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Athena Strand - Captured Before Christmas · Wicked and Grim: A True Crime Podcast

0:07
Speaker 1: The murder of seven year old Athena Strand has recently
0:10
Speaker 1: gone viral following the recent twenty twenty six trial of
0:14
Speaker 1: former FedEx driver Tanner Horn. It all started as an
0:19
Speaker 1: ordinary evening in a quiet rural town in Texas, when
0:22
Speaker 1: suddenly it turned into a massive missing child investigation after
0:27
Speaker 1: Athena vanished from outside her home just weeks before Christmas.
0:33
Speaker 1: But as investigators began tracing delivery roots, reviewing hidden truck footage,
0:38
Speaker 1: and unraveling conflicting stories, the case quickly transformed into something
0:43
Speaker 1: far darker than anyone initially realized, and what they eventually
0:47
Speaker 1: uncovered would shock people across the country and globe, as
0:52
Speaker 1: the story of a monster who stole a child would
0:55
Speaker 1: leave an entire community forever changed. And I should warn
0:59
Speaker 1: you this story deals in child abuse in violent and
1:03
Speaker 1: sexual nature. This is the story of Athenis Strand.
1:08
Speaker 2: My name's Ben, I'm Nicole, and you're listening to Wicked
1:12
Speaker 2: and Grim, a true crime podcasting. The following.
1:19
Speaker 1: Material more mature audience listeners. Everything outside is just amazing
1:45
Speaker 1: right now. The leaves are blooming, flowers around, Pollen is
1:48
Speaker 1: in the air, isn't it, Nicole?
1:51
Speaker 2: Yeah, I might sound a little bit sick, but I
1:54
Speaker 2: think it's just I don't know. The last two days
1:56
Speaker 2: I've had really bad allergies and it's weird because I
1:59
Speaker 2: haven't been affected by allergies for a few years, and
2:02
Speaker 2: all of a sudden it's just like full throat all
2:05
Speaker 2: this year.
2:05
Speaker 1: Well, you've done the honey trick before, you maybe should
2:08
Speaker 1: be doing that like this year have been? You have
2:10
Speaker 1: been doing it this year? Yeah, okay, okay, we'll never
2:13
Speaker 1: mind if you guys don't know the honey trick. It's
2:15
Speaker 1: supposed to be really good for allergies. You get honey
2:17
Speaker 1: from your local area, which is made by bees from
2:20
Speaker 1: the local pollen and flowers, and it's very much so
2:23
Speaker 1: just like the same effect of when you get like
2:26
Speaker 1: a vaccine or a booster shot, except it's a natural
2:29
Speaker 1: version of it where you get the bit of the
2:30
Speaker 1: pollen and it helps your immunity.
2:33
Speaker 2: Well, actually the honey I have is older. No, oh, okay,
2:38
Speaker 2: is it older? I don't know. I need to maybe
2:41
Speaker 2: look at this because yeah, I've been struggling a little bit.
2:43
Speaker 1: Okay, let's go to the farmer's markets. We're going to
2:45
Speaker 1: our farmer's market tomorrow. That's what we're gonna do, and
2:47
Speaker 1: we're gonna get you some honey from this year.
2:50
Speaker 2: Yeah. Okay, yeah, but I think too. It was just
2:52
Speaker 2: that our spring hit hard this year, like it was
2:56
Speaker 2: just like boom, that's true, boom, it's spring.
2:59
Speaker 1: Yeah, because like what a week ago we still had
3:02
Speaker 1: like some snow piles and stuff, and now it's just
3:04
Speaker 1: all of a sudden, it's been blue Blazer's sun golfing,
3:08
Speaker 1: green grass outside.
3:09
Speaker 2: Amazing. Yeah. So anyway, sorry for my voice. I've done
3:14
Speaker 2: some things this morning to help it, but it's not
3:17
Speaker 2: really helping.
3:18
Speaker 1: You should have some tea as well, tea with honey
3:20
Speaker 1: in it. Out out all right, We're gonna go to
3:23
Speaker 1: the farmer's market, get some honey. We're going to go
3:25
Speaker 1: to a grocery store, gets you your favorite tea. We
3:28
Speaker 1: got to take care of you here, I know, no.
3:30
Speaker 2: Shit, no shit. Yeah. But anyway, this case today, I've
3:34
Speaker 2: been asking you to do it because it has just
3:37
Speaker 2: been taken over my Facebook feed.
3:41
Speaker 1: It's one of those ones that's gone extremely viral recently,
3:45
Speaker 1: and it is a very new case. I mention it
3:48
Speaker 1: actually in the context of this story later on in
3:51
Speaker 1: the script, but I'll say it now as well. The
3:53
Speaker 1: resolution came three days ago. Three days ago we had
3:58
Speaker 1: the sentencing phase and the hammer rained down. So it's
4:03
Speaker 1: been yeah, it's been everywhere. Yeah, and it's such a
4:06
Speaker 1: sad story. And if you are one of the people
4:08
Speaker 1: who skip the intros, I suggest you go back and
4:11
Speaker 1: listen to the intro because there is a bit of
4:13
Speaker 1: a trigger warning regarding children this story.
