True Crime With Caledonian Kitty

As I write this post (in 2026) this month of July marks 25 years since the young attractive British couple, Peter Falconio (28) and his girlfriend Joanne Lees (27) saw their dream trip turn into a horrendous nightmare. A nightmare that would leave Joanne returning home heartbroken, traumatized.....and alone. This was no couple's break-up, she was alone because in the dead of night, somebody murdered Peter, with plans to abduct her. She heard her boyfriend's death and heard his body being dragged around but she couldn't see what was happening or if he had indeed been murdered. All she knew was that a gun shot rang in the air and Peter was later nowhere to be found.

In January 2001 the loved-up Peter and Joanne who were both originally from West Yorkshire, England, but had been living together in Brighton (England), made the decision to go on the trip of a lifetime. They had various locations in mind but Australia was the main focus. Their parents, family and friends, who adored them both as a couple, were very nervous about them desiring to tour Australia after the horror stories they had been hearing on the news about backpackers going missing or being murdered. 

The horror stories they were hearing didn't deter Peter and Joanne in the slightest, they were confident that nothing like that was going to happen to them. they'd travelled before and there had been no issues, they also made it clear that they had no plans to hitchhike. They saved money, gave up their jobs, their apartment and had everything planned and filled in all of the necessary paperwork. They were confident they would be 100% safe.

Peter and Joanne who were a bright couple, (Joanne had previously worked as a travel agent and longed to see more of the world. Peter was a Brighton University graduate who had studied and worked in building construction management) reassured their parents, family and friends that they had everything organized and would be constantly in touch. They were both excited and had traveled around other places such as Singapore beforehand. As well as Singapore, they visited Malaysia, Nepal, Cambodia and Thailand. They did run in to some trouble when some of their money and documents were stolen. There was a moment when they both considered just going back to England but they managed to get this sorted out before they officially arrived in Sydney on the 16th of January 2001.

They fell in love with Sydney and had taken up jobs there as well as making a lot of friends. Peter managed to find work in a office furniture store and Joanne went around jobhunting on foot with her resume asking the managers if they had any available positions. She enquired at a bookstore and at first the manager informed her that he had no jobs available but a member of staff encouraged him to give her a chance. Joanne had beautiful glossy black hair which was cut into a bob, she also had piercing blue eyes. With her striking appearance, pretty smile and her English accent, Joanne was easy to remember and she soon got a call asking if she would like to come in for a proper interview. She started working at the bookshop and all of the staff loved her. 

Peter and Joanne enjoyed the nightlife and everything that Sydney had to offer. They would do a lot of things together but also things apart. Joanne would hit some of the clubs and bars with her friends and being the beautiful girl that she was, it was no surprise that she gained a lot of male attention. The trouble is, that she actually met another man and as the saying goes....one thing led to another. She had an affair with this man who was reportedly a bit of a playboy and he didn't plan to be in Sydney for long as he had to be elsewhere. He had been seeing other women at the same time that he'd been seeing Joanne. Joanne soon found herself torn between Peter and this other man. When Peter announced that it was time to leave Sydney, he managed to get all of the money together to buy a Kombi van, Joanne wasn't too excited at the thought of leaving. She didn't want to leave the life she had built up in Sydney. 

On the 25th of June 2001, Joanne decided that she had to make a choice and she knew that she truly loved Peter and wanted to be with him, she wanted to marry him. The affair with the other man had been just a bit of fun for her as well as the other man so she didn't take it too seriously. In the Kombi van they toured Canberra, Melbourne, Adelaide and other locations until they reached Alice Springs. They regularly contacted their parents to keep them updated on where they were and how everything was going. Peter and Joanne loved sightseeing and loved how handy the Kombi van was, the van became Peter's pride and joy. 

As well as the sights and beautiful scenery on the roads. Peter and Joanne would enjoy soaking up the local traditions of whatever town they stopped in. On the 14th of July 2001, they stopped off at a cafe in the morning to have some breakfast before attending a local event in Alice Springs called 'The Camel Cup' or often referred to as 'The Melbourne Cup of the Desert' which involves racing camels, it's a lighthearted novelty event which began in 1970 and is also a charity event. Joanne and Peter thought it was hilarious and the locals welcomed them in as they did with all visitors. Whilst at this event, Joanne wasn't aware that she was being watched by various men. When she went to the bar to collect some drinks for herself and Peter, there was a group of men who sitting watching her and making some inappropriate comments. Joanne heard what they were saying but chose to ignore it. 

This group of unsavoury characters were not the only ones who were staring at Joanne, another dishevelled looking man was fixated on her. That man's name was Bradley John Murdoch. Bradley was a strange and intimidating character and depending on who you were, he was either a nice guy who liked to have a drink and a laugh or he was an absolute weirdo who was a loner. From his childhood right up until that moment he was often described as a 'thug and a bully'. 

Bradley was always troubled and had previous run-ins with the law. He was prone to violent outbursts and had spent time in jail. He was a nightmare to deal with, had a face like a bulldog chewing a wasp and had connections with white supremacist groups. He also drank heavily, took drugs and loved guns. You may remember my posts about Ivan Milat?. If you are a new reader to my blog or have not had the chance to read these previous posts, you can find them here (The Ivan Milat Story) and the post I had written about his nephew, Matthew here (Like Uncle, Like Nephew). Ivan Milat was a horrific Serial Killer who abducted and murdered numerous backpackers and buried them in Belanglo State Forest in New South Wales. Bradley may remind you a lot of Ivan, in fact, this horrific case was another inspiration alongside the Ivan Milat murders, for the horror movies and TV series 'Wolf Creek'. 

