A 'bent' needle and multiple doses: How a botched execution unfolded

ABC News

3 Oct 2026 05:27 AEST Summary

Summarized version

Pike was sentenced to death in 1996 after the murder of another teenager, Colleen Slemmer, when she was 18 years old.

The report’s most important sentence, shortened and in plain words. How

From the report

Pike was sentenced to death in 1996 after the murder of another teenager, Colleen Slemmer, when she was 18 years old.

How outlets headlined it

Each outlet's own headline. ~~Struck through~~: the loaded words our version leaves out. Plainest first.

ABC News A 'bent' needle and multiple doses: How a botched execution unfolded plain
7NEWS ‘Deeply disturbing’: US woman Christa Pike receiving lifesaving care at hospital a day after botched execution plain
WAtoday Christa Pike in a critical condition in hospital after botched execution plain
Brisbane Times How Christa Pike’s botched Tennessee execution unfolded, minute by minute plain

Headline check

The one thing this headline claims is in the report.

Figures, names and quoted words in the headline, looked for in the report itself — not in the summary above. One claim in this headline could be checked, so this is a narrow pass and not a thorough one. How this is checked

This is a summary. The indicators are not. Every score on this page was measured over the full 1214-word report, which is the only way the numbers mean anything.

How it is written

Niral Score 7.8 · calm mundaneloaded

10 more readings adjectives, repeated words, sentiment, sourcing and 1 more and 5 at zero

Highlighted in the text. Words that carry a fact and quoted words are not counted.

execution17pentobarbital8protocol8botched7injection6according5arm5death5executions5second5called4chamber4dose4inmate4lawyers4least4lethal4try4witnesses4administered3bent3closed3doses3drug3four3governor3gurney3inserted3line3making3officials3please3prison3review3staff3state3states3times3abruptly2almost2another2appeared2attempt2brain2condition2containing2curtain2cut2damage2different2establish2failed2far2followed2hospital2hour2lawyer2leave2legal2lines2and 30 more

Sentiment -0.8 hostilefavourable Sourcing 78 unattributednamed sources Mood 43.5 sorrowjoyful

5 read zero: political diction, generational, gender, jingoistic, religious

Political diction 0 left-codedright-coded Generational 0 harder on the oldharder on the young Gender 0 no gendered framingframing throughout Jingoistic 0 reports to a readerwrites from a camp Religious 0 not invokedovert

How the article is written, not whether it is correct. How each is measured.

Measured on ABC News’s report as filed, which is all we may publish of this one.

How each outlet filed it

Also covered by WAtoday, The Age, Brisbane Times, The Sydney Morning Herald. We hold only their summary of it, not the report, so there is nothing of theirs to measure here.

Outlet	Niral Score	Adjectives	Sourcing	Sentiment	Gender	Happiness
ABC Newsas they published this story	7.8	15	78	-0.8	0	43.5
7NEWS	7.7	8	75	-0.7	3.6	38.4

Also reported by

7 Australian outlets reported this story. These are the ones we do not read; their headlines are matched to this one automatically, so an occasional match may be a different story.

Christa Pike execution : What to know about botched operation afr.com

Coverage from The GDELT Project.

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The same event elsewhere

8 other outlets filed this story. The scoreboard above is what they did differently.

7NEWS ‘Deeply disturbing’: US woman Christa Pike receiving lifesaving care at hospital a day after botched execution Niral 7.7 · calm political 0 WAtoday Christa Pike in a critical condition in hospital after botched execution Niral 15.3 · mostly calm political 0 The Age Christa Pike in a critical condition in hospital after botched execution Niral 15.3 · mostly calm political 0 Brisbane Times How Christa Pike’s botched Tennessee execution unfolded, minute by minute Niral 5.1 · calm political 0 Brisbane Times Christa Pike in a critical condition in hospital after botched execution Niral 15.3 · mostly calm political 0 The Sydney Morning Herald How Christa Pike’s botched Tennessee execution unfolded, minute by minute Niral 5.1 · calm political 0 The Sydney Morning Herald Christa Pike in a critical condition in hospital after botched execution Niral 15.3 · mostly calm political 0 WAtoday How Christa Pike’s botched Tennessee execution unfolded, minute by minute Niral 5.1 · calm political 0