4:18
Speaker 2: I've really wanted to hear more about this story. So
4:21
Speaker 2: I'm glad that you're doing it. And yeah, as I
4:25
Speaker 2: was asking you to do it for quite some time,
4:27
Speaker 2: but as soon as there was like that resolution, I'm like, okay,
4:31
Speaker 2: like you you've got to be on it.
4:33
Speaker 1: Yeah, yeah, No, you were sending me some stuff as
4:35
Speaker 1: like the trial was going for sure. And then as
4:36
Speaker 1: soon as it was like well, as soon as I
4:39
Speaker 1: knew I was going to be doing the case this
4:40
Speaker 1: Friday and I didn't have one picked out and I
4:43
Speaker 1: knew it was resolved, I'm like, well, I'm doing the case.
4:47
Speaker 1: And there's a lot of info out there on this
4:48
Speaker 1: case because it's so public, there's a lot of articles,
4:51
Speaker 1: there's a lot, but not many content creators have covered
4:54
Speaker 1: it yet. Not many YouTubers or podcasts, So we are
4:58
Speaker 1: one of the first to bring the story in the
4:59
Speaker 1: forefront as far as this medium. But there is a
5:02
Speaker 1: lot out there delivering all the information. So I had
5:05
Speaker 1: a lot to sift through. I bet Yeah, what are
5:08
Speaker 1: you ready for it?
5:09
Speaker 2: Yeah? I think we should dive in.
5:11
Speaker 1: Okay, Well, this story starts off and takes place in Paradise,
5:17
Speaker 1: literally Paradise, Texas. It's the kind of place where people
5:21
Speaker 1: they have space between their homes and the rest of
5:23
Speaker 1: the world. There's long stretches of rural roads that cut
5:26
Speaker 1: through fields and trees, and properties sit far apart from
5:30
Speaker 1: one another behind wire fences, gravel driveways, open lands, and
5:34
Speaker 1: even farms. It's quiet. The town itself only had a
5:38
Speaker 1: few thousand residents, and much of Wise County carried the
5:42
Speaker 1: same slow pace and small town familiarity that many rural
5:46
Speaker 1: Texas communities were known for. And in many ways, it
5:50
Speaker 1: is exactly as as it's called. It's Paradise.
5:54
Speaker 2: Seriously, like the town name is called Paradise.
5:58
Speaker 1: It's called Paradise.
5:59
Speaker 2: Okay, you've already just got me the first freaking sentence.
6:02
Speaker 1: Here, people recognize one in each other. Here, going to
6:06
Speaker 1: gas stations or school events or local stores. Kids ride
6:10
Speaker 1: bikes outside, Families let their children play in yards without
6:13
Speaker 1: even thinking twice. It's just life, and Athena lived here.
6:18
Speaker 1: She was born on May twenty third, twenty fifteen, so
6:22
Speaker 1: by late twenty twenty two she wasn't far off from
6:24
Speaker 1: turning eight years old. She lived with her father, Jacob Strand,
6:27
Speaker 1: and her stepmother Ashley, on a rural property outside of Paradise.
6:32
Speaker 1: The home sat on several acres of land, with outbuildings nearby,
6:35
Speaker 1: including a converted shed which was storage, but it had
6:39
Speaker 1: been turned into a bedroom area. It was the kind
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Speaker 1: of property where children can go out and roam and explore.
6:46
Speaker 1: People who knew Athena described her as loud, but in
6:50
Speaker 1: the best way possible. She was energetic, outspoken, funny, and
6:54
Speaker 1: deeply emotional. She also loved the color pink. She loved barbies,
6:58
Speaker 1: but she also loved art and drawing. She was very
7:02
Speaker 1: creative and very caring, but also wild and full of energy.
7:05
Speaker 1: She was also described as the kind of child who
7:08
Speaker 1: was always seeming to have a smile on her face.
7:11
Speaker 1: Athena also had a habit of speaking her mind too.
7:14
Speaker 1: If she was excited, people knew about it. And if
7:17
Speaker 1: she was upset, well, people also knew about it. To
7:20
Speaker 1: say the least, there was nothing quiet or reserved about
7:23
Speaker 1: her personality. Family members even described her as the type
7:27
Speaker 1: of child who filled every room the moment she walked
7:29
Speaker 1: into it. At school, she was known for being social
7:32
Speaker 1: and affectionate towards other students. Her teacher, Lindsey Thompson, said
7:37
Speaker 1: that Athena had a huge personality. It was the kind
7:39
Speaker 1: of student who constantly stood out in class. She also
7:43
Speaker 1: said that Athena often tried to include other classmates who
7:46
Speaker 1: were sitting alone or who were upset. She could be
7:49
Speaker 1: emotional and dramatic one moment, then completely carefree the next,
7:54
Speaker 1: but to the adults around her, she still felt very
7:57
Speaker 1: much so like a little kid. I mean, that's what
7:59
Speaker 1: she was. She was seven years old. She was someone
8:02
Speaker 1: who was playful, trusting, and curious about the world around
8:06
Speaker 1: her now. Athena's teacher also described another moment that soon
8:10
Speaker 1: came to haunt her. Actually, you see, during one school conversation,
8:15
Speaker 1: Miss Thompson had apparently asked the students a simple question
8:18
Speaker 1: about the future. She asked them if they had a tomorrow,
8:22
Speaker 1: trying to give them a sense of time and space
8:24
Speaker 1: and thinking ahead, looking forward to the future, and Athena
8:29
Speaker 1: enthusiastically answered yes, as if she couldn't wait for it
8:32
Speaker 1: to come. But unfortunately, as we all know, tomorrow sometimes
8:37
Speaker 1: doesn't come for us all. By the fall of twenty
8:40
Speaker 1: twenty two, Athena was living in ordinary childhood life in
8:44
Speaker 1: rural Texas. Christmas was approaching, school was still in session,
8:48
Speaker 1: and the weather had started cooling down. Wednesday, November thirtieth,
8:53
Speaker 1: twenty twenty two, was just another day for the Strand family.
