As questions continue to surround what comes next for Tennessee death row inmate Christa Pike following last week’s botched execution attempt, her accomplice and former boyfriend will have to wait at least five more years for another parole hearing in the 1995 torture and murder of 19-year-old Colleen Slemmer in Knoxville.

Tadaryl Shipp, now 49, was 17 when he, Pike and a third person tortured and killed Slemmer, a classmate from their vocational school. The crime, which prosecutors described as containing “satanic elements,” continues to haunt investigators 31 years later.

Prosecutors alleged that Shipp held Slemmer down as she tried to escape and carved pentagrams into her chest and face.

“It was a grotesque crime scene,” former Knoxville Police Chief Phil Keith told News Media last week. “It was one of the worst crime scenes I’d witnessed, and I was with the police department almost 34 years.”

Because Shipp was 17 at the time of the killing, he was not eligible for the death penalty, Keith said. Shipp received a life sentence for first-degree murder and an additional 25 years for conspiracy to commit first-degree murder. He is incarcerated at Tennessee’s Northwest Correctional Complex.

Court documents state that Shipp explored satanism as a child, and investigators discovered “satanic paraphernalia” in his dorm room. He and Pike were reportedly wearing pentagram pendants when they were arrested.

Tennessee prison records show that Shipp later adopted the alias Abdul Khalip. In 2016, he was the plaintiff in an unsuccessful federal lawsuit seeking access to halal food and Islamic prayer oils while incarcerated.

Shipp became eligible for parole in October 2025, but the request was denied following his first hearing. His next parole hearing is scheduled for October 2031.

His most recent mugshot, taken in June 2024, shows Shipp wearing glasses and sporting a salt-and-pepper beard.

Pike was convicted of repeatedly slashing Slemmer and crushing her head with a piece of asphalt. Afterward, she kept a fragment of Slemmer’s skull as a trophy and showed it to another classmate before her arrest.

Pike was sentenced to death and remains hospitalized in critical condition this week, days after two doses of lethal-injection drugs failed to kill her in a baffling mishap. The failed execution occurred after she had requested an alternative method of execution.

A third suspect, Shadolla Peterson, pleaded guilty to being an accessory after the fact and testified against both Pike and Shipp.

British banker Simon Andriesz, who raised allegations about links between Jeffrey Epstein and US Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick, died by hanging in Thailand, the Daily Mail has revealed.

Andriesz, 57, was found dead on the morning of September 23 in a town near Bangkok.

The whistleblower alleged that Lutnick, a former employer and prominent ally of Donald Trump, had not fully disclosed a business relationship with the convicted sex offender and financier.

Andriesz said he had found 2018 emails indicating that Lutnick and Epstein were discussing a start-up venture in which both had an interest.

Epstein died in custody the following year. The messages were exchanged a decade after Epstein was convicted in 2008 of soliciting prostitution from a minor.

Khlong Luang Town’s municipal office recorded the death of the British national, who had worked on Wall Street and in recent years lived in Cornwall. The official cause of death was listed as ‘asphyxiation from hanging’.

In a statement issued to the Daily Mail, Andriesz’s family said: ‘Simon was a much-loved husband, father, brother, son and friend, and his loss has left an enormous hole in the lives of those who knew and loved him.

‘He was also a man with a very strong sense of right and wrong. When Simon believed something was wrong, he found it extraordinarily difficult simply to look the other way. That determination came at a considerable personal cost, but he continued to speak out because he genuinely believed that doing so mattered.

‘As a family, we are immensely grateful for the kindness and support that has been shown since Simon’s death, including from people around the world who never met him but were touched by his story.

‘Our hope now is that Simon is remembered not simply for the circumstances of his death, but for his life, his courage and the issues he spent so many years trying to bring into the light.

‘If something meaningful can come from this tragedy, particularly in the way whistleblowers and vulnerable people are treated and supported, then that would be an important part of Simon’s legacy.

‘Above all, Simon was a husband and father, and his family would ask that his son, and those closest to him are afforded compassion and privacy while they grieve.’

Andriesz’s friend John Robertson has launched a GoFundMe page to support his son’s ‘education, welfare and future opportunities’. The appeal has a £35,000 target.

His death was confirmed by Andy Agathangelou, founder of the Transparency Task Force (TTF), a campaign group that had hosted whistleblowing events with Andriesz. Agathangelou called him a ‘whistleblower who stood up for what was right’ and a ‘valued member of our community’.

