the circumstances was a bad mistake.
She began chatting earnestly to Tadaryl
Shipp, Christa’s boyfriend. Christa went
berserk with jealousy. Furious, she pulled
Colleen away from her beau, shouting
obscenities.
Then she ripped off Colleen’s sweater
and her bra and began beating her
unfortunate rival with her fists. Shadolla
joined in. Shipp turned away, but when
Colleen pleaded to him for help he
punched her in the face.
Suddenly, among the litter surrounding
the old steam mill all was violent
mayhem.
“Please! Stop!” Colleen yelled as
more blows rained down. She fell to the
ground, screaming and clutching herTORTURE...MURDER...JAILBREAK: The Crimes That Made Christa
THE BAD GIRL
OF DEATH ROW
THE BAD GIRL
OF DEATH ROW
Christa Gail Pike, 18 (top); Tadaryl Shipp, 17; and Shadolla Peterson,- The three were arrested within 36 hours of the murder
stomach in pain. Worse was to come.
Christa pulled out a meat cleaver and
slashed Colleen’s forehead.
The girl from North Carolina was now
in a frenzy of hate. With one slash of the
meat cleaver she ripped open Colleen’s
jeans.
“You want to have sex with Tad, do
you?” she yelled. “Well, go on then. Show
him what you’ve got!”
Panic-stricken, Colleen scrambled to
her feet and tried to run, even thoughVictim Colleen Slemmer was
tortured for more than an hour
before her attackers crushed her
skull and left her to dieprogramming student.
And that’s when the boyfriend trouble
began.
First, Christa tried bullying tactics,
threatening her “rival” if she came
within a mile of her boyfriend. That
didn’t work, so she decided to change
tactics. Suddenly she was nuzzling up to
Colleen, cooing and billing. She wanted
them to be friends. What was the point of
all this friction over a mere man, anyway?
Trust me, I’m your buddy, she suggested,
and Colleen fell for it.
In fact, reconciliation was far from
Christa’s mind. On January 11th, 1995,
she told another student, Kim Iloilo, that
she was planning to kill Colleen “because
I just feel mean.” Kim discounted that
as mere talk, but subsequent events
prompted her to recall the conversation.
Meanwhile, Christa cosied up to
Colleen again. “We’re going for a walk,”
she said. “Just me, and
Tadaryl Shipp, and
Shadolla Peterson. Want
to come?” Shadolla
Peterson was another
girl student, a particular
friend of Christa’s.
Colleen nodded.
Making friends with
Christa was something
she wanted. Apparently
she thought they were
going to smoke some
pot and watch a video.
Instead, they headed for
an old abandoned steam
mill. That was a strange
destination for a walk,
because all around the area
was littered with chunks of
asphalt and large pieces of
plastic.
But, as Christa Pike had
already figured out, it was
a good place to beat up someone you
didn’t like, because it was so secluded
that no one would be able to hear the
victim’s screams.W
hen the four students reached
the mill Colleen made what in