8:57
Speaker 1: Athena had spent part of her day at school before
8:59
Speaker 1: returning home to the family's property outside of Paradise. The
9:02
Speaker 1: area around the house was rural spread out. As I mentioned,
9:06
Speaker 1: her father, Jacob was preparing to leave for a hunting
9:09
Speaker 1: and camping trip later that evening. Back at the house,
9:12
Speaker 1: Ashley was preparing dinner. Her stepmother. Athena had reportedly been
9:17
Speaker 1: helping sort laundry near that converted shed bedroom area around
9:21
Speaker 1: the same time. Tanner was working as a delivery driver
9:24
Speaker 1: on his route. Tanner was thirty one years old at
9:27
Speaker 1: the time, working as a contracted FedEx driver through a
9:31
Speaker 1: company called Big Top Spin. Now, unlike direct FedEx employees.
9:36
Speaker 1: Contracted drivers often worked long rural delivery routes with less
9:41
Speaker 1: direct oversight. Tanner's route that day took him through Wise
9:45
Speaker 1: County and the surrounding rural communities like Paradise. On his deliveries.
9:51
Speaker 1: He was described that day as being very polite, joking
9:54
Speaker 1: about Christmas deliveries and all the packages that were coming through,
9:57
Speaker 1: and even behaving completely normal. That normal appearance would later
10:02
Speaker 1: become one of the most disturbing aspects of this case.
10:05
Speaker 1: Investigators would eventually discover that while families were decorating for
10:09
Speaker 1: Christmas and children were playing outside, Tanner was moving through
10:13
Speaker 1: rural neighborhoods on that FedEx truck carrying hundreds of packages,
10:17
Speaker 1: and prosecutors would argue he was already planning violence at
10:21
Speaker 1: that moment. Now, at some point that afternoon, Tanner arrived
10:25
Speaker 1: at the Strand property to deliver a package that contained
10:28
Speaker 1: Barbie dolls from the You Can Be Anything Barbie line,
10:32
Speaker 1: and it was meant to be a Christmas gift for Athena.
10:35
Speaker 2: Of course it was. Yeah, okay. I also just have
10:38
Speaker 2: to say, Athena just seems ridiculously lovely.
10:42
Speaker 1: She does like a literal gem.
10:44
Speaker 2: Hey, yeah, like just a little I don't know, beautiful soul.
10:48
Speaker 2: Mm hmm.
10:50
Speaker 1: So sometime after that delivery, Athena was outside near the
10:54
Speaker 1: shed helping sort that laundry, and according to later evidence
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Speaker 1: presented in court, this is likely Tanner encountered her again,
11:02
Speaker 1: and then moments later, Athena was suddenly gone. At first,
11:07
Speaker 1: it was assumed Athena had wandered around the property or
11:10
Speaker 1: hid and you know, doing what she usually does right,
11:12
Speaker 1: not coming out right away, what any child would want
11:15
Speaker 1: to do something like that. So when her stepmom, Ashley
11:18
Speaker 1: began to worry about this, she didn't have panic setting
11:21
Speaker 1: in right away, at least not yet, because she's probably somewhere.
11:26
Speaker 1: The property had plenty of places for a child to
11:28
Speaker 1: disappear too briefly, so family members checked the usual spots first.
11:32
Speaker 1: They searched around the house, around the converted shed, and
11:35
Speaker 1: around nearby vehicles and outbuildings. At one point they even
11:39
Speaker 1: checked a pear tree that Athena liked to climb. Ashley
11:42
Speaker 1: called out for her repeatedly, over and over, expecting to
11:45
Speaker 1: hear an answer back at any moment, and then the
11:47
Speaker 1: warry would just melt away, but there was nothing. As
11:53
Speaker 1: the minutes passed by, and darkness slowly came blanketing over
11:57
Speaker 1: the Texas countryside. The warry got hit and heavier, and then,
12:01
Speaker 1: approximately by six forty one PM, a nine to one
12:05
Speaker 1: one call was officially made to report Athena missing. The
12:09
Speaker 1: urgency escalated almost immediately. Wise County deputies began responding to
12:15
Speaker 1: the property, while family members and neighbors continued searching the
12:18
Speaker 1: surrounding area themselves. Deputies began gathering information at the property,
12:23
Speaker 1: with family members desperately trying to retrace Athena's last known movements,
12:27
Speaker 1: and Ashley explained that Athena had been sorting laundry near
12:30
Speaker 1: that shed area shortly before she disappeared. She told them
12:34
Speaker 1: there was only a very small window of time between
12:37
Speaker 1: when she was last seen and when she was just
12:39
Speaker 1: suddenly gone. As the evening continued, more emergency vehicles arrived,
12:45
Speaker 1: and the flashing lights soon filled the property while officers
12:48
Speaker 1: spread out across nearby roads and fields in their search,
12:52
Speaker 1: Search teams began organizing, neighbors started joining the effort, and
12:56
Speaker 1: family members made calls to anyone who might have seen Athena.
