As the so-called Satanic killer Christa Pike remains in critical condition after her failed execution, new details have emerged about the religious order standing by her side.
asserted
details → call → side
In 1995, at age 18, Pike took part in the torture-killing of 19-year-old classmate Colleen Slemmer in Knoxville, who was found nude from the waist up with a Satanic pentagram carved into her flesh.
asserted
who → take → flesh
Pike had taken a piece of her skull as a souvenir.
asserted
Pike → take → souvenir
Noechel is the co-director of the Wild Heart Meditation Center in Nashville, a non-profit Buddhist organization that claims to have adopted the death row inmate into its group.
uncertain
that → claim → group
Wild Heart was originally an affiliate of a California-based Buddhist meditation organization called Against the Stream, which ended up closing all its West Coast locations amid sexual misconduct allegations against its founder in 2018.
asserted
which → base → 2018
It is unclear when Pike converted to Buddhism while in prison, however, the death row inmate recently used the religion as a defense in a lawsuit against the state, which ultimately led to Noechel being in the room with her when the lethal injections failed.
uncertain
injections → convert → her
According to multiple reports by witnesses at the botched execution, Noechel stood beside Pike's gurney, speaking to her and singing a song with her that included the words 'I love you' as authorities struggled to carry out the death sentence.
uncertain
authorities → accord → sentence
Noechel reportedly told Pike to 'relax' as the needles were inserted.
uncertain
needles → tell → Pike
Pike replied, 'I’m trying,' but the procedure was ultimately called off minutes later after she was unsuccessfully injected with at least seven needles.
asserted
she → reply → needles
Reverend Mikey Noechel (Left) has been revealed as the Buddhist spiritual advisor who was present at Christa Pike's failed execution
Wild Heart Meditation Center in Nashville, Tennessee
The Daily Mail has learned that both Noechel and Wild Heart Meditation Center have opposed Pike's execution, citing Buddhist teachings which believe killing continues a cycle of violence which could have karmic consequences.
uncertain
which → reveal → consequences
Wild Heart's supporters even held a vigil outside the prison on Wednesday and advertised a public petition which had been set up online in 2022, asking to spare Pike's life.
asserted
which → hold → life
Wild Heart is committed to holding a vigil on prison grounds that morning to support both Christa and Mikey,' the group posted on their events calendar before the execution.
asserted
group → commit → execution
The Daily Mail reached out to both Noechel and Wild Heart for comment about the events of September 30 and their support for Pike.
asserted
Mail → reach → Pike
Wild Heart was originally named Against the Stream Nashville when it was founded in 2010 by Buddhist meditation teacher Dave Smith, who local reporters at the time claimed often used foul language during his classes, referring to Smith's meetings as 'punk Buddhism.'
asserted
reporters → name → Buddhism
In 2018, Noah Levine, who founded the national Against the Stream group in California, was accused of sexual misconduct.
asserted
who → found → misconduct
Smith's Nashville branch was tied to that group only as an affiliate after Levine encouraged him to use the national name.
asserted
Levine → tie → name
The organization hired an investigator who found Levine had likely broken the teacher rule against sexual harm with more than one woman.
asserted
Levine → hire → woman
Levine denied the allegations and no criminal charges were filed, but Against the Stream would eventually shutter it locations in California.
asserted
Stream → deny → California
The Nashville chapter already left the affiliation earlier that same year, renaming themselves Wild Heart Meditation Center, but said in a public statement that they supported the findings of the Against the Stream investigation.
asserted
they → leave → investigation
Christa Gail Pike, now 50, is alive and in critical condition after surviving her botched execution
According to the New York Times, Pike said she only began to use Buddhist meditation practices in recent years as a way to 'train my chaotic mind.'
uncertain
she → survive → mind
Noechel told WPLN a week before the execution that he had been advising Pike for more than two years, teaching her the art of Metta, a Buddhist meditation in which you deliberately wish well for yourself and others, often by repeating short phrases.
asserted
you → tell → phrases
Wild Heart notes that Noechel was given the Buddhist name Rogahari Sokatura, which means 'healer of the broken-hearted.'
'He is committed to bringing the Buddha’s teachings into nontraditional settings such as addiction treatment centers, jails, and a variety of settings,' the center's website states.
asserted
website → note → settings
It is not known at this time whether Noechel or Wild Heart volunteered to advise Pike in spiritual matters, or if their guidance was requested by Pike or the state.
asserted
guidance → know → Pike
Buddhism, as Wild Heart teaches it, is a meditation and ethics practice based on the historical Buddha’s original instructions for ending suffering.
asserted
Heart → teach → suffering
The only difference Wild Heart has incorporated into their classes is the style, holding sessions in a casual setting and using plain speech instead of conducting services in a temple.
asserted
Heart → incorporate → temple
The widely practiced religion does not believe in a Satan-like figure similar to Christians.
asserted
religion → practice → Christians
However, Pike's statements over the past year call into question whether the convicted murderer is a fully practicing Buddhist.
asserted
murderer → call → question
She sang, groaned and snored as the lethal injection drugs failed to kill her at Riverbend Maximum Security Institution
In January, Pike sued to block Tennessee’s execution rules, claiming that they forced her to help plan her own death and kept her Buddhist adviser away from the execution, which her lawyer's court filing said violated her First Amendment right to practice Buddhism.
asserted
filing → sing → Buddhism
Buddhism treats intentionally helping to cause a death, including one's own, as a violation of its rule against killing.
asserted
Buddhism → treat → killing
Pike's legal representation argued that making her choose her method of execution forced her to take part in that killing.
asserted
her → argue → killing
On August 11, a court hearing settled her request for a Buddhist adviser in the death chamber.
asserted
hearing → settle → chamber
'The way it's done will have karmic outcomes.
asserted
it → do → outcomes
In this scenario, we're getting really good at killing, aren't we?
asserted
we → get → killing
And that's concerning,' Noechel said on September 22.
asserted
Noechel → say → September
'Putting Christa to death, there is a mind state of either hatred towards her or ignorance, believing this is going to stop something.'
However, just a month after a court sided with Pike's Buddhist argument that she should not be involved in planning her own execution, the 50-year-old strangely requested to be shot to death by an all-female firing squad - contradicting her religious defense.
asserted
old → put → defense
Colleen Slemmer’s mother, May Martinez, has rejected the claim that Pike has changed, telling the New York Times: 'Nobody could ever, ever convince me she’s changed.'
Pike was set to be the first woman executed in Tennessee in over 200 years, but the botched procedure has now forced Governor Bill Lee to pause executions for the rest of 2026 while a third-party review is carried out.
uncertain
review → reject → 2026
At 7.37pm local time on Wednesday, she took four deep breaths during the lethal injection process and broke into song with Noechel nearby.
asserted
she → take → Noechel
'Be kind and gentle to yourself and may you be at peace,' she said repeatedly, reciting the lyrics of the Buddhist meditation the spiritual advisor taught her.
uncertain
advisor → say → her
'I’ve had numerous friends go with this dying wish: that all beings be at ease and at peace and gentle, and leaving this world and to transition into whatever happens after this,' he explained in a recent interview.
asserted
he → have → interview
At 7.41pm, the Tennessee Department of Corrections staff gave the signal that the drug had been fully administered.
asserted
drug → give → signal
…and 8 more, not listed.
The Aporia
