Tennessee’s outgoing prison chief had a history of execution missteps before Christa Pike, officials say

Dipti Vaidya/USA Today Network/Imagn Images/Reuters

Before the botched execution of Christa Pike, Frank Strada reportedly had a history of overseeing execution missteps in two states.

Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee on Saturday announced Correction Commissioner Strada would step down later this month following the backlash after the attempted execution left Pike on a ventilator, unconscious in a hospital. Less than three years earlier, Lee brought Strada on to lead the Department of Correction, tasking him with reforming Tennessee’s execution system after enduring concerns over the state’s approach to the death penalty.

But in Strada’s previous role as an official in Arizona’s prisons system, he oversaw three executions that administrators and observers raised concerns over, saying executioners flouted the state’s official policies. Now under his current supervision, Pike is the second person this year who Tennessee officials have failed to execute after problems with the IV injections.

The Tennessee Department of Correction declined to comment when asked by CNN about Strada’s involvement in these prior execution problems.

Pike’s debilitating survival has brought to light Strada’s history overseeing executions that didn’t follow typical protocol, and larger questions about the death penalty by both proponents and opponents. Lee has suspended executions for the year as an investigation is underway.

“The state of Tennessee has got to start telling its people exactly what it is doing, so that in the democratic process, the people of Tennessee can decide if that’s what they want to be done in their name,” Stephen Ferrell, Pike’s lawyer, told CNN’s Jake Tapper on Sunday. “This torturous execution leaves so many questions that the state of Tennessee will refuse to answer.”

As his resignation was announced, Strada said, “stepping aside is in the best interest of Tennesseans as the independent review moves forward.”

“I believe this review is entirely appropriate and necessary,” Strada said in a statement Saturday, “and I look forward to doing everything I can to help determine exactly what occurred.”

Here’s the latest on Strada’s final days overseeing Tennessee’s prisons, and what happened inside Pike’s death chamber.

On Saturday, the state Attorney General’s Office retained Ed Stanton, a former US attorney, to conduct an independent review of the Department of Correction’s actions in carrying out Pike’s execution, Gov. Lee’s office announced.

Stanton previously oversaw an independent review of Tennessee’s lethal injection protocol in 2022, the governor’s office said, which resulted in the state substantially rewriting its protocol.

Strada began leading Tennessee’s correction department in 2023 when he was tasked with enacting that new protocol among other duties. An Air Force veteran, Strada was a senior official in Arizona’s prison system who previously had worked nearly 30 years for the Federal Bureau of Prisons.

In naming Strada to lead the agency , Lee said Strada’s “extensive corrections management and law enforcement experience make him well-suited to lead the Department of Correction.”

Strada served as a deputy director of the Arizona Department of Corrections, Rehabilitation and Reentry. His tenure was marked with controversy around three executions that were performed after an eight-year moratorium in the state.

All three had issues with establishing IV lines to administer the lethal drug, lawyers said. The problems prompted Arizona’s governor to call for an independent review of execution protocols. The review in Arizona was announced weeks after Lee promoted Strada to his current post in Tennessee.

In a 2023 sworn declaration, Ryan Thornell, director of Arizona’s corrections department, said he was “unable to locate sufficient documentation” about execution procedures under the previous administration, which included Strada. He cited “several critical issues” impacting the agency’s ability to conduct executions, including inadequate expertise, efficacy of lethal injection drugs, and procedures with the IV team.

Thornell said he couldn’t find documentation identifying the pharmacist who compounded the lethal drugs. Without naming Strada, he said a prior deputy director was the main point of contact with the pharmacist but said he didn’t record anything. The effectiveness of the current supplies of the lethal drug couldn’t be guaranteed and needed to be tested to ensure safety and efficacy prior to use, Thornell said.

Meanwhile, he said the IV team who worked on the state’s most recent execution had been told by the prior administration to only use the femoral central line, which was against the department’s policy.