13:00
Speaker 1: Helicopters arrived soon too, their lights swept across the property
13:04
Speaker 1: in surrounding countryside, as darkness had officially settled over Paradise,
13:08
Speaker 1: both literally and metaphorically. For the Strand family, the realization
13:13
Speaker 1: hit hard in that very moment. Law enforcement was no
13:16
Speaker 1: longer treating this as a child who might have simply
13:19
Speaker 1: been someone hiding nearby in the bushes or maybe stuck
13:22
Speaker 1: in a little bit of a mud hole in a
13:24
Speaker 1: ditch somewhere. They were treating this like a possible abduction,
13:28
Speaker 1: and in what seemed like the blink of an eye,
13:31
Speaker 1: the search for Athena grew into one of the largest
13:33
Speaker 1: missing child operations the area had seen in years. Investigators
13:38
Speaker 1: knew almost immediately that the timeline did not make sense.
13:41
Speaker 1: Athena had vanished within an extremely small window, with no
13:45
Speaker 1: suggestions or sightings or screams or anything being around, no struggle,
13:49
Speaker 1: no nothing. Throughout the night, the Strand family waited with
13:53
Speaker 1: bated breath while authority searched the surrounding countryside. Athena's father, Jacob,
13:59
Speaker 1: later described the emotional collapse that followed. See he had
14:03
Speaker 1: actually already left earlier that day for his hunting and
14:06
Speaker 1: camping trip, but before receiving the terrifying news that Athena
14:11
Speaker 1: was missing, so he rushed back towards Paradise as the
14:15
Speaker 1: search operations intensified around the property. At the same time,
14:19
Speaker 1: investigators began trying to reconstruct Athena's final known movements minute
14:24
Speaker 1: by minute, and one of the earliest breakthroughs came from
14:27
Speaker 1: the FedEx delivery records. Investigators soon learned that a package
14:32
Speaker 1: had been delivered to the Strand home shortly before Athena disappeared,
14:36
Speaker 1: and investigators quickly began tracing the root information connected to
14:40
Speaker 1: the driver responsible for that stop, which was Tanner Horn.
14:44
Speaker 1: The FBI became heavily involved as authorities worked to map
14:48
Speaker 1: Tanner's movements through GPS data, delivery logs, and even TROCK activity.
14:53
Speaker 1: According to later testimony from FBI agent Patrick Maguire, investigators
14:57
Speaker 1: discovered a troubling gap in Tanner's delivery every timeline that
15:00
Speaker 1: evening see there was roughly a thirty minute period that
15:04
Speaker 1: did not line up cleanly with his scheduled route, and
15:08
Speaker 1: when agents contacted Tanner by phone, what he said immediately
15:11
Speaker 1: raised some suspicion. See At first, Tanner reportedly claimed that
15:15
Speaker 1: he had seen a suspicious green Chevrolet astro van near
15:19
Speaker 1: the strand property. According to his story, the van had
15:23
Speaker 1: concerned him enough that he actually even remembered it specifically. However,
15:27
Speaker 1: investigators would later discover that there was no evidence supporting
15:30
Speaker 1: the existence of that vehicle. Tanner also reportedly claimed that
15:34
Speaker 1: during part of his route he had stopped because he
15:36
Speaker 1: felt sick and needed to vomit. But as investigators continued
15:40
Speaker 1: checking his movements, the inconsistencies just kept growing, and what
15:44
Speaker 1: investigators did not realize initially was that the most important
15:48
Speaker 1: evidence in the case was already sitting inside Tanner's delivery truck.
15:52
Speaker 2: Okay, I'm actually shocked that he still did the delivery.
15:57
Speaker 2: I expected that if he was, I don't know, doing
16:01
Speaker 2: some shady shit, that he wouldn't also leave the package.
16:04
Speaker 2: Like that's ridiculous.
16:06
Speaker 1: Well, no matter whether he left it or not, there's
16:07
Speaker 1: a delivery root schedule that's going to be filed away, right.
16:11
Speaker 2: Okay, so it still would have been.
16:13
Speaker 1: It's still there exactly, So no matter you dropping the
16:17
Speaker 1: package off or not. In fact, I would argue that
16:19
Speaker 1: not dropping off the package is even more suspicious.
16:22
Speaker 2: Would make you look more guilty.
