A former Tennessee police chief who investigated the murder that sent Christa Pike to death row recalled the convicted killer being "ruthless" and "almost giddy" while describing the crime to investigators, as Gov. Bill Lee signaled her death sentence is unlikely to change after she survived a failed execution.

Pike, 50, survived Tennessee's attempt to execute her by lethal injection on Sept. 30 and has since returned to prison, raising questions about whether the state could attempt to put her to death again.

Lee addressed Pike's fate Wednesday, saying she remains incarcerated under Tennessee law.

CHRISTA PIKE IS BACK BEHIND BARS AFTER BOTCHED EXECUTION, BUT HER ULTIMATE SENTENCE FACES A NEW TEST

"I suspect her sentence will be the same as it was before unless determined otherwise by the courts," Lee said.

The governor's comments come as Pike's attorneys have called on Lee to commute her death sentence to life without parole following the failed execution.

CHRISTA PIKE’S BOTCHED LETHAL INJECTION TAKES FOCUS OFF VICTIM, JEOPARDIZES EXECUTION: FORMER POLICE CHIEF

Pike was sentenced to death for the 1995 murder of 19-year-old Colleen Slemmer, a fellow participant in a federal Job Corps program in Knoxville.

Former Knoxville Police Chief Phil Keith, who was involved in the investigation, recently recalled Pike's demeanor while she was being questioned about the killing in the New York Post documentary "No Mercy: Christa Pike Unraveled."

FORMER KNOXVILLE POLICE CHIEF SAYS INVESTIGATORS ARE STILL HAUNTED BY COLLEEN SLEMMER'S MURDER 31 YEARS LATER

"I heard somebody that was ruthless, without any remorse, almost giddy," Keith said. "You know, she was describing what took place, like, almost the sense that she was bragging about it."

Keith confirmed the comments to Fox News Digital, calling them "spot on." He described Pike in two words: "Pure evil."

Keith also recalled Pike openly talking about the killing after returning to the Job Corps.

LETHAL INJECTION SURVIVOR CHRISTA PIKE'S FORMER SATANIST BOYFRIEND COULD BE RELEASED IN 5 YEARS

"Pike, when she got back, you know, immediately had to express her joy with killing Colleen," Keith said in the documentary. "And then the very next day in class, she bragged again, talking about how she killed Colleen. She showed her shoes that had blood on them."

Pike was 18 when she, her 17-year-old boyfriend, Tadaryl Shipp, and 19-year-old Shadolla Peterson were charged in Slemmer's killing. All four were participating in the Job Corps at the time, court records show.

CHRISTA PIKE'S ATTORNEYS SAY SHE'S IN CRITICAL CONDITION AFTER BOTCHED LETHAL INJECTIONS

The three took Slemmer to a secluded area on the University of Tennessee's Knoxville campus, where her throat was cut multiple times, she was struck in the head with a large piece of asphalt and a pentagram was carved into her chest.

Pike later confessed to her role in the killing, according to court records.

CHRISTA PIKE DISCHARGED FROM HOSPITAL, RETURNED TO PRISON AFTER BOTCHED EXECUTION, ATTORNEYS SAY

Keith said the brutality of the crime scene shocked even veteran homicide investigators.

"I was accustomed to seeing that kind of gore, if you will. But the brutality was different," Keith said in the Post documentary.

CHRISTA PIKE NOW CONSCIOUS AND TALKING AFTER SURVIVING 2 DOSES OF LETHAL INJECTION DRUG

"You know, the visual scene of it, it was so shocking," he added.

Pike was convicted and sentenced to death in 1996, and the Tennessee Supreme Court later affirmed her convictions and sentence.

CHRISTA PIKE'S ATTORNEY SAYS SHE'S 'UP AND WALKING' MORE THAN A WEEK AFTER BOTCHED EXECUTION

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More than three decades later, Tennessee attempted to carry out that sentence on Sept. 30 after the U.S. Supreme Court vacated a last-minute stay issued by the 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals.

The execution attempt failed after Pike received two doses of pentobarbital, and she was taken to a hospital.

She remained unconscious for days, and her attorneys at one point believed she was brain-dead and expected her to be taken off life support. Pike later regained consciousness and was discharged from the hospital before being returned to prison.

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Her attorneys have since said she is able to walk and speak in full sentences.

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Following the execution attempt, Lee halted Tennessee's remaining executions for the year and ordered an independent review of what went wrong.

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Pike's attorneys have argued she should not be subjected to another execution attempt.

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The push for commutation predates the failed execution.

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In a 2021 filing with the Tennessee Supreme Court, Pike's attorneys sought a certificate of commutation, pointing to her age at the time of Slemmer's murder as well as her history of childhood trauma, mental illness and brain damage.

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Fox News Digital reached out to Pike's attorneys and Lee's office for additional comment.

Fox News Digital's Michael Ruiz contributed to this report.

