Report: Pope Leo tried to halt botched US execution of Christa Pike
02.10.2026, dpa
Pope Leo XIV intervened to seek a halt to the execution of US death row inmate Christa Pike in Tennessee, according to a report by Italian newspaper La Repubblica, but received no response from authorities before Wednesday's botched lethal injection left her alive.
The Vatican did not initially confirm the report, published early on Friday.
Pike was due to become the first woman to be executed in Tennessee in more than 200 years on Wednesday evening, after being sentenced to death in 1996 for the murder of a 19-year-old acquaintance. She was 18 at the time of the crime.
However, after two doses of the drug pentobarbital had been administered, as required under the protocol, she remained alive, authorities said.
The 50-year-old woman was subsequently taken to a medical facility outside the prison. Her lawyers said on Thursday that she was in critical condition.
The Vatican opposes the death penalty. Leo - the first pope from the US - has previously called for the worldwide abolition of capital punishment.
On the 15th anniversary of the abolition of the death penalty in the US state of Illinois in April, the head of the Catholic Church said that human dignity is not lost even after the commission of very serious crimes. Human life must be protected, he said.
Three bishops from Tennessee had also called on the state's Republican governor, Bill Lee, to grant a stay of execution. In a statement, they said they would "continue to stand as pro-life in all things, championing the human dignity that everyone possesses as a child of God."
Christa Pike's condition critical after botched execution attempt
02.10.2026, dpa
Christa Pike, a convicted murderer sentenced to death, who was due to be executed in the US state of Tennessee, is in critical condition after two failed lethal injections, her lawyers have said.
Pike's legal counsel say that the 50-year-old is receiving life-saving medical treatment. It remains unclear why she survived the two injections.
Meanwhile, the Italian newspaper La Repubblica reports that Pope Leo XIV had already advocated for a stay of Pike's execution in the run-up to the event. However, there was no response to the Vatican's request.
The Holy See rejects the death penalty. Leo himself has in the past spoken out in favour of the worldwide abolition of capital punishment.
Pike receives lifesaving medical care after botched execution
No new information had emerged by Friday afternoon. It remains unclear what her prognosis is and what health consequences she might suffer.
It is also unclear whether Pike should face another execution if she recovers. Her lawyers have called for the death penalty not to be carried out on Pike and for her to be sentenced to life imprisonment without parole instead.
Pike was due to be executed by lethal injection on Wednesday evening. However, according to the authorities, after she had been administered the two doses of pentobarbital stipulated in the protocol, she remained alive.
Witnesses reported hearing Pike continue to breathe and gasp for air for a long time. One of her lawyers later said he had even heard her speaking and singing after the first dose. Pike was eventually taken to a medical facility outside the prison.
Pike's lawyer, Randy Spivey, said on Thursday that staff had spent about an hour unsuccessfully attempting to establish an intravenous line. "I counted at least seven needles in her left arm alone, one of which appeared to be bent when it was pulled out of her arm after an unsuccessful attempt," said Spivey.
During the execution, her right arm also turned purple; according to the defence, blisters and burns have since appeared around the injection sites.
What is known about the drug?
Pentobarbital is used in veterinary medicine in Germany, according to an article by Saarland University published in the journal Rechtsmedizin. Because the drug rapidly leads to respiratory depression in the event of an overdose, it is used, for example, in Switzerland for assisted dying or in the US for carrying out the death penalty.
In the case of Christa Pike, doctors interviewed by the New York Times consider it possible that at least some of the pentobarbital did not enter Pike's bloodstream but instead entered the surrounding tissue. This could explain why the administered dose was insufficient to bring breathing and circulation to a complete standstill.
The Tennessee Department of Corrections subsequently stated that every step of the applicable protocol had been followed. This protocol does not provide for any further measures after the second dose.
How often do such executions fail?
According to the independent Death Penalty Information Centre, there is no other known case in the modern era of capital punishment in the US in which a prisoner received the execution drugs and subsequently survived. In previous failed executions, the procedure had usually been halted beforehand, for example because a suitable venous access could not be established.
Lethal injection is the most common method of execution in the US. Since 2024, execution by nitrogen has also been permitted in several states, which in practice leads to an agonizing death struggle for the condemned.
Why was Pike sentenced to death?
Pike was sentenced to death in 1996 for the murder of 19-year-old Colleen Slemmer. She was 18 years old at the time of the crime. Slemmer was tortured over a prolonged period in Knoxville in 1995 and was eventually killed.
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