16:24
Speaker 1: Yes, in my perspective. Yeah, Now, the FedEx vehicle assigned
16:29
Speaker 1: to Tanner's route was equipped with an internal security camera
16:33
Speaker 1: designed to monitor both inside and outside activity involved in
16:36
Speaker 1: the truck. Now, they knew they needed to investigate the truck.
16:41
Speaker 1: That's what investigators knew. So once investigators secured access to
16:44
Speaker 1: it and the footage, they began reviewing the recordings from
16:48
Speaker 1: November thirtieth in hopes of clarifying Tanner's movements during the
16:52
Speaker 1: period surrounding Athie in his disappearance. Now, Instead, they uncovered
16:57
Speaker 1: evidence that fundamentally changed the direction of this investigation. According
17:02
Speaker 1: to prosecutors later at trial, portions of the truck camera
17:06
Speaker 1: system appeared to have been intentionally covered prior to Tanner
17:11
Speaker 1: arriving at the Strand property. It seemed that the front
17:15
Speaker 1: facing camera had been obstructed roughly an hour before Athena
17:18
Speaker 1: was abducted, suggesting that Tanner may have already been preparing
17:22
Speaker 1: to commit a violent crime before ever even even encountering
17:26
Speaker 1: Athena at all.
17:27
Speaker 2: Geez and was it going to be her or we
17:30
Speaker 2: don't really know.
17:31
Speaker 1: We don't really know, but it seems like it was
17:35
Speaker 1: just in preparation for whoever he encountered.
17:39
Speaker 2: Jeez.
17:40
Speaker 1: Now, despite portions of the visual recording being blocked, the
17:44
Speaker 1: truck still captured crucial footage and audio alike. Investigators reviewing
17:49
Speaker 1: the recordings discovered that Athena had in fact been inside
17:52
Speaker 1: the truck after disappearing from the property. It seemed like
17:56
Speaker 1: she was fine when she entered the vehicle, well somewhat anyways.
18:00
Speaker 1: They also saw allegedly Tanner placing his hand over Athena's
18:04
Speaker 1: mouth after getting her into the truck, And what made
18:06
Speaker 1: the footage even more disturbing was that although the visual
18:10
Speaker 1: recordings were eventually obstructed, the audio still continued to run
18:15
Speaker 1: for an extended period of time. The recording captured Tanner
18:19
Speaker 1: speaking to Athena. He asked her questions about her age,
18:23
Speaker 1: where she went to school, all while warning her repeatedly
18:27
Speaker 1: not to scream. At various points, he threatened to hurt
18:31
Speaker 1: her if she didn't stay quiet when she's asking, you know,
18:33
Speaker 1: where are we going? He eventually even told her that
18:35
Speaker 1: we're going to quote hang out. Then, as the recordings continued,
18:41
Speaker 1: Athena could reportedly be heard beginning to cry and as
18:45
Speaker 1: she was trying to understand what was going on. I'm
18:48
Speaker 1: sure that was a lot of emotion for such a
18:50
Speaker 1: young girl. At one point, Tanner allegedly instructed her to
18:54
Speaker 1: remove her shirt. During another portion of the recording, Athena
18:58
Speaker 1: asked him if he he was a kidnapper. Now, one
19:02
Speaker 1: of the most disturbing moments investigators heard came when Athena
19:05
Speaker 1: asked Tanner why he was doing this to her, and,
19:09
Speaker 1: according to the recordings, he responded by saying, quote, because
19:14
Speaker 1: you are.
19:14
Speaker 2: Pretty holy shit.
19:18
Speaker 1: The audio reportedly continued like this for more than an hour.
19:23
Speaker 1: As investigators compared the recordings against the GPS data delivery
19:27
Speaker 1: timelines and Tanner's statements, his explanations for what had happened
19:31
Speaker 1: was clearly bullshit when you look at the evidence on hand.
19:36
Speaker 1: For investigators, the truck recording quickly became the most important
19:39
Speaker 1: piece of evidence in the entire case, But at that
19:43
Speaker 1: stage of the investigation, law enforcement still faced another urgent problem.
19:47
Speaker 1: They still had not found Athena. When investigators pressed Tanner
19:51
Speaker 1: about what they had found, while he reportedly claimed that
19:55
Speaker 1: Athena had seen him snorting cocaine in his truck after
19:59
Speaker 1: the delivery, and then that's when he panicked because he
20:02
Speaker 1: was afraid he was going to lose his job and
20:04
Speaker 1: potentially lose access to his own son if Athena told
20:07
Speaker 1: anyone what she had seen. But even that explanation did
20:10
Speaker 1: not fit the evidence investigators were looking at. So of
20:13
Speaker 1: course Tanner changed his story again.
20:15
Speaker 2: Well, yeah, that doesn't make sense if he had premeditation
20:19
Speaker 2: of covering up cameras and.
20:21
Speaker 1: Such exactly now. Next he allegedly claimed that Athena had
20:25
Speaker 1: somehow been accidentally hit by the truck and that he
20:29
Speaker 1: panicked afterwards. But still investigators were struggling to reconcile that
20:33
Speaker 1: explanation too with what they were actually hearing on the recordings.
