout clothes. So yeah, I'm definitely going to think about that. Authorities continue their active investigation into Holland as community members raise safety concerns. For more crime and justice news, be sure to join us for crime stories

with Nancy Grace on Fox One, YouTube, SiriusXM, and now streaming on 2B. With this crime alert, I'm Sidney. This is an I-heart podcast. Guaranteed Human.