In Tennessee, questions have mounted around the Department of Correction’s protocol around executions, including IV administration to administer lethal doses.

Pike’s case wasn’t the first time state officials had trouble with lethal injections in recent months. In May, state officials halted the execution of Tony Carruthers when staff couldn’t get a secondary IV successfully placed after placing one IV into his right arm.

Later, the state’s execution of Anthony Darrell Hines was performed in August without any reported issues with placing the IVs, according to The Associated Press.

Advocates said issues with Tennessee’s procedures speak to larger issues around the death penalty.

“It’s not isolated to just one particular person or one particular execution team,” Kat Jutras, executive director of the nonprofit Death Penalty Alternatives for Arizona, told CNN. “If we look at it in that very microlens, we’re not seeing the broader picture with the death penalty itself and lethal injections really being at the forefront of some of the larger problems.”

Pike, who along with her boyfriend was convicted for the 1995 torture and killing of her classmate Colleen Slemmer, was one of the youngest women sent to death row.

During her scheduled execution Wednesday at Riverbend Maximum Security Institution, executioners struggled to set the IV lines necessary to administer the lethal dose of pentobarbital. Randy Spivey, one of her lawyers, told reporters she cooperated with the execution team and tried to give them tips on how to insert the IV lines, as she had warned the state she had a history with difficult vein access.

But her lawyers said issues with the IV resulted in the barbiturate, which slows the central nervous system, flowing into her body instead of her bloodstream. After the first dose failed to work, executioners administered a second dose.

“We may never know what sort of torture she endured during that process,” Ferrell, an assistant federal defender in Tennessee, said on CNN’s “State of the Union.” It’s unclear whether she was conscious or in physical pain during the procedure and subsequent life-saving treatment, he added.

“We don’t know what the prognosis is, as in the long-term prognosis, if she recovers,” he said, saying she remained unconscious in the hospital as of Sunday morning. “She may not fully recover.”

Her lawyers have called on the governor to commute Pike’s death sentence. After being convicted of first-degree murder, Pike has served more than 30 years in prison, mostly in solitary confinement, only to be brought out for a failed execution, Ferrell said.

“This has been a serious punishment for a very serious and awful crime,” Ferrell said. “I don’t think that attempting another execution is going to bring justice.”

The state Attorney General’s Office hasn’t given an indication of whether they’ll seek to put her to death again, he added.

Gov. Lee, who is term-limited after serving for eight years, will leave office in January. Republican US Sen. Marsha Blackburn, who is running to replace him, has called to bring back the electric chair to “deliver justice for these victims swiftly.”

Some Tennessee lawmakers, including state House Speaker Cameron Sexton , have also proposed allowing the firing squad as an alternative execution method. At least five states have authorized the use of a firing squad for the death penalty, according to the Death Penalty Information Center .

Slemmer’s mother, May Martinez, told CNN affiliate WTLV/First Coast News she believes the state failed her family, more than three decades after Pike killed Slemmer, who was 19.

“I think the state owes me a big apology,” she said.

Traveling from Florida with her husband, Martinez spent hours at the Nashville-area prison waiting to see Pike’s execution. But the curtains eventually closed in the execution area and witnesses had to leave. They were later told Pike was being taken to the hospital, Martinez said.

Martinez said she worries about Pike being out and said her family hasn’t been told whether her daughter’s murderer will return to prison.

“All I wanted was justice,” she said.

Now she, along with state officials, must wait for answers to lingering questions of what went wrong with the execution and what’s next for Pike.

CNN’s Dakin Andone, Eric Levenson, Lauren del Valle and Ryan Young contributed to this report.

