US state set to execute first woman in over 200 years – her horrific crime revealed

The crime stunned investigators and the public alike.

One of the most chilling revelations emerged when Pike showed detectives a fragment of Slemmer’s skull that she had kept as a trophy. Retired detective Randy York recalled that Pike was disturbingly cheerful during questioning and demonstrated how the skull fragment fit into the wound “like a puzzle. ”

Pike was convicted of first-degree murder in 1996 and sentenced to death. Shipp received life without parole, while Peterson, who cooperated with investigators, received probation. Nearly a decade later, Pike earned an additional 25-year sentence after attempting to strangle another inmate in 2004.