Peter and Joanne were too busy enjoying themselves at the Camel event that they realised they would have to get a move on. They got back into the Kombi van and stopped off to get some food and drinks before carrying on their journey. Unknown to them, Bradley John Murdoch had been following them on the Stuart Highway, it was dark and Joanne had been driving whilst Peter was having a rest. The pair would often take turns with who was going to be behind the wheel. Bradley was close behind the Kombi van in his White Toyota Landcruiser ute which was configured with a green canopy in the back. In his vehicle he had a rape kit as well as a gun. His plan was to kidnap Joanne, who he thought was alone. He drove up to the side of the Kombi until he reached the front of the van and tried to get Joanne's attention, he was shocked and a little disappointed to see that Joanne was not alone. This wasn't part of his plan as he thought kidnapping her would be easy but now he had to try and get rid of Peter. 

He used the crafty tactic of telling the young couple to stop the van and check the back of the vehicle, he tried to tell them that there was sparks flying out of their exhaust. Joanne didn't feel comfortable to stop but Peter insisted it would be alright. As the van stopped, Bradley pulled up alongside them and got out of the ute. Peter smiled at Joanne and told her it would be alright and got out of the van whilst she remained inside. She heard the two men talking and at one point, Peter came back to Joanne to ask her to rev the engine. Peter thanked Bradley for stopping and alerting them to the problem. Peter couldn't see anything wrong with the vehicle, he did comment also that it was getting cold. As Peter was busy looking at the back of the van, Joanne tried to glimpse back and see if she could see Peter but she noticed Bradley stood next to him, staring right at her with this transfixed look on his face. At first she thought she was wrong for doubting this man as he seemed so nice offering to help them but there was something just not right here. The next minute there was a huge bang that rang out in the cold, dark night air and then total silence! 

The next minute Joanne looked to the side of her and there was Bradley John Murdoch. Peter was nowhere to be seen, she couldn't even hear Peter. Sudden panic set in and with a gun in his hand, Bradley made it clear what was going to to happen. He grabbed hold of her and told her to put her hands behind her back. She started screaming ''Where's Pete, what have you done with Pete?''. Bradley coldly shouted at her to ''Shut up'' He forced her hands behind her back and looped two black cable ties together to create makeshift handcuffs. He attempted to tie her ankles together and put tape over her mouth but she kept struggling and trying to fight back. He ended up giving up and thought that she wouldn't be able to escape with her hands tied behind her back. 

He put a sack or a hood over her head and dragged her to the back of his ute. His dog, who was also in the vehicle, was pretty much quiet. Whilst Joanne had her hands tied and the hood over her head she was understandably in a complete panic. Bradley realised that he had to move the Kombi van as well as Peter's body because, although they were pretty much in the middle of nowhere, tourists and other members of the public did travel through that road from time to time and somebody might grow suspicious and stop to check everything out, thinking someone might have broken down and needed help.

Joanne could hear Bradley moving about and the sound of what she would later describe as a dragging sound. She believed that Bradley murdered Peter and that she was going to be next she had to escape somehow. She managed to shake the hood off and slide out of the vehicle. The whole time she was paranoid that he would hear her because it was so dark, cold and there was only the two of them there. She managed to get up, hands still behind her back and ran as fast as she could, into the darkness, not being able to see clearly what was in front of her. She found some bushes and she tried to hide herself the best that she could.

Bradley was still pondering about, making dragging noises, she then heard the sound of the Kombi. Joanne was terrified he would find her. He soon walked over to his ute and discovered she was missing. He tried to look around for her, using the lights but to her surprise, he eventually gave up and drove off. Joanne stayed cramped, curled up and freezing in those bushes for about 4 hours. She was terrified to move in case he was out there somewhere watching. Eventually she plucked up the courage and ran as fast as she could. She ran on to the highway where she managed to flag down a road train truck. The two men from this truck did their best to help her. They cut off the cable ties and took her to a local hotel where she was supported by the kind staff and regulars. She stayed their overnight whilst waiting for the police to arrive. The police arrived the next day and Joanne was taken to the hospital and was interviewed about everything that happened. 

Other investigators went back to the exact location that Joanne had described to them and they did find the Kombi. Bradley had driven it off the road and tried to conceal it in amongst bushes. They also found a lot of blood which indicated to them that something horrific must have happened. They also found the lid to Joanne's lip balm under one of the bushes as well as indentations in the ground that showed that Joanne had been hiding in that exact location. 

The Kombi was thoroughly examined by forensics who took swabs of everything as well as Peter's inhaler so they could get a sample of his DNA. The two kind road truck drivers were smart in their thinking and actions with cutting off the cable ties and handing them over to the police. These cable ties would prove to be a crucial piece of evidence. 

Joanne was interviewed for hours and both the families of Peter and Joanne sadly found out the truth of what had happened through the news on TV. The horrifying story went worldwide very quickly. Australia had been under the spotlight previously for the number of backpacker murders and tourists suddenly going missing. Joanne was able to give the police an e-fit. 

Bradley did his best to change his appearance, people around him were shocked to see him clean-shaven all of a sudden. He'd had also given his ute a bit of a makeover. He thought he'd gotten away with it but the police had him in their sights. At this point there was a number of suspects that the police had in mind and he was one of the main ones. 

The case shocked Australia, Britain and anyone who came across it. Every reporter in Australia and Britain wanted to interview Joanne Lees. It was quite an incredible (as well as heartbreaking and terrifying) story. Joanne, however became the target of malicious gossip, assumptions and cruel judgements. She was always a quiet person anyway until she had gotten to know people. She tried to keep her distance from the press and tried to put a brave face on things, but she was painted as not being the innocent woman she claimed to be. 

Nasty people decided that she must have done something to Peter and that this was all just a big performance where she killed him and hid his body. The harassment that Joanne endured was likened to that of the Lindy Chamberlain case which I also previously wrote about. Lindy and her husband Michael were put through hell in the media and were wrongfully convicted of the murder of their baby. The infamous 'Dingo Took My Baby' case shocked Australia and the world. Lindy was particularly blasted for her calm, collected and hard demeanor, some people saw this as a sign of guilt. Eventually the pair were found completely innocent backed up by evidence and exonerated. 