Before Lutnick appeared before the House Oversight Committee in May, Andriesz presented his findings, drawn from the Epstein files, to US lawmakers on the panel.

Lutnick said he did not learn until this year that Epstein had invested in the company. The US Commerce Department said there was no evidence of wrongdoing.

In separate revelations to the BBC, Andriesz later said one of Lutnick’s companies had planned to enter into a business venture in 2013 with Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor.

Andriesz alleged that the plan was to commercially capitalise on contacts developed by the former UK trade envoy after providing a £1million loan intended to ‘basically buy a prince’.

Mr Lutnick was friends with Andrew’s ex-wife Sarah Ferguson and a guest at their daughter Princess Eugenie’s wedding in 2018, but the deal never happened.

Soon after the revelations were published, Mr Andriesz spoke at a TTF event about how his career, health and family had all suffered from his whistleblowing.

Mr Andriesz, who was recently living in Cornwall, previously worked as managing director at Wall Street firm BGC Group – known as BGC Partners until 2023 – where Mr Lutnick was chief executive.

Mr Andriesz was also named in the Epstein files, relating to interviews he gave the FBI while in dispute with BGC over his concerns about accounting irregularities.

TTF community member and financial services expert Paul Callin said Mr Andriesz ‘bravely fought alone for several years doing what he believed was right in exposing evidence of wrongdoing’.

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He added that Mr Andriesz was ‘a lone and vulnerable voice was let down by some of those who he needed to trust and who were able to make a difference’.

Mr Callin continued: ‘It is a tragedy that he felt so let down, how he sadly saw no way out recently and was lost.

‘To all Simon’s family and friends, please stay strong, the pain must be unimaginable, and you, along with Simon, are in the thoughts of so many around the world.

‘The words will never be right or adequate, but so many are there supporting you, even if not present or apparent, both now and in the weeks, months and years to come.’

Mr Andriesz spent 35 years working in the securities industry before he was sacked in 2017.

A BGC spokesman said this week: ‘BGC has long disputed Mr Andriesz’s allegations but does not intend to relitigate these matters at this sad time. 

‘BGC is sorry to hear this tragic news and expresses our condolences to Mr Andriesz’s family.’

BGC previously insisted his allegations were ‘categorically false’, and remained unsubstantiated following investigations by authorities in several jurisdictions.

Bosses insisted Mr Andriesz was sacked after he refused to follow medical advice or perform essential duties, rejected reasonable accommodation and abandoned his role.

MPs have called an investigation into the treatment of whistleblowers by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA), after Mr Andriesz raised concerns with the watchdog and the FBI about evidence of links between Mr Lutnick and Epstein.

Ashley Alder, chairman of the FCA, has been urged to quit over the case, as he came under fire at the watchdog’s annual public meeting today.

After blowing the whistle on the Epstein allegations, Mr Andriesz later said he felt ‘thoroughly let down’ by the FCA after sending the watchdog evidence of what he said was retaliation by BGC and its lawyers.

The FCA revealed today that it had appointed a non-executive director ‘to review how we interacted with Mr Andriesz to learn any lessons for the future’.

But in a statement read out at the FCA’s public meeting, Labour MP John McDonnell accused the watchdog of trying to ‘mark their own homework’.

Mr Agathangelou – who read out the letter – told Mr Alder: ‘It is clear to me and many others that you are incapable of protecting the reputational integrity of the FCA. On that basis, I call for you to resign.’

Mr McDonnell also said Mr Andriesz’s death was a ‘profound and preventable tragedy’, adding that whistleblowers were ‘an essential part of the financial regulatory system’.

And he warned of consequences for the system’s integrity if people did not believe they would be ‘treated properly, protected appropriately and listened to seriously’.

An FCA spokesman said: ‘We are very sorry to hear of Mr Andriesz’s death. Our thoughts are with his family and friends.

‘Since expressing our condolences, we’d asked Lea Paterson, who has just joined our board as a non-executive director, to review how we interacted with Mr Andriesz to learn any lessons for the future.’

Mr Lutnick has previously said he met Epstein three times, adding: ‘I unequivocally condemn the conduct attributed to Jeffrey Epstein and everyone who participated in his illegal activities. The survivors of his crimes deserve our respect and support.’

And a White House statement to the BBC said in July: ‘The BBC’s pathetic and desperate attempt to slander Secretary Lutnick will do nothing to change the fact that he has been the most consequential Commerce Secretary in modern history.’