Dipti Vaidya/今日美国网络/Imagn Images/路透社

据报道，在克丽斯塔·派克被执行死刑失败之前，弗兰克·斯特拉达曾在两个州监督过死刑执行失误。

田纳西州州长比尔·李周六宣布，惩教署署长斯特拉达将于本月晚些时候辞职。此前，在一次未遂的死刑执行中，派克昏迷不醒，靠呼吸机维持生命，引发了公众的强烈反对。不到三年前，李任命斯特拉达领导惩教署，并委派他改革田纳西州的死刑执行制度，此前该州在死刑问题上的做法一直备受争议。

但斯特拉达此前在亚利桑那州监狱系统担任官员时，曾监督过三起死刑执行，这些执行都引起了管理人员和观察员的担忧，他们指出行刑者违反了该州的官方政策。如今，在斯特拉达的监督下，派克成为今年田纳西州官员因静脉注射问题而未能执行死刑的第二人。

当 CNN 就斯特拉达参与此前这些死刑执行问题向田纳西州惩教部门询问时，该部门拒绝置评。

派克的死里逃生揭露了斯特拉达过往监督执行死刑时未遵循常规程序的记录，也引发了支持者和反对者对死刑本身的更深层次的质疑。目前，李已暂停今年的死刑执行，相关调查正在进行中。

“田纳西州必须开始向人民如实说明其所作所为，这样田纳西州人民才能通过民主程序决定，这是否是他们希望以他们的名义所做的事情，”派克的律师斯蒂芬·费雷尔周日告诉CNN的杰克·塔珀。“这种残忍的处决留下了太多田纳西州拒绝回答的问题。”

在宣布辞职时，斯特拉达表示，“在独立审查进行期间，退出对田纳西州人民来说是最有利的。”

斯特拉达周六在一份声明中表示：“我认为这次审查完全恰当且必要，我期待尽我所能，帮助查明究竟发生了什么。”

以下是斯特拉达在田纳西州监狱任职的最后几天的最新消息，以及派克死刑室里发生的事情。

周六，州长李的办公室宣布，州检察长办公室聘请了前美国检察官埃德·斯坦顿，对惩教部门在执行派克死刑过程中的行为进行独立审查。

州长办公室表示，斯坦顿此前曾在 2022 年主持了对田纳西州注射死刑方案的独立审查，结果导致该州大幅修改了其方案。

斯特拉达于2023年开始领导田纳西州惩教部门，他的任务之一是推行这项新规。斯特拉达是一名空军退伍军人，曾任亚利桑那州监狱系统的高级官员，此前曾在联邦监狱管理局工作近30年。

李在任命斯特拉达领导该机构时表示，斯特拉达“丰富的惩教管理和执法经验使他非常适合领导惩教部门”。

斯特拉达曾担任亚利桑那州惩教、康复和重返社会部门的副主任。在他任职期间，该州在暂停执行死刑八年后，因三起死刑执行而引发争议。

律师称，这三名死刑犯在建立静脉输液管以注射致命药物时都遇到了问题。这些问题促使亚利桑那州州长呼吁对死刑执行程序进行独立审查。就在李州长将斯特拉达提拔到田纳西州担任现职几周后，亚利桑那州宣布了这项审查。

2023年，亚利桑那州惩教署署长瑞安·索内尔在一份宣誓声明中表示，他“无法找到足够的资料”来了解前任政府（包括斯特拉达执政时期）的死刑执行程序。他列举了影响该机构执行死刑能力的“几个关键问题”，包括专业知识不足、注射死刑药物的有效性以及静脉注射团队的程序问题。

索内尔表示，他找不到任何文件能证明是哪位药剂师配制了这些致命药物。他没有指名道姓地提到斯特拉达，只是说一位前任副主任是与这位药剂师的主要联系人，但他表示自己没有做任何记录。索内尔说，目前这些致命药物的有效性无法保证，需要在使用前进行测试，以确保其安全性和有效性。