Everything Joanne said, did or wore was put under the microscope. At a public appeal for information she wore a tight baby pink shirt that said 'Cheeky Monkey' on it and some people found this to be distasteful as well as her perceived lack of emotion. The police had noted that some of the things she said in her original statements didn't add up or she would later recall certain aspects of events in a different manner.

She was under a cloud of suspicion until Bradley John Murdoch was arrested in 2002 for a sexual assault on a woman and her daughter. Investigators were able to obtain his DNA and they found a match with the DNA that was found on Joanne's clothing and the black cable ties. He was then officially arrested for the murder of Peter Falconio and the attempted abduction of Joanne Lees. 

Bradley John Murdoch's trial began in October of 2005 and ran for eight weeks. He was found guilty of of all charges relating to the murder of Peter and attempted abduction of Joanne. He never displayed an ounce of remorse and claimed that he was innocent and just a drug runner. The evidence proved otherwise. His DNA was found at the crime scene, on the cable ties, on Joanne's clothing and one of her hair accessories was found amongst his belongings when the police did a search. He was sentenced to life imprisonment.

There is currently still an ongoing reward for anyone who has any information about where Peter Falconio's remains are. The reward is reportedly $500,000/£260,000. If anyone has any information at all, no matter how small, they are advised to contact (and this can be anonymous) Crime Stoppers 1800 333 000 (inside Australia). If outside of Australia, anyone with information is to contact their local police department. 

It's actually crazy to add that Bradley John Murdoch passed away after a battle with cancer on the 15th of July 2025. Literally a day after the 24th anniversary of when he murdered Peter. On his death bed, Peter's parents begged him to give up information about what he did with their sons body. The grieving parents who spent 24 years never knowing what happened to their beloved son, recorded a video that the police tried to pass on to Bradley. As heartless as ever, he wasn't interested and shouted at the police to ''Get Out', Don't beat around the bush because I'm just going to cut you short every time ok, I know nothing.'' 

It's interesting that he used the word 'bush', it could just be that he was using a common expression or could it be that he put Peter's body under one of those bushes in that location or near it? That's just me thinking out loud and I'm sure these areas have been thoroughly searched. He may have taken Peter's body away in the back of his ute. 

He was 67 years old at the time of his death and he was a cold-hearted monster right up to the very end. It was also revealed that he had made a previous attempt at an abduction before he targeted Peter and Joanne but he managed to get away with that due to lack of evidence. It makes you wonder what else he got away with?, what other sadistic and evil things this creature did in the past, we may never know. He's certainly cut from the same cloth as Ivan Milat.

After Bradley was found guilty and the public were aware of all the evidence presented, Joanne Lees was finally shown some respect by the press and by those in the public who had doubted her. After this nightmare ordeal she tried to live her life as normal as she could in England. She is reportedly employed as a social worker, She wrote a book about her experience titled No Turning Back 

A TV movie based on Joanne's experience, Murder in the Outback starring Joanne Froggatt, was released in 2007. 

Joanne spends a lot of time in Australia, especially Sydney. She is still looking for information about what happened to Peter. She discovered in 2017 that she had a half-sister who lived in Sydney and visits her regularly. 

Bradley John Murdoch's family and friends held a private funeral ceremony for this monster, describing him as a 'devoted family man'. He was cremated and his ashes scattered in a undisclosed location. Well I don't think someone who is a 'devoted family man' would sit back and watch the parents of his innocent victim agonize and suffer for over two decades about what happened to their son. 

Everyone who met Peter, studied with him, worked with him, all said he was a great guy. He worked so hard for everything he had including that Kombi van, he worked for months trying to save up the money to buy that van. His kindness, his trust in people, his ability to makes friends wherever he went ended up with him being murdered and it's not fair. He had the rest of his life in front of him. I'm going to be honest and say that I wasn't happy when I found out during my research that Joanne had been cheating on him whilst they were on a damn holiday together...what the hell? All he did was treat her like a Queen and when details of the affair were made public, it further added to the rumours and speculations about what really happened that night. 

At the end of the day, neither Peter or Joanne deserved what happened to them at the hands of the evil and sadistic Bradley John Murdoch. This story has always been heartbreaking and the fact that Peter's family are still nowhere near finding out where Peter is, is just devastating. 

RIP Peter, you will never be forgotten.

Further Reading & Sources:

- And Then the Darkness | Book by Sue Wiliams

- Where's Peter? | Book by Roger Maynard

- Australia Outback | Wikipedia

- Joanne Lees: Article | The Daily Telegraph

- Bradley John Murdoch: Article | SBS

- Murder of Peter Falconio | Wikipedia

- Peter Falconio | Reddit Discussion Thread

- Bradley John Murdoch: Article | BBC News

- Peter Falconio & Joanne Lees: Article | The Guardian

- Peter Falconio: Article | ABC New Australia

Thank you as always if you have made it this far in the post. We can but hope that one day Peter's family will get the answers they need. It's important to never lose hope. I hope you will join me in my next post. In the meantime, you can find me on my Socials.

Take care, stay safe.....until next time x

*Please be aware that I will be sharing some very disturbing details in this post to do with child abuse and brutal torture, murder, animal cruelty and slaughter. I have tried as always, to be as sensitive as I can be with the details without taking away from the facts of the case. If you would like to discuss this post or any of the cases I have covered on this blog, please email me at jocaledoniankitty@gmail.com*

I've received a few emails over the past couple of weeks either asking for me to cover the case of Christa Pike, or to enquire what my thoughts are on the case and do I think she deserves her death sentence? As we fast approach the 30th of September (2026) I thought I should write about the only woman on Tennessee's death row. This case has always divided opinion and if you are unaware of the horrific story, you will see why as we go further into this post. I have to warn you that this case is very brutal and disturbing but to give you a better understanding of the background, I will talk about Christa's appalling childhood and why she is now counting down the days to her execution. 