Mr Trump also associated with Epstein and was photographed with him several times in the 1990s and early 2000s, but has always denied knowledge of his sex offending.

For confidential support, call Samaritans on 116 123, visit samaritans.org or visit www.thecalmzone.net/get-support 

WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump is expected to announce Tuesday that Anduril Industries and the federal government will invest a combined $6.6 billion to manufacture critical components for Virginia-class submarines in Baltimore, part of a broader effort to strengthen US maritime power.

The planned shipyard, called Arsenal 2, will receive $3.7 billion in private investment from California-based Anduril, along with $2.9 billion tied to a US Navy contract with the defense company.

“This delivers on President Trump’s promise to bolster America’s defense industrial base while revitalizing our manufacturing industry, creating over 13,000 direct and indirect jobs and driving $2 billion in annual economic output,” White House deputy press secretary Anna Kelly said.

Kelly said the initiative supports the president’s maritime action plan, unveiled earlier this year, which calls for rebuilding US shipbuilding capacity, expanding workforce education and training, safeguarding the maritime industrial base and removing regulations viewed as burdensome by the industry.

The facility is slated for Sparrows Point, a site that once housed a shipyard and the former Bethlehem Steel plant. It will initially manufacture torpedo tubes before expanding to ship sections, including submarine bows, sterns and other major components, according to an industry official.

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The US Navy currently operates 26 Virginia-class submarines and is expected to maintain a production pace of two boats annually.

Powered by nuclear reactors, Virginia-class attack submarines succeeded the Cold War-era Los Angeles-class fleet and are central to the Navy’s undersea warfare strategy.

“China competes with us,” a senior administration official said. “Not only at sea … going navy to navy, but also, you know, the way that China … very strongly dominates in the area of commercial shipping.”

Trump signed an executive order in April 2025 aimed at restoring US maritime dominance, with a particular focus on challenging China’s influence over global commercial shipping.

In April 2026, the Navy scrapped a Biden-era plan to modernize the USS Boise, a Los Angeles-class submarine, and redirected billions of dollars toward Virginia-class submarine construction.

During Joe Biden’s presidency, the Navy awarded a $1.2 billion contract to overhaul the Boise. The project’s projected costs, however, rose sharply in the years that followed.

Cornell University faculty are considering a no-confidence vote against the administration as student protests spread across campus over allegations of sexual assault on Tuesday.

The resolution has received backing from 40 of the Faculty Senate’s 75 voting members, according to Prof. Paul Ortiz, who sponsored the measure.

“As you may suspect, we were approached in our capacity as faculty senators by numerous Cornell colleagues demanding action,” Ortiz wrote. “Many of these faculty—including myself—were approached by students at Cornell who are upset, fearful for their personal safety, and wanting our university to address the perennial problem of sexual assault on the campus.”

Cornell President Michael Kotlikoff also faced pointed questions from students during a campus assembly Monday, as demonstrations disrupted the university.

“We’re not hiding anything at Cornell,” Kotlikoff told students, according to the Cornell Daily Sun. “You will hear proposals from us going forward around what we’re going to do to try and improve this culture and address this problem.”

Kotlikoff has continued to reject calls from students that he resign.

A lawsuit accuses seven former Chi Phi fraternity members of drugging and raping a Cornell student during an October 2024 night at the fraternity house involving alcohol, drugs and group sex.

The woman, identified as Jane Doe in court documents, alleges that the men assaulted her after she arrived intoxicated and was pressured to take ketamine and other drugs. The defendants deny wrongdoing. Some say the sexual activity was consensual, while others deny taking part. None of the seven men has been criminally charged.

The allegations have triggered a political and legal crisis. New York Attorney General Letitia James said Friday that her office was pursuing an “active criminal investigation” after Gov. Kathy Hochul designated the Attorney General’s Office as special prosecutor. Cornell has also agreed to hire outside counsel for an independent examination of how the university handled the allegations.

The dispute centers on conflicting descriptions of the night in question, including differences between Doe’s account in the weeks afterward, information prosecutors say they received from Cornell police and the detailed allegations in a lawsuit filed nearly two years later.

Tompkins County District Attorney Matthew Van Houten, who initially declined to bring charges, said Doe’s sworn statement from November 2024 did not claim that she had been drugged against her will or gang-raped. Instead, he said, the statement characterized her drug use and sexual activity as “voluntary, conscious, and consensual.”