20:36
Speaker 1: It didn't make any sense. There's the prolonged cries, for example,
20:41
Speaker 1: screams that could be hurt. The threats, and the length
20:43
Speaker 1: of the audio all pointed towards an ongoing, controlled situation
20:48
Speaker 1: rather than someone reacting irrationally after an incident like hitting
20:52
Speaker 1: a child with a vehicle. And then investigators were introduced
20:56
Speaker 1: to someone Tanner referred to as zero. Now during questioning,
21:01
Speaker 1: Tanner reportedly began talking about another personality or version of
21:06
Speaker 1: himself that he claimed had taken over. According to investigators,
21:11
Speaker 1: his demeanor would sometimes change during interviews. At times, he
21:15
Speaker 1: altered his speech patterns and mannerisms while attempting to separate
21:19
Speaker 1: himself from the violence that had actually happened inside that truck.
21:23
Speaker 1: According to statements that investigators would later document, Tanner at
21:27
Speaker 1: one point said I didn't do it, but he did.
21:31
Speaker 1: He also reportedly said quote, I'm wondering who the hell's
21:34
Speaker 1: been in my head this whole time. For investigators trying
21:37
Speaker 1: to locate Athena as quickly as possible, the situation became
21:41
Speaker 1: increasingly frustrating. Seemed every time they believed Tanner might finally
21:45
Speaker 1: be giving them truthful information, the story would just shift
21:49
Speaker 1: once again. Different explanations overlapped each other, certain details would change,
21:53
Speaker 1: and other details directly contradicted the evidence investigators already had
21:57
Speaker 1: right in front of them. And at the center of
21:59
Speaker 1: it all was the most important unanswered question of the case.
22:02
Speaker 1: Where was Athena. Investigators pushed Tanner repeatedly for her location,
22:09
Speaker 1: but even then he continued to well negotiate. He even
22:14
Speaker 1: asked if he could spend one final Christmas with his
22:17
Speaker 1: son in exchange for information on Athena, but that request
22:20
Speaker 1: was denied. Then Tanner began giving authorities different locations where
22:24
Speaker 1: he claimed Athena could be found. The first location was false.
22:30
Speaker 1: Investigators searched the area realized fairly quickly that they were
22:33
Speaker 1: being misled, and eventually, though the investigators finally began getting
22:37
Speaker 1: information that actually appeared to be a bit more credible.
22:41
Speaker 1: Tanner directed authorities towards an area near the Trinity River
22:45
Speaker 1: system southeast of Paradise, so search teams and investigators moved
22:50
Speaker 1: into the area while continuing to verify the information he
22:53
Speaker 1: was actually providing. Now at this point, investigators, of course
22:57
Speaker 1: already feared the worst. Audio evidence they heard from inside
23:01
Speaker 1: the truck made it painfully cleared that Athena was likely
23:05
Speaker 1: no longer alive. The audio very clearly henced that a
23:11
Speaker 1: murder took place as well.
23:13
Speaker 2: This is just brutal because it's also so almost relatable
23:18
Speaker 2: because who doesn't get packages delivered right, and you wouldn't
23:21
Speaker 2: think twice about the delivery person being like a complete monster.
23:26
Speaker 1: But that's what this was. That delivery brought a monster
23:30
Speaker 1: to their very doorstep, Oh.
23:32
Speaker 2: My gosh, delivering a Christmas present for her, which is
23:35
Speaker 2: just horrible.
23:37
Speaker 1: Now, no matter what authorities assumed or feared they needed
23:42
Speaker 1: to find Athena, it was December twond twenty twenty two
23:47
Speaker 1: and nearly two full days had passed since Athena had disappeared.
23:51
Speaker 1: Search teams had spent countless hours coming through fields, roads,
23:54
Speaker 1: wooded areas, drainage ditches, and rural properties throughout Wise County
23:59
Speaker 1: hoping to find her alive, and now investigators were heading
24:02
Speaker 1: towards a secluded creek area based on the directions provided
24:05
Speaker 1: by Tanner. As investigators moved into the area near the
24:09
Speaker 1: Trinity River System, all hope disappeared. As Athena's body was
24:14
Speaker 1: located near a creek bed in the secluded area southeast
24:18
Speaker 1: of Paradise. The discovery was heavy, and it confirmed the
24:23
Speaker 1: fears investigators had already begun carrying privately while reviewing the
24:26
Speaker 1: evidence inside the truck. Now, the recovery scene itself was
24:30
Speaker 1: emotionally devastating for the investigators involved, and authority soon began
24:34
Speaker 1: processing the area while the crime scene personnel documented the location,
24:39
Speaker 1: condition of evidence surrounding Athena's body everything they could. Her
24:43
Speaker 1: clothes had reportedly either been removed or partially removed during
24:47
Speaker 1: the attack, and investigators later recovered additional clothing items separately.
