Foreign national beaten to death by a mob in South Africa

Christa Pike’s IV team warned vein might be ‘blowing’ before failed execution

<p>New account from Pike’s lawyer suggests team was racked by doubts even before pentobarbital began to flow</p><p>The Tennessee execution team tasked with setting an intravenous line in the arms of the death row prisoner Christa Pike through which she could be injected with a lethal dose of pentobarbital repeatedly warned that her vein might be “blowing”, before they went ahead with the procedure, her lawyer has revealed.</p><p>Members of the intravenous (IV) team used up to 10 needles as they sought to establish a line through which Pike could be killed with a massive dose of the sedative. About 20 minutes into the attempt, they began discussing among themselves whether the prisoner’s vein “might be blowing”.</p> <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026/oct/22/christa-pike-failed-execution-lawyer-witness">Continue reading...</a>