Even before Christa Gail Pike came into this world, she never stood a chance at any sort of a normal life. Whilst in the womb her mother couldn't have cared less about her wellbeing (and that was no change when she was eventually born). Her parents, Carissa and Emil had a toxic marriage and could hardly spend 5 minutes in a room with each other without arguing or physically fighting. The marriage was a joke, both constantly had extra-marital affairs and alcohol was a huge part of their daily diet. Carissa drank alcohol like it was going out of fashion, not a care in the world about the harmful effect that it could be having on her unborn baby (this selfish act resulted in Christa being born with damage to her frontal lobe). When she was born prematurely on the 10th of March, 1976 in a city in West Virginia known as Beckley, she arrived into a world of daily abuse, neglect, violence, misery, pain and suffering. I just want to be clear before going any further that my description of her childhood is not my attempt to encourage people to get the violins out, I'm just stating the truth, her childhood was utter hell.

The daily turmoil of her parent's marriage became a part of every day life for Christa and her half-sister. As well as the threat of violence and constant neglect, the house was frequently filthy, even the dog was neglected and was just left to defecate all over the house. Christa would end up covered in feces and all other kinds of dirt with nobody to properly take care of her. When her parents split up, her mother had men coming back and forth to the house, there were various attempts at relationships with violent men (her mother married about five times) who were also pedophiles. Christa often found herself the victim of these evil men, their physical violence and she endured multiple incidences where she was sexually abused. She had also witnessed cruelty towards animals at the hands of one of her mother's boyfriends. Animals would be killed and slaughtered in front of her, this was also horrendous to witness no matter the age but for a young child, it was deeply traumatic as you can imagine. 

The only bit of joy that Christa had in her life was her grandmother and after being pushed around from pillar to post she ended up staying with her and for once the young girl could breathe a sigh of relief. With her grandmother there was care, safety, her grandmother was more of a mother to her than Carissa ever was. Just when Christa thought she had escaped her horrific life with her mother, her grandmother sadly passed away and Christa was so devastated that she tried to take her own life again (she had made an attempt in the past). As well as grieving the loss of her beloved gran, she was sexually attacked again and tried to go to her mother for help and support, Carissa just pushed her away and refused to believe her, she just didn't care. Another attacked happened when she was just 17, she went to the hospital and then that was that, nobody bothered doing anything, the perpetrator was never caught. She was in a devastatingly hopeless situation, suffering from all kinds of trauma, PTSD, (Post Traumatic Stress Disorder), Bipolar Disorder and then of course the brain damage which caused her to have no impulse control and effected her development. None of these issues were addressed by mental health professionals, nothing was ever addressed, she was just left to rot and try to look after herself. 

No child wants to feel that nobody loves them and that people don't care but this really was the situation for Christa Pike. There was nobody to turn to, nobody to help. Even when she was younger she would be drawing sexually explicit drawings in school and the teachers ignored it. The teachers saw this and noticed her behaviour but chose to do nothing. The pain and anger of so many years of no love and abuse continued just to pile up inside of her and it was only a matter of time before there was an explosion. 

Christa Pike was abused in basically every way that you could possibly abuse someone, that's all she knew. Her life wasn't even a life, it was just non-stop misery. She was so desperate to escape and be loved. At the age of 17 she joined the Knoxville Job Corps Program and had her heart set on becoming a nurse. To think that after all she had been through, the fact that she still attempted to have a dream and a goal in mind demonstrates that she was a strong girl to have survived her life so far. This program was open to young people who had behavioural difficulties and were from impoverished areas. It was for young people who had a tough upbringing and needed some guidance and support to help steer them in the right direction. 

With her dream at becoming a nurse and making an attempt at turning her traumatic life around and working towards a positive future, it demonstrated that underneath all that pain and hurt, she was just a kid who wanted to do good but unfortunately the demon in her was not going to let that happen. At the program she became fixated on a 17 year old boy named Tadaryl Shipp, the pair became close and started dating. Tadaryl and Christa as a couple was a recipe for disaster because he was bad news, his background was all about violence, gangs, drugs, guns and he had previously attempted to throw someone off of a bridge. He thought he was a bit of a hardman and liked the idea of people being scared of him, he talked about wanting to kill someone and was obsessed with Satanism. Christa, almost fangirling over this hoodlum, hung on his every word. She wanted to impress him and decided that she too, was going to become involved in Satanism 

With a combination of extreme anger and trauma pent up inside of her and her obsession with Tadaryl and Satanism, it was only a matter of time before all hell broke loose. She believed that this guy was everything she had been waiting for, that finally she had somebody who was for her, she felt she belonged and that he understood her. He probably saw in her a vulnerable girl who idolized him and that gave his ego a bit of a boost but I don't think it was deeper than that for him. Christa was extremely obsessed with Tadaryl to the point of paranoia, she couldn't bear any other girl to look at him. She was terrified of anyone taking him away from her. In the program there was a pretty 19 year old girl called Colleen Slemmer, for some reason, Christa felt instantly threatened by her. It's unclear if Tadaryl had been looking at Colleen (prompting Christa's Jealously or if she was just imagining it) but Christa believed that Colleen was about to steal Tadaryl away from her. Colleen wasn't interested in any shape or form in Tadaryl but Christa couldn't let it go and there was a bit of an atmosphere caused by Christa's negativity. 

Christa's mind began to spiral and the more she thought about Colleen, the angrier she became, telling a friend that she wanted to kill Colleen. The friend just brushed it off thinking that Christa was just being bitchy. The day after this however, Christa and Tadaryl came up with a plan to take Colleen somewhere and teach her some sort of lesson. On the 12th of January 1995, Christa, Tadaryl and a friend named Shadolla Peterson (18) approached Colleen and asked if she'd like to hang out with them, Christa wanted to make amends and apologised if she seemed a bit off with her. Colleen accepted their invitation to hang out and the four of them left the Job Corps dormitory around 8pm. 

