Pope Leo 'tried to halt botched execution of murderer Christa Pike' that saw her injected with seven needles during two unsuccessful attempts to kill her

Pope Leo 'tried to halt botched execution of murderer Christa Pike' that saw her injected with seven needles during two unsuccessful attempts to kill her Pope Leo XIV allegedly tried to intervene in Tennessee's botched execution of Satanic killer Christa Pike. The American pontiff attempted to halt Pike's lethal injections on Wednesday, but did not receive a response from authorities, Italian newspaper La Repubblica reported. The Vatican did not confirm the report to dpa German Press Agency on Friday, but it comes as the Bishops of Tennessee issued a letter to Governor Bill Lee encouraging him to commute Pike's sentence. '[We] respectfully and urgently ask you to commute the death sentence of Christa Gail Pike and ensure that the State of Tennessee does not attempt to execute her again,' the Bishops wrote on Thursday. The Catholic leaders wrote that they are 'mindful of the horrific murder of Colleen Slemmer,' but claim 'accountability need not require another death.' Slemmer was just 19 years old, stabbed and beaten by her Knoxville Job Corps classmates, 18-year-old Pike and her boyfriend, on the University of Tennessee's Agricultural campus in 1995. The two carved a pentagram into Slemmer's chest, and Pike took a piece of her skull as a souvenir, according to investigators. Pike, now 50, had been on death row for 30 years and was sentenced to be the first woman executed in Tennessee in over 200 years, but her lethal injection failed on Wednesday night and has left her in critical condition. Christa Pike was sentenced to death in 1996 for murdering her classmate then carving a pentagram her chest, investigators say Pope Leo reportedly attempted to halt Pike's lethal injections on Wednesday, but did not receive a response from authorities In the wake of the botched execution, Republican Tennessee Congressman Tim Burchett has called for Pike to face a firing squad. 'Prop her up and bring her to a firing squad,' Burchett told NewsNation's 'Katie Pavlich Tonight.' 'The firing squad and hanging are 100 percent. I've never heard of them not being. Let's get to something that works and just do it.' Burchett claimed that the state needs to move away from lethal injections and find a method of execution that works. 'Get away from the drugs. That’s been problematic from the start,' he said. 'I've also proposed legislation for hanging. That’s what we got to look at. These things are not successful.' Pike's execution was supposed to start at 10am on Wednesday, but a federal appeals court stopped it about an hour before. Tennessee then appealed to the US Supreme Court, and it took eight hours for the court to overrule and allow the lethal injection to take place. Colleen Slemmer was just 19 years old, when she was stabbed and beaten by her Knoxville Job Corps classmates, Pike and her boyfriend, in 1995 Republican Tennessee Congressman Tim Burchett has called for Pike to face a firing squad Pike, now 50, had been on death row for 30 years and was sentenced to be the first woman executed in Tennessee in over 200 years, but her lethal injection failed Inside the execution chamber, Pike's lawyers said she was injected with at least seven needles during two unsuccessful attempts to kill her. Pike was singing and blessing those people in the spectators' room after she had received the first dose that should have killed her, her attorney said. At one point, the killer was allegedly thanking the medical team injecting her with pentobarbital and offered to direct them to try a vein near her shoulder. Pike's spiritual advisor was in the death chamber with her, but he was removed at points, according to the attorney, who cited the cruel and torturous nature of the night. Officials raised the curtains to the execution chamber at 7.27pm on Wednesday, showing Pike strapped to a gurney. 'I'm going to leave this world the way I spent most of my life, and that is in love,' the killer said in her 'last' words. She described herself as at peace. But Pike remained awake and at one point raised her head and asked prison officials if her arm was supposed to feel that way. It was unclear what she meant. By 8.26pm, execution witnesses reported that the second dose of pentobarbital had been administered. Pike snored behind the closed curtain until the microphone was cut off at 8.53pm. Witnesses were then escorted out of the area. She was then rushed to a hospital by an ambulance, her attorneys said. On Thursday, her lawyers announced that she was alive but in critical condition. They have not provided an update on Friday. The Daily Mail contacted the Vatican and Pike's team for comment.