FIRST ON FOX: The convicted murderer who escaped from a Tennessee prison had at least a five-hour head start before local police were notified he was missing, the local police chief told Fox News Digital.

Jacob Allen Morley broke out of the Northwest Correctional Complex in Tiptonville, Tennessee, Sunday, although authorities have not disclosed the exact time of his escape.

Staff at the prison noticed Morley was unaccounted for at around 11:30 p.m., and a review of surveillance footage subsequently revealed him crossing through the prison's perimeter fence. According to Tennessee Highway Patrol dispatch audio, Morley was last seen at the prison around 4 p.m. Sunday.

Surveillance footage recorded Morley taking a pickup truck from the 400 block of Keystone Drive, a location roughly 2 miles south of the prison, at around 1 a.m. Monday, the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation said. The truck was found abandoned by law enforcement officials early Tuesday morning in Marion, Illinois, but Morley wasn't located.

TENNESSEE INMATE CONVICTED OF MURDER ESCAPES FROM PRISON, STEALS PICKUP TRUCK, MANHUNT UNDERWAY: OFFICIALS

In a statement to Fox News Digital, Tiptonville Police Department Chief Joe England said his department wasn't notified about a potentially missing inmate until 4:40 a.m. on Monday, over 5 hours after prison staff first realized Morley was unaccounted for.

Officers responded to the prison and worked with staff to assess the situation. At 5:14 a.m., England said, officers alerted the rest of the department that the inmate's escape had been confirmed.

At 6:20 a.m., prison officials formally notified Lake County Central Dispatch, which handles 911 calls and coordinates law enforcement services, that an inmate escape had been confirmed.

The notification set off a broader search for Morley in the area surrounding the prison.

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"The Tiptonville Police Department immediately coordinated with the Tennessee Department of Correction and the Lake County Sheriff's Office to conduct a search of the surrounding area," England said. "The Tennessee Highway Patrol, Tennessee Bureau of Investigation and numerous other state, local and federal law enforcement agencies also participated in the search efforts."

While Morley stole the pickup truck at around 1 a.m. Monday, England said his department wasn't made aware of a potentially missing truck until 2:15 p.m. Monday, which was confirmed missing at 2:30 p.m. He noted that the pickup truck wasn't stolen within city limits.

Timeline of Events:

Sunday, Oct. 25

• 4 p.m.: Morley's last known location is the prison, according to Tennessee Highway Patrol dispatch audio obtained by Fox News Digital.
• 11:30 p.m.: Staff at Northwest Correctional Complex confirm Morley is unaccounted for, per TDOC.

Monday, Oct. 26

• 1 a.m.: The truck is stolen on Keystone Drive in unincorporated Lake County.
• 4:40 a.m.: Lake County Central Dispatch gets the first report of a possibly missing inmate and notifies officers. This is Tiptonville PD's first notice.
• 5:14 a.m.: Tiptonville officers at the prison tell the rest of the department an escape has been confirmed.
• 6:20 a.m.: Prison officials formally notify Lake County Central Dispatch that an inmate escape has been confirmed. Tiptonville PD coordinates a search with TDOC and the Lake County Sheriff's Office. THP, TBI and other state, local and federal agencies join.
• 2:15 p.m.: Tiptonville PD first learns of a possibly missing truck.
• 2:30 p.m.: The truck theft is confirmed.

Tuesday, Oct. 27

• 10 a.m.: Marion, Illinois, police are notified the truck was found abandoned.

In a statement to Fox News Digital, a Tennessee Bureau of Investigation spokesperson said the agency was notified of the prison escape on Monday morning but didn't elaborate on an exact time.

The Lake County Sheriff's Office didn't respond to Fox News Digital when asked when the agency was first alerted of the prison escape. The Tennessee Department of Correction didn't respond to multiple requests for comment to Fox News Digital.

Former federal prison Warden Cameron Lindsay told Fox News Digital the delay in notifying police of an inmate escaping prison is "100% unacceptable."

"Part of any correctional facility's basic tenets of operations should include emergency plans. And one of those plans that you have for an emergency is an escape. And part of your escape plans entails notifying law enforcement, local law enforcement, state law enforcement, U.S. Marshals Service and everybody in the community. You need to get that word out immediately. So, for them to have that kind of delay raises a huge red flag," Lindsay said.

"And it begs the question, why, why did they delay? Because it is 100% unacceptable in the profession of corrections."

Lindsay said local law enforcement should have immediately been contacted once prison staff realized the inmate was unaccounted for.

Retired FBI Special Agent Jonathan Gilliam told Fox News Digital the community should have been notified much sooner.

"That community should put out an emergency text to everyone to make sure none of their family members are missing as he could have killed or kidnapped someone after ditching the truck," Gilliam said.

TBI said Wednesday afternoon that the reward in the search for Morley is now $15,000 — $7,500 from the governor’s office, $5,000 from the U.S. Marshals and $2,500 from TBI.