They walked to a wooded area where it was quiet and private, telling Colleen they wanted to smoke some weed. It just seemed like any other evening with a bunch of teenagers hanging out but Colleen was soon to find herself at the end of a horrific attack. Out of nowhere Christa began shouting abuse at Colleen, pushing her and punching her. Colleen was confused, shocked and tried to defend herself but Tadaryl joined in. The pair punching her, dragging her on the ground and kicking her. Shadolla stood back and watched whilst also keeping an eye out for any potential passers-by. Colleen had made various attempts to get up off of the ground but they just kept kicking and punching her. They forced her to remove her top and bra. The whole ordeal lasted about 45 minutes to an hour and the beating soon turned to stabbing and slashing. Armed with a box cutter knife, meat cleaver and rocks, they slashed Colleen's throat six times, slashed her stomach and back. Colleen was still alive whilst all of this was happening and she was begging and pleading with them to stop. 

Colleen told them she would leave the program and they would never see her again if they would just stop. Christa later said that the more Colleen spoke or screamed, the more she cut her because she wanted her to ''just shut up''. Every part of Colleen's body was slashed, there was blood everywhere and it was soon obvious that Colleen was dying, they kicked her face and smashed her skill with a large chunk of asphalt to the point that the front of her face and back of her head were indistinguishable. The monsters finally dragged the poor girl to another part of the wooded area where they carved a pentagram into her chest. Christa sickeningly picked up a piece of Colleen's skull and placed it in her pocket. All three of them walked back to the dormitory. 

Colleen was unbelievably still alive after all of this utter hell but as she lay there in her final heartbreaking moments, she choked on her own blood. Her death was later ruled to be a result of the horrifying head trauma and injuries she endured as well as choking. It was beyond belief, an innocent girl put through an evil, horrifying and brutal attack for no reason at all. Murdered in such a horrifying way, it was evil, it was demonic, it was sick. 

After the three evil demons were back at the dormitory you would think they would be sick to death with what they had just done but no, they were all enjoying themselves. Christa was bragging to her friends about what they had done, they couldn't believe it so she pointed out her shoes and said ''that ain't mud'' and produced a piece of Colleen's skull from her pocket. The friends were shocked and didn't know what to make of it all, there was a mixture of confusion and fear. The friends didn't say a word to the police.

The next day, Colleen's body was found by a Tennessee grounds department employee who must have been utterly horrified. At first glace Colleen's body was mistaken for that of an animal but on closer inspection it was clear that this was the body of a young woman. When investigators arrived at the scene, they couldn't make out any features on Colleen's face, her face and skull had been utterly destroyed, it was a horrific sight. Colleen had to be identified by her dental records.

The pathologist in charge of Colleen's autopsy had his work cut out for him because basically every inch of Colleen's body had been slashed. The list of injuries was endless, in the end he decided that he couldn't possibly list every single one and just focused on the most horrific injuries like the six deep slashes to the throat, the deep slash to the stomach and the back as well as the pentagram carving on the chest. Her death, as I mentioned earlier, was due to choking on her own blood as well as the horrific head injuries. 

Investigators wasted no time interviewing everyone on campus, when it was the turn of Christa and Tadaryl to be interviewed, the police noticed that the pair were wearing pentagram necklaces. When Christa was asked if she knew what had happened to Colleen Slemmer, she sat proudly and confidently declared that she had murdered Colleen, She told them everything including that she had ate her cereal using a part of Colleen's skull. There was not a shred of remorse, she was heartless and saw the whole horrific set of circumstances as a laugh. It was pure evil. 

At her trial, Christa was convicted of first-degree murder and sentenced to death. Her execution is set to take place on the 30th of September 2026. She is currently 50 years old. In 2001, she had shown that she hadn't changed her colours because she tried to murder a fellow inmate by attempting to strangle her with a shoestring. The victim recovered and Christa had an additional 25 years added on to her sentence. 

Tadaryl Shipp managed to escape the death penalty due to him being 17 at the time of the murder. He was sentenced to life with the possibility of parole. In October of last year (2025) he was denied parole but could be up again in a couple of years. Let's hope that he is never released. Christa has expressed her anger on a number of occasions in interviews (still showing no remorse for anything she has done) that Tadaryl and Shadolla escaped the death penalty. 

Shadolla Peterson got the easy road. During interviews with the investigators she offered to tell them everything even though they already had all of the details from Christa. She operated fully with the authorities and managed to receive no jail time whatsoever, she just got 6 years probation. There is no evidence that she physically harmed Colleen but she was part of the planning to trick Colleen into joining them and she stood there and did nothing whilst these monsters tortured and murdered this innocent girl. She could have put a stop to it, could have ran away and got help. I find it difficult to understand how she stood there and watched them repeatedly slash, kick and punch Colleen and still chose to do nothing and was able to basically get away with it. That was a miscarriage of justice. 

So as it stands at the time of me writing this post, Christa Pike is about to meet her maker, some people would call that Satan! This case is such a mind twister because there's sympathy for Christa's past but that doesn't excuse what she did to Colleen. The way she tortured Colleen over and over and over again, then walked away like it was nothing, Taking a piece of Colleen's skull, bragging about the whole sick ordeal and then having the horrendous audacity to brag about using the piece of Colleen's skull to eat cereal. Days after the murder she continue to brag about it and even in prison, she wrote a letter to Tadaryl telling him she missed him and was angry that she had to spend time in prison because of Colleen's death. She blasted Colleen and spoke about her in a disrespectful manner saying that Colleen was lucky that she killed her the way that she did. There was no remorse from her, she was just completely evil. 

Now we have campaigners who are painting her as a child of abuse who didn't know any better, emailing me and wanting petitions signed. The trouble is, that this was not just an act of someone who just lost control in a moment of madness, she planned this, kept it going and continued to brag and be proud of what she had done. How can anyone have sympathy for someone who does that? 

So many people survive horrific childhoods and don't go on to commit such horrific crimes like Christa Pike. All she is bothered about is the fact that Tadaryl might get out of prison at some point and Shadolla managed to get away with it. I suppose she has a point because I believe that all three of them should have been given the same sentence. Each of them had a part to play in this and each of them could have put a stop to it. 