24:52
Speaker 1: After realizing Tanner had not been fully truthful about where
24:55
Speaker 1: certain evidence had been discarded. At the same time, investigators
24:59
Speaker 1: were allo beginning to understand just how much evidence still
25:02
Speaker 1: might exist inside that FedEx truck itself. The audio recordings,
25:07
Speaker 1: the GPS data, the timeline gaps, the body recovery location
25:11
Speaker 1: were now starting to form a much clearer picture of
25:14
Speaker 1: the crime, and with every new discovery, Tanner's explanations were
25:18
Speaker 1: becoming harder and harder to believe. Now that Athena had
25:22
Speaker 1: been found, the focus of the investigation shifted to reconstructing
25:26
Speaker 1: exactly what had happened to Athena after she disappeared from
25:30
Speaker 1: the Strand property and determining what physical evidence Tanner may
25:33
Speaker 1: have left behind during the murder and the attack. Investigators
25:38
Speaker 1: began processing nearly everything connected to Tanner's movements over those
25:43
Speaker 1: two days, that included the FedEx truck itself, Tanner's clothing,
25:47
Speaker 1: evidence recovered during the autopsy, digital records, root information, GPS tracking,
25:52
Speaker 1: Internet search history, and locations Tanner even visited after Athena disappeared,
25:58
Speaker 1: and the FedEx truck quickly be came one of those
26:00
Speaker 1: most important pieces of information. I mean, it was the
26:04
Speaker 1: crime scene itself, after all. Inside the vehicle, investigators already
26:09
Speaker 1: had the audio recordings and the footage, but the physical
26:13
Speaker 1: process of the truck itself added another layer of evidence
26:16
Speaker 1: on top of it.
26:17
Speaker 2: All.
26:18
Speaker 1: Investigators reportedly found signs suggesting portions of the truck had
26:23
Speaker 1: been cleaned after Athena was murdered inside, and as they
26:26
Speaker 1: reconstructed Tanner's movements, they learned that he had stopped at
26:29
Speaker 1: a Love's Travel Shop after the attack, which is a
26:32
Speaker 1: place that is essentially a convenience store. According to investigators,
26:36
Speaker 1: Tanner had borrowed some cleaning supplies there and attempted to
26:39
Speaker 1: clean portions of the truck before eventually returning the vehicle
26:43
Speaker 1: to service the following day. Authorities also began examining Tanner's
26:48
Speaker 1: digital activity following the disappearance too. During the investigation, they
26:53
Speaker 1: reportedly discovered Internet searches connected to the case itself, including
26:57
Speaker 1: searches asking if FedEx truck cameras were constantly recording, as
27:02
Speaker 1: well as searches involving the Missing Paradise Girl investigation.
27:08
Speaker 2: Now.
27:08
Speaker 1: At the same time, forensic investigators were working through the
27:11
Speaker 1: evidence recovered during Athena's autopsy, and ultimately the medical examination
27:16
Speaker 1: determined that Athena had died from a combination of blunt
27:19
Speaker 1: force injuries, smothering, and strangulation. But that's not all. Investigators
27:26
Speaker 1: also performed a rape kit and recovered biological evidence that
27:30
Speaker 1: suggested some form of sexual assault may have occurred during
27:34
Speaker 1: the attack. Now, I say may have very carefully here
27:38
Speaker 1: for good reason, which comes up in the trial later on. Now,
27:43
Speaker 1: male DNA was reportedly recovered from swabs taken during the examination,
27:47
Speaker 1: including vaginal swabs may have been Investigators also reportedly recovered
27:54
Speaker 1: Tanner's DNA from underneath Athena's fingernails, suggesting a physical struggle
27:59
Speaker 1: to fight back during that attack.
28:02
Speaker 2: Oh my gosh, this is just so disturbing because she
28:05
Speaker 2: is freaking seven years old, I know, and she was
28:08
Speaker 2: just yeah, like fighting for her life. But what can
28:11
Speaker 2: a little seven year old do to like a grown
28:14
Speaker 2: ass man? You know?
28:15
Speaker 1: Yeah, she is probably like he's probably three times her size,
28:19
Speaker 1: two times at the very least.
28:21
Speaker 2: Oh gosh, I think it'd be at least three times.
28:23
Speaker 1: Yeah, exactly right. So that is like, what hope does
28:27
Speaker 1: someone have Try fighting off someone three times your size.
28:31
Speaker 1: You can do something. There's a chance fight like, and
28:34
Speaker 1: Atheno clearly was. But the hope is so slim yeah Now.
28:40
Speaker 1: Additional evidence was reportedly found on Tanner's clothing as well.
28:44
Speaker 1: Investigators would later identify blood evidence and semen on portions
28:48
Speaker 1: of Tanner's FedEx uniform recovered during the investigation, and as
28:52
Speaker 1: forensic analysis continued processing the evidence, investigators also began comparing
28:57
Speaker 1: everything against Tanner's changing explanations for what had happened, and
29:02
Speaker 1: the deeper they looked, the less believable his already far
29:05
Speaker 1: fetch stories became. And while this was all going on,
29:09
Speaker 1: investigators also began piecing together more information about Tanner himself.
29:15
Speaker 1: Tanner was thirty one years old at the time of
29:17
Speaker 1: Athenis murder. He worked as a contracted FedEx delivery driver
29:21
Speaker 1: through Big Top Spin. To many people who encountered him
29:24
Speaker 1: during his roots, he appeared fairly ordinary, even polite and conversational.