Morley is described as 5 feet, 11 inches tall, and 240 pounds, with brown hair and green eyes. The Tennessee Bureau of Investigation said he should be "considered dangerous," adding Morley is now on the state's most wanted list.

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In addition to the first-degree murder conviction, he was also found guilty of burglary, vandalism, tampering with evidence and evading arrest.

Morley was serving a life sentence for the 2022 murder of Cody Birchfield.

Birchfield disappeared in early February 2022 after he was last seen in Elizabethton, Tennessee. According to WJHL, investigators from the Carter County Sheriff's Office saw indications that a "violent crime" had occurred inside his house.

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WATCH: Escaped Tennessee inmate seen on video stealing truck, officials say

On March 2, 2022, Morley was arrested after a police chase that went to the North Carolina state line. After the arrest, Birchfield's body was found underneath Morley's home.

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Morley's former girlfriend, Landree Sheperd, testified at Morley's trial and claimed that the defendant said at one point that "he f------ killed him."

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The prison escape comes at a tumultuous time for the Tennessee Department of Correction, less than a month after the botched execution of death row inmate Christa Pike.

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Pike survived the Sept. 30 execution attempt after the state administered two doses of pentobarbital, and she was transported to a hospital. Gov. Bill Lee then suspended Tennessee's remaining scheduled execution for the year and directed an independent review to examine what had gone wrong.

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Former Knoxville Police Chief Phil Keith, who handled the case, previously told Fox News Digital that Pike showed "no remorse" in the interrogation room after an attack that a psychiatrist later said involved "satanic elements" at trial.

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"She represents pure evil," he said of Pike.

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People with information about Morley's whereabouts are encouraged to call 844-832-3463.

Fox News Digital's Ashley Papa contributed to this report.

Justin Pearson is playing a game in which the cards were marked in favor of his opponent after play had already begun. Pearson is the Democratic candidate for Congress in Tennessee’s ninth district (TN-9), one of three in the U.S. South that Republicans rushed to redraw in the wake of a Supreme Court ruling in April that curtailed the Voting Rights Act of 1965. The decision dealt a fatal blow to one of the major gains of the civil rights era. It banned consideration of race when drawing electoral districts, but the court’s conservative majority approved doing so for political reasons.

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The U.S. midterm elections come after aggressive efforts by both Democrats and Republicans to redraw district maps in their favor, a practice known as gerrymandering.

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The ad opens with James Talarico, the Democratic candidate for the U.S. Senate from Texas, seated at a desk, apparently rewriting the Book of Genesis from the Old Testament. “In the beginning,” Talarico says, hunched over as he writes, “God was nonbinary. And was not Christian. And God said: ‘Let there be six genders’; and there were.”

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VTM

A segunda tentativa falhada para executar esta mulher do Estado americano do Tennessee deu novo fôlego ao debate sobre a pena de morte. Este caso começa por colocar muitas dúvidas até sobre a metodologia usada, que alguns asseguram que é eficaz e indolor, mas na verdade não resultou assim. Não foi eficaz e poderá ter causado sofrimento extremo à vítima. E depois de uma primeira tentativa falhada, voltou-se a sujeitar a condenada ao mesmo suplício com o mesmo resultado. É altamente questionável tudo o que se passou.

Os bispos católicos do Estado do Tennessee, juntamente com os bispos da Comunhão Anglicana, apressaram-se a pedir uma comutação da pena e que não se procedesse a uma nova tentativa de execução, não desvalorizando a gravidade do crime que foi cometido e o sofrimento da família da vítima, que ela foi acusada de matar. Os bispos sublinham, sobretudo, que a necessária atribuição de responsabilidade por um crime muito grave não deveria exigir outra morte. Na base deste entendimento está a dignidade que pertence a cada pessoa, criada à imagem de Deus. A vida humana é sagrada. Nem mesmo os crimes mais graves podem anular essa dignidade ou excluir definitivamente a possibilidade de arrependimento e redenção. A justiça não é vingança. Como é que se compreende que uma sociedade condene alguém por ter tirado a vida a uma pessoa e depois essa mesma sociedade pratica o que condena?

Para a Igreja Católica a pena de morte é inadmissível e defende a sua abolição em todo o mundo, porque é um ataque à dignidade da pessoa humana e não é protetora da sociedade. A dignidade da pessoa não se perde após a prática de crimes muito graves. Além do mais, os Estados atuais já têm formas de detenção eficazes, sem necessidade de tirar a vida e que não anulam a possibilidade de redenção aos culpados. O Estado deve defender a vida sempre e em todos os casos. Os países que a defendem e praticam alegam que a pena de morte é dissuasora, mas, na verdade, não há provas claras de que assim seja e apesar de praticarem a pena de morte, continuam a registar altos índices de criminalidade.

O Papa Francisco apelou a “todos os cristãos e homens de boa vontade” que lutem, “não só pela abolição da pena de morte, legal ou ilegal, em todas as suas formas, mas também para melhorar as condições carcerárias, no respeito pela dignidade humana das pessoas privadas da liberdade”.

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