Do I think Christa deserves the death penalty? You want my honest opinion and I mean this in no disrespect to Colleen or her family. I think that she should have been placed in some sort of psychiatric unit and then moved to a prison to spend life without parole. The first 18 years of her life were beyond horrific, to be constantly raped, abused, shown no love, neglected, beaten etc, that will kill someone's soul. Christa Pike was dead inside and she has brain damage which has been officially diagnosed by a Doctor. So there is other factors to consider here when making a final decision. It's been a long time that she's been on death row and she is 50 years old. I don't think she should ever be released from prison if her sentence is changed at the last minute. Right now the execution is all set to go ahead. 

I will be keeping an eye on this case and I'm sure as we get closer to the 30th of September, the campaigns will step up even more and the story will be all over the media. What are your thoughts on this case? Please leave your comments below or email me in confidence at jocaledoniankitty@gmail.com

RIP Colleen, an innocent, beautiful girl who's life was cruelly taken from her in the most horrific way. My thoughts are with her family as I know this must be incredibly difficult for them. 

There is an online memorial for Colleen, please leave some virtual flowers and nice comments for her and her family here

Further Reading & Sources:

- Christa Pike: Article | WSMV

- Christa Pike: Article | Knoxville News Sentinel

- Christa Gail Pike vs. State of Tennessee

- Christa Pike | Wikipedia

- Christa Pike | Reddit Discussion

- Colleen Slemmer Murder: Article | T Libraries

- Christa Pike: News Report Segment | WATE 6

I believe in everyone's right to their opinion so I have included the link here to the Mercy For Christa petition. It's up to my readers what their views are on this case. 

If you have made it this far in this post I appreciate it. I know that this was another difficult case to get through with a lot of horrifying details. I do hope you have come away from this post with more knowledge of what happened that horrific night back in 1995. There's a lot of people who are against the death penalty and sometimes these same people will protest about a particular criminal, but they won't tell you the full details of what that criminal did to be given the death penalty in the first place. I think it's important to give people the full facts, no holds barred when sharing these cases, it's up to people to make up their own minds based on case evidence on what punishment they feel would better fit the crime. I always find it interesting to hear other people's opinions. 

I can understand campaigning about a death penalty case where there is not enough evidence and a lot of doubts. I can understand campaigning about the death penalty if there is a lot of factors involved for example the accused's proven psychological disabilities or severe abuse and childhood trauma. This is why I think that Christa Pike should not be given the death penalty as evil as she is. I'm not a Doctor or Psychologist but I do believe her childhood destroyed any chance of her leading a normal life. I think her approach to every day situations was difficult for her and she didn't know how to behave or respond appropriately. She was impulsive, desperate to be loved and accepted by anyone but carried an enormous amount of trauma and pent up anger. She should have been in Psychiatric care as soon as her school teachers noticed the signs (ie the distant behaviour, the sexually explicit drawings). It wasn't just her parents who failed her, it was the system too. Christa was able to develop more and more into a horrific monster and an innocent young woman paid the price. 

I hope you will join me in my next post. In the meantime, I hope to see you on my socials

Take care of yourselves, stay safe...until next time x 

 (James Toliver Craig. Picture credit: CNN)

*Please be aware that I will be sharing some disturbing details in this post. I have aimed as always to be as sensitive as I can be with the details, without taking away from the details of the case. If you would like to discuss this post or any of the previous cases I have covered on this blog, please email me at jocaledoniankitty@gmail.com*

You know, I've always said that it doesn't matter how well you think you know someone, even if you've lived in the same house with them for years, decades.....you never really know someone completely. Now, imagine being married to someone for 23 years, you met in your early 20s, you had six beautiful children together, travelled together, gone through life's highs and lows, supported each other through thick and thin. After 23 years you would consider that person a soulmate wouldn't you? A huge part of you? An important piece of your family, A huge part of your life, so many memories, so many experiences together! No doubt you would trust that person, you've basically grown with that person. Well, what if this wife or husband out of the blue decided that, after decades of your constant love and support, that it was time for you to exit the stage?

We've seen this happen to both men and women. I've written about such cases before (Betty Broderick, Mitchell Quy, Blanche Taylor Moore, John List amongst many others) where so called picture perfect marriages have turned out to be anything but the sort. The face of evil pictured above is that of so-called devoted Mormon, Dentist and pillar of the community....James Toliver Craig. This manipulative, cold-hearted philanderer (based in Aurora, Colorado) was a talented Dentist but horrific businessman who liked to live beyond his means. He built up a successful practice in the beginning with a partner but it all soon fell to the wayside with his mishandling of finances. James had been married to the beautiful Angela since 1999. They first met when he was 21 and she was just 20. It was a romance that blossomed pretty quickly and before anyone knew what was happening, they were married. In their faith (Angela was also Mormon) this was not unusual, people often married young and started families quickly. Angela was the youngest of 10 children and was always the life and soul of the party. She was always family orientated and amazing with children. 

It was clear that despite James being quite an intelligent guy, for some reason he just couldn't get the hang of managing money. He had issues with his finances early on in the marriage but Angela was determined to stand by her husband, even when she suspected he was having multiple affairs, which he was. The fact that this beautiful, intelligent and devoted woman would put up with this may baffle a lot of people but to Angela, the thought of divorce was the last thing she would ever want. Her faith and belief in the family unit and forgiveness was so strong that she couldn't bring herself to walk away from him. To leave James would mean that the family would be broken up and to her it would have been embarrassing to be seen as a divorced woman. So the red flags were there for years and Angela knew about them but she chose to just confide in her sisters and her friends. She was convinced that she could change James and that the marriage was worth fighting for.