29:28
Speaker 1: He even was normal around families with children, But that
29:32
Speaker 1: contrast would become one of the most disturbing aspects of
29:35
Speaker 1: this entire case. As investigators dug into Tanner's background, they
29:39
Speaker 1: began uncovering a history marked by instability, emotional problems, and
29:44
Speaker 1: troubling behavior dating back years, and Tanner even grew up
29:49
Speaker 1: in a deeply dysfunctional environment himself. His childhood reportedly involved
29:53
Speaker 1: a fair amount of instability, with conflict, additional issues within
29:58
Speaker 1: the home, and long term emotional problems. People who knew
30:02
Speaker 1: him described someone who often struggled socially and emotionally, all
30:07
Speaker 1: from an early age. Investigators also learned about allegations involving
30:11
Speaker 1: abuse and disturbing behavior from Tanner's younger years. One of
30:16
Speaker 1: the most significant accounts came from a man identified publicly
30:19
Speaker 1: as Billy, who described alleged incidents involving Tanner from childhood.
30:24
Speaker 1: According to Billy's account, Tanner had displayed sexually abusive and
30:28
Speaker 1: controlling behavior years before Athenis Murder. Billy also reportedly recalled
30:34
Speaker 1: Tanner once talking about wondering what it would feel like
30:37
Speaker 1: to kill someone. Authorities also began uncovering more information about
30:42
Speaker 1: Tanner's mental health history and behavior patterns. People who knew
30:46
Speaker 1: him described emotional instability and difficulty maintaining relationships, as well
30:51
Speaker 1: as social awkwardness and periods of bizarre behavior. There were
30:55
Speaker 1: also claims involving heavy emotional immaturity and apparent tendencies to
31:00
Speaker 1: retreat into fantasy or avoidance rather than handling stress in
31:05
Speaker 1: any sort of healthy ways. The same time, investigators continued
31:09
Speaker 1: examining Tanner's conduct immediately after the murder, too. It seemed
31:13
Speaker 1: the further they look into his actions following Athena's disappearance,
31:16
Speaker 1: the more calculated parts of his behavior appeared. He continued
31:20
Speaker 1: portions of the delivery route after the murder, he attempted
31:23
Speaker 1: to clean the truck, he had searched online for information
31:27
Speaker 1: involving the truck's cameras and the missing Girl investigation, and
31:30
Speaker 1: according to later reporting surrounding the case, he even drove
31:34
Speaker 1: back through parts of Paradise where the active search operations
31:37
Speaker 1: for Athena were still underway. As more evidence accumulated, investigators
31:44
Speaker 1: increasingly believed Tanner's behavior showed awareness, concealment, and manipulation rather
31:50
Speaker 1: than any sort of emotional collapse as he was so claiming.
31:54
Speaker 1: Yet still through various points during questioning, Tanner continued cycling
31:58
Speaker 1: through different explanations for the murder, But investigators now had
32:02
Speaker 1: an entire library of evidence against him at this point, like,
32:05
Speaker 1: I mean, it's a literal library, and eventually the case
32:08
Speaker 1: against him became just too impossible to dispute. So on
32:12
Speaker 1: December second, twenty twenty two, Tanner Horner was formally arrested
32:18
Speaker 1: and charged in connection with Athena Strand's abduction and murder.
32:23
Speaker 1: By the time Tanner's case finally reached the court, it
32:26
Speaker 1: was in twenty twenty six. More than three years had
32:30
Speaker 1: passed since Athena's Strand disappeared from her family's property outside
32:33
Speaker 1: of Paradise, and only one month before the recording of
32:37
Speaker 1: this podcast episode. During that time, the case had received
32:41
Speaker 1: enormous media attention across Texas and far beyond it, with
32:44
Speaker 1: a story going viral in many corners of the Internet.
32:48
Speaker 1: But ultimately there was never going to be a traditional
32:51
Speaker 1: fight over whether Tanner Horner committed the crimes he was
32:53
Speaker 1: accused of, because on April seventh, twenty twenty six, just
32:58
Speaker 1: as trial proceedings were being Tanner Horner pleaded guilty to
33:03
Speaker 1: capital murder and aggravated kidnapping and connection with Athenis strands murder.
33:08
Speaker 2: He knew he wasn't going to get away.
33:09
Speaker 1: With this one, hey yeap, The evidence was far too
33:13
Speaker 1: much now. Instead on focusing on guilt or innocence, the
33:17
Speaker 1: trial moved directly into the punishment phase, where jurors would
33:20
Speaker 1: ultimately decide whether Tanner should spend the rest of his
33:22
Speaker 1: life in prison without parole, or be sentenced to death
33:27
Speaker 1: under Texas law. Over the following weeks, jurors were exposed
33:31
Speaker 1: to nearly every part of the investigation in exhaustive detail.
33:36
Speaker 1: They heard testimony from investigators, FBI agents, forensic analysis psychologists,
33:41
Speaker 1: medical experts, family members, and people connected to Tanner's past.
33:46
Speaker 1: They were shown crime scene evidence, root data, digital evidence,
33:49
Speaker 1: interrogation footage, photographs, and portions of the recording recovered from
33:53
Speaker 1: inside the FedEx truck. Even and some of the evidence
33:56
Speaker 1: was so emotionally difficult that multiple people inside the courