US prison chief who oversaw botched execution resigns

• Lawyer Randy Spivey has said he saw seven needles used in just Pike's left arm as execution staff tried to start an IV line, "one of which appeared to be bent when it was pulled from her arm after an unsuccessful attempt."

The prison chief in the southern US state of Tennessee has resigned, the governor said Saturday, after an unprecedented botched execution left a convicted murderer on a ventilator in critical condition.

Tennessee Department of Correction Commissioner Frank Strada will leave his post this month, Governor Bill Lee said in a statement.

Christa Pike, 50, on Wednesday survived two lethal injections of pentobarbital, a drug that suppresses nervous system activity.

Media witnesses listened to her snoring for about an hour after being administered the deadly doses, and said she was alive as they were ushered out of the execution chamber viewing area at the Riverbend Maximum Security Institution in Nashville.

Pike was taken to a hospital where she was "critically ill," unconscious and on a ventilator as medical staff worked to clear the pentobarbital from her system, her lawyers said in a court filing Friday.

Lee said he thanked Strada for "his willingness to put the interests of Tennesseans first during this difficult moment."

In the same statement, Strada said: "I continue to believe the Department (of Correction) carried out its responsibilities in accordance with the established protocol."

Lee, who previously denied Pike clemency, has halted further executions through the rest of the year pending a "comprehensive, third-party review."

- Caustic -

Pike's legal team had previously objected to the execution's IV protocol, saying it would have caused needless suffering due to her small veins and a blood condition.

Lawyer Randy Spivey has said he saw seven needles used in just Pike's left arm as execution staff tried to start an IV line, "one of which appeared to be bent when it was pulled from her arm after an unsuccessful attempt."

Medical experts had warned of needles becoming dislodged or piercing through the vein, causing lethal drugs to flow into Pike's arm instead of the bloodstream, lawyer Stephen Ferrell has said.

The court filing described pentobarbital as a caustic substance that burns skin, tissue and veins. Upon arrival at the hospital, both of Pike's arms were "swollen, burned, and blistered," it said.

Media witnesses said Pike told execution staff after receiving the lethal injection that her arm felt like it would "burst open."

The Death Penalty Information Center, which publishes data and analysis on capital punishment in the United States, said Pike was the first inmate ever to survive "after being injected with lethal doses of execution drugs."

Her case had sparked debate over capital punishment for young criminals, as she was 18 when she and her boyfriend beat and killed Colleen Slemmer, 19, at a job training camp.

The 1995 killing gained national attention after Slemmer's body was found with a pentagram, often seen as a satanic symbol, carved in her chest.

Pike's lawyers had argued for clemency due to her young age and mental health issues at the time of Slemmer's killing. They also cited her history of childhood sexual assault and post-traumatic stress disorder.

The case had already attracted attention in the lead-up to the execution date as Pike would have been the first woman put to death by the state of Tennessee in more than 200 years.

In the United States, only 18 women have been executed since 1976, according to the Death Penalty Information Center.