Angela was known for wearing her heart on her sleeve. The church was an important part of her life and she wasn't just a devoted mother and wife, she was a choir director, a teacher and youth leader who was well known for supporting others, being a fantastic friend and helping raise money for good causes. Angela was not a fake person, she actually was someone who had a pure heart so much so that she took every single one of her marriage vows seriously, even if it was tremendously difficult. It wasn't just herself that she was thinking about, she was thinking about her children and wanted them to continue to have a solid relationship with their father. 

It's unclear how many affairs that James had but he was like an addict who would gamble whatever money they had left causing Angela the task of trying to keep the family afloat. They ended up using the family home as a safety net just so that the practice could stay open. The financial situation was in crisis but Angela was determined not to give up and James continued to work hard. At the Dentist practice, James came across as Mr Friendly, everybody's pal! He was popular with his patients and staff and was known to hand out cookies to everyone. Angela and the children would often visit him at work and staff would later say that the family were always smiling and seemed very close. 

James and Angela both liked to appear in public as a contented family but behind the scenes all was not well. This went on for years, going through the motions and hanging on financially by a thread until 2023 rolled around and things just went from bad to worse. Something had to be done because James was facing financial ruin and at this point Angela was fed up with the lack of love and support from her husband. They agreed to separate but live in the same house because money was so tight. James slept in a spare bedroom as they tried to figure out what their next step was going to be. He attended a conference in Las Vegas and it was there that he met an orthodontist named Karin. The pair hit it off and seemed to have a lot of things in common. He told her he was separated and she said she had been going through a divorce. They exchanged phone numbers. 

You'd think that the circumstances in which James found himself in (or should I say, put himself in), marriage crumbling, financial nightmare going on etc that the idea of getting into a new relationship with someone else, would be the last thing on his mind. In my opinion he saw Karin, who was older at the age of 49, as a potential meal ticket. Karin who was another innocent party in this, had no idea that this buffoon in front of her was a lying, manipulative scumbag and future murderer. I think he saw Karin as a fresh start for him, he could work in her practice, use her to help straighten out his finances, probably marry her so that he could guarantee that his feet would be right under the table. This guy didn't do anything out of the goodness of his heart....if he even has a heart!

It's unclear how long he was actually thinking about and planning to murder Angela but just after this conference in Las Vegas things sprung straight into action. He'd become fixated on Karin and what started off as general 'how are you doing' texts soon began to heat up. Apparently they exchanged 4,000 texts in the space of 18 days. He was determined that he was going to start a new life with Karin but there were problems, finances and Angela! He hadn't a dime to his name and there was no way that Angela was going to give him a divorce. The monster decided that instead of coming to his senses, cutting the crap and pulling his socks up and focusing on becoming a decent husband for once in his life, he came up with a despicable plan. Spending hours upon hours hovering over his laptop googling poisons and life insurance details, he decided that he was going to kill his wife, inherit her life insurance and run off into the sunset with Karin in Las Vegas. 

Angela and this demon were living under the same roof whilst James was secretly planning his wife's demise. It's utterly terrifying to think that the very man who is the father of your children, who you thought you knew for so many years, could be stood there thinking about how he's going to end your life and spend your life insurance money with his new found victim. Who know's what would have become of Karin either? this guy was capable of anything. 

Like a lot of women, Angela was trying to maintain a healthy lifestyle and enjoyed a regular workout routine. Part of this routine was her protein shakes, however she began to notice that her favourite workout drinks were starting to make her feel a bit queasy, she put this down to overdoing things at first. At the age of 43 she attributed some of her dizzy feelings to possible peri-menopause and tried not to worry too much about it. It did cross her mind briefly that James had been messing about with her drinks again, apparently years before, he had tried to put something in her drink. She caught on to it straight away at the time and questioned him about it. He came up with this pathetic excuse that he was feeling suicidal and determined to take his own life so he wanted to drug her so that she wouldn't be able to stop him. Shockingly, Angela fell for this excuse and was either in denial or he'd managed to manipulate and gaslight her in such a way that he could've said that moon was made of green cheese and she would've believed him. This is no disrespect to Angela, these types of psychopaths are clever at getting inside people's heads, especially if they have known you for decades on a personal level, which is even more terrifying. He knew Angela's strengths and weaknesses so he could play with them to control her. 

After having a protein shake, Angela would become very ill with migraines, she couldn't understand as she'd had these drinks so many times before with no issues. The symptoms got worse with Angela vomiting, rushing to the bathroom and doubled up in pain. She tried to manage it herself but it was clear that this wasn't just some stomach bug or per-menopause symptoms. James, pretending to care would stand there watching his devoted wife in agony and suffering and would just let it continue. He would drive her to the hospital and callously watch as the medical staff would rush around trying different tests on Angela to find out what was wrong. He would hold her hand whilst she was terrified but too weak to cry from all the pain and suffering, he just stood there and let it all happen without a thought for anyone but himself. 

A whole saga of Angela being in and out of the hospital would play on. You may remember the Blanche Taylor Moore case which I wrote about back in September of last year (2025). Blanche's victims would be poisoned by her dinners and baked goods, end up in hospital at death's door and then make positive improvements when she was away from them. Then, the minute they were released from hospital and back home with Blanche, they would mysteriously fall dangerously ill again and back to the hospital. You may remember that Blanche started going into the hospital to 'visit' her victims and would bring in her 'homemade' cooking and cakes cause she was determined to finish these poor people off. James ended up poisoning Angela in hospital because she was such a fighter, her body was trying to fight back but in the end he just gave her more and more poison. 

As Angela lay in her hospital bed fighting for her life as Doctors were frantic that her organs were shutting down and they were running every test they could think of, whilst trying to keep her alive...James was in bed with Karin. He arranged for Karin to come to Colorado for a few days, they went out for romantic dinners, did some shopping and sightseeing, curled up on the sofa and watched movies together. I'm sure Karin looks back to these times and is thoroughly traumatized, to know that she was unknowingly part of a horrific set of circumstances that she had no idea about. James Craig's level of evil is just beyond the beyonds! How could you do that to a stranger let alone your own wife of 23 years? the mother of your children? How could he be in bed with someone else, enjoying himself, drinking glasses of wine whilst his wife was in a hospital bed losing her life? Putting his children...Angela's family and friends through hell? All of this for money? Did he ever really love her? Even if the marriage had turned sour, what about friendship? What about the fact that Angela gave him 6 beautiful children? What about all those years? What about all the good times? the memories? the endless times she stood by him? How could nothing mean a thing to him? He was an utter cold hearted psychopath and rotten to the core and I can think of even worse things to call him than that. 

