Ex-Boyfriend of Killer Converts to Islam in Prison
Tadaryl Shipp, once linked to satanism, now practices Islam while serving life for a brutal 1995 murder.
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In a shocking turn of events, Tadaryl Shipp, the teenage accomplice in the 1995 ‘Job Corps murder’ alongside Tennessee death row inmate Christa Pike, has reportedly converted to Islam while incarcerated. State records now list him under the alias Abdul Khalip. This transformation, from satanic rituals to Islamic prayers, underscores the complex evolution of a man who once played a pivotal role in one of the most brutal crimes in Tennessee’s history.
A Dark Past and a New Faith
Shipp, now 49, was 17 when he and Pike lured 19-year-old Colleen Slemmer to a secluded spot on the University of Tennessee’s agricultural campus in 1995. The jealous Pike, believing Slemmer had her eyes set on her boyfriend, orchestrated the crime. Shipp pinned Slemmer down, carving pentagrams into her chest and face, while Pike slashed the terrified teen dozens of times before smashing her skull with a piece of asphalt. She then took a piece of the girl’s skull as a souvenir and showed it off to a classmate.
Retired Knoxville Police Chief Phil Keith described the crime scene as one of the worst he had ever seen. ‘It was a grotesque crime scene,’ he told Fox News. Shipp, as a juvenile, was sentenced to life for first-degree murder plus 25 years for conspiracy. A third participant, Shadolla Peterson, pleaded guilty to being an accessory after the fact and testified against both of her friends, receiving probation.
Prison Life and Religious Conversion
In 2016, Shipp petitioned for halal meals and Islamic prayer oils behind bars, but his request was denied. Now, he is incarcerated at Tennessee’s Northwest Correctional Complex, with a new mugshot from June 2024 showing a bespectacled man with a graying beard. His next parole hearing is scheduled for October 2031, with the parole board previously rejecting his request due to the severity of the crime.
Christa Pike’s Ongoing Legal Battle
Pike, meanwhile, remains in critical condition after a failed execution attempt. Her lawyers are now demanding her sentence be commuted. Tennessee Republican Governor Bill Lee, who had rejected her clemency plea just days earlier, called the failed execution ‘deeply disturbing’ and ordered an independent review, halting the state’s remaining executions this year. Slemmer’s mother, May Martinez, traveled to Nashville to watch Pike’s execution, which was postponed due to the failed attempt.
Source: Daily Wire