与此同时，他表示，参与该州最近一次死刑执行的静脉输液小组曾被前任政府告知只能使用股静脉中心静脉导管，这违反了该部门的政策。

在田纳西州，人们对惩教部门的死刑执行程序提出了越来越多的质疑，包括通过静脉注射注射致命剂量。

派克的案例并非近几个月来州政府官员在执行注射死刑时遇到的第一个难题。今年5月，托尼·卡拉瑟斯的死刑执行因工作人员在其右臂注射第一支静脉输液管后无法成功插入第二支而中止。

据美联社报道，后来，该州于 8 月份对安东尼·达雷尔·海因斯执行了死刑，注射静脉输液时没有出现任何问题。

支持者表示，田纳西州的程序问题反映了死刑制度本身存在的更大问题。

“这并非局限于某个人或某个行刑队，”非营利组织“亚利桑那州死刑替代方案”的执行主任凯特·朱特拉斯告诉CNN。“如果我们只从这个狭隘的视角来看待问题，就看不到死刑本身以及注射死刑所面临的更大问题的全貌。”

派克和她的男友因 1995 年对她的同学科琳·斯莱默进行折磨和杀害而被定罪，她是被判处死刑的最年轻的女性之一。

周三，在里弗本德最高安全级别监狱执行死刑时，行刑人员在为她输注致命剂量的戊巴比妥钠时遇到了困难。她的律师之一兰迪·斯派维告诉记者，她与行刑队合作，并试图向他们提供如何插入静脉输液管的技巧，因为她曾告知州政府她有静脉穿刺困难的病史。

但她的律师表示，静脉注射出现问题，导致巴比妥类药物（一种减缓中枢神经系统的药物）没有进入血液，而是流入了她的体内。第一剂无效后，行刑人员又给她注射了第二剂。

“我们可能永远无法得知她在那过程中遭受了怎样的折磨，”田纳西州联邦助理辩护律师费雷尔在CNN的“国情咨文”节目中说道。他还补充说，目前尚不清楚她在手术和随后的救命治疗过程中是否意识清醒，以及是否承受着身体上的痛苦。

他说：“我们不知道她的预后如何，比如长期预后，她是否能够康复。”他还表示，截至周日上午，她仍然昏迷不醒地躺在医院里。“她可能无法完全康复。”

她的律师已呼吁州长减免派克的死刑。费雷尔说，派克被判一级谋杀罪后，已在监狱服刑30多年，其中大部分时间被单独监禁，却只被带出来执行死刑，而且行刑失败。

费雷尔说：“这是对一起极其严重且令人发指的罪行的严厉惩罚。我认为再次执行死刑并不能伸张正义。”

他补充说，州检察长办公室尚未表明是否会再次寻求判处她死刑。

任期八年、即将卸任的州长李将于明年一月离任。正在竞选接替他的共和党参议员玛莎·布莱克本呼吁恢复电椅死刑，以“迅速为这些受害者伸张正义”。

包括田纳西州众议院议长卡梅伦·塞克斯顿在内的一些田纳西州议员也提议允许使用枪决作为一种替代的死刑执行方式。据死刑信息中心统计，至少有五个州已授权使用枪决执行死刑。

斯莱默的母亲梅·马丁内斯告诉 CNN 附属电视台 WTLV/First Coast News，她认为在派克杀害年仅 19 岁的斯莱默三十多年后，该州辜负了她的家人。

“我认为州政府应该向我郑重道歉，”她说。

马丁内斯和丈夫从佛罗里达州赶来，在纳什维尔附近的监狱里等了几个小时，等待观看派克的死刑执行。但行刑区的帘子最终落下，目击者不得不离开。马丁内斯说，他们后来被告知派克被送往医院。

马丁内斯说，她担心派克出狱，并表示她的家人尚未被告知杀害她女儿的凶手是否会重返监狱。

“我想要的只是公正，”她说。

现在，她和州政府官员一起，必须等待有关行刑过程中究竟出了什么问题以及派克接下来会面临什么的答案。

CNN的Dakin Andone、Eric Levenson、Lauren del Valle和Ryan Young对本报道亦有贡献。