Back at the Dentist practice, James's colleagues noticed a change in him, they knew that Angela was in and out of the hospital and he was under stress but something else was just not right. One of his colleague's Caitlin noticed he was acting odd, packages were being sent to him and he'd guard these with his life. He'd show up at odd hours and looked like he was up to something. He told the staff that a package was going to be arriving for him but to put it to the side and under no circumstances are they to open it. A few days later, either Caitlin forgot that she wasn't supposed to open this particular package that had arrived (or she knew fine well and purposefully opened it anyway) but she opened it and there it was, Potassium Cyanide! 

He was having the poisons delivered to the practice along with the usual supplies that were regularly ordered. Caitlin knew about Angela's health troubles and rumours has been going around about his financial problems. She began to do some digging into what Angela's symptoms were and could they in anyway be related to those of cyanide poisoning? Turned out, all of Angela's symptoms were an exact match for someone who had been poisoned with Cyanide. Caitlin informed her colleagues and the police straight away. 

Sadly Angela, who had put up such an incredible fight, had sadly passed away in hospital at the age of 43 on the 18th of March 2023. The medical staff and the police had been informed the day before that colleagues of James had found bottles of Cyanide at the practice and were suspicious that he had been poisoning his wife. An investigation was in full swing so they had James in their sights just before Angela had died but it was too late. The poison had caused so much damage to her internal organs and she had been poisoned by James numerous times, he was trying to kill her over and over and over again! An autopsy confirmed everything, she had a combination of Potassium Cyanide and Tetrahydrozoline. Tetrahydrozoline is commonly found in eye-drops but if swallowed can cause blood pressure to drop dangerously low as well as causing respiratory failure. 

When the investigation switched from suspected attempted murder to full blown first-degree murder, investigators arrested James and searched both the Dentist practice and the Craig family home. They found poison, tons of empty bottles of eye drops, evidence of receipts for poisons and evidence on and in Angela's favourite protein shaker bottle. 

Karin was investigated and completely cleared of any knowledge or wrongdoing. Nobody else was involved in this, it was all the evil doing of James Toliver Craig. James did try to contact Karin after Angela's death telling her not to believe anything she heard about him, he told her he was innocent. 

He had the nerve to plead not guilty and even behind bars the lies never stopped! He tried to paint a picture of Angela being depressed and claimed that she told him to poison her. When nobody fell for that, he tried to manipulate one of his daughters into lying for him by asking her to make an AI video of her own mother saying that she wanted to poison herself. And to add to the madness, he tried to persuade a fellow inmate to murder the lead investigator in his case to what ends that he thought this would help him, nobody knows. The man (look who I'm calling a man), the monster, didn't know when to shut up and to be honest, he was just telling on himself with all of that. He'd completely lost the plot but did he ever have it to begin with?

He stood trial in July of 2025 and was sentenced to life imprisonment without the possibility of parole. Angela's children and family later filed a lawsuit against James, his practice and Midland Scientific (the company which sold James the poison), they won their case. 

James Craig is currently serving his sentence at Bent Correctional Facility in Las Animas, Colorado. Understandably, his children have severed all ties with him.

James Craig may have had money problems but at the end of the day he had a beautiful wife and children, more than anyone could have asked for. He had a loving, family home and instead of appreciating that, he threw it all away and caused so much pain, heartbreak and misery. Where did it all get him? In a prison cell for the rest of his miserable life. He didn't deserve a lovely wife and children, he deserves nothing. He should've got the death penalty in my opinion (I know there are some readers who will disagree with me), he stood there and tortured his devoted, innocent wife of 23 years so that he could get rid of her and steal her money, that's not a human being, that's a monster, a demon. So many people have been horrendously hurt by him. Even Karin, who only knew him for a short period of time but the guy was so toxic that any contact with him, no matter how much, left a horrible scar. He was and is, no good to anybody. I'm so grateful that Angela's children have each other and a strong community of support. 

Angela left an incredible legacy behind and along with the numerous kind-hearted things she had done and the joy she brought to others, I think about how incredibly brave and strong she was fighting for her life in hospital. In all honestly it's actually incredible how much of a fight her body put up because she kept fighting back. 

So many beautiful pictures, stories, memories left behind and her 6 children are carrying on their mother's legacy. She did an incredible job raising them, her light will never fade. RIP Angela, you will never be forgotten x

Further Reading & Sources: 

- James Craig: Article | BBC News

- James Craig: Article | Sky News

- James Craig: Article | NPR

- James Craig: Article | Court TV

- James Craig: Article | NBC News

- Angela Craig: Article | CNN

- Karin Cain: Article | ABC News 

- Aurora, Colorado | Wikipedia

- Colorado Department of Corrections

- Angela Craig | Memorial 

Thank you as always if you are a regular reader of my posts, I always appreciate it. Thank you also if you are new to my work, I appreciate you being here too. I write about a lot of dark things on this blog but I want to remind you, that there is a lot of good in this world, amazing people, amazing things. We live in a beautiful world where so many wonderful things happen. For the horrific husbands like James Craig, there are millions of others husbands out there that are like the Milk Tray man (Tongue in cheek commercial superhero from back in the day who delivered a box of chocolates 'Milk Tray' to his beloved. Retro TV commerical). I thought I would try to end on a positive note! Anyway, there is good and bad and I hope after reading this that you do something relaxing that'll make you smile . 

Come and say hi on my Socials! Stay safe and I hope you will join me in my next post x