5 min Click here to listen to this article

Share via Close extra sharing options Email Facebook X LinkedIn Threads Reddit WhatsApp Copy Link URL Copied! Print

Copy Link URL Copied!

This is read by an automated voice. Please report any issues or inconsistencies here.

See more from the L.A. Times in Google Search. Set us as preferred

“Botched” is a perfectly fine word for golf, cooking or home repair. It seems inadequate for the taking of a life, even the life of Christa Pike, a heinous murderer.

In 1996, a jury found Pike guilty of the torture and murder of her Jobs Corps classmate Colleen Slemmer. Pike was sentenced to death. In the 30 years since, her case has gone through seven major rounds of appeal and judicial review including three trips to the Supreme Court. All were rejected. This doesn’t even include the many more attempts to reopen or reverse her sentence that went nowhere. She is guilty, lawfully and rightly convicted.

Last week, the state tried to carry out Pike’s death sentence and, as many in the media have said, “botched” it. It appears that two attempts to deliver a lethal dose of pentobarbital failed because the technicians could not find good IV access. Too much of the drug didn’t enter into her veins. Pike is now unconscious and on a respirator in a Nashville hospital.

I don’t think “botched” conveys the scope of the scandalous failure of the technicians or the state of Tennessee. There’s an investigation underway.

While that proceeds, I think it’s worth looking at the other responsible parties for this ugly spectacle and the controversy it has sparked: the anti-death penalty lobby.

It is not very difficult to kill people painlessly with drugs. How do I know this? For starters, Canada kills people with drugs every day. According to the latest annual report on Canada’s Medical Assistance in Dying, 16,499 people were medically euthanized in 2024. The number of people voluntarily killed has steadily gone up every year, so it’s a good bet the numbers for 2026 will be higher than that.

In the Netherlands, 10,341 people were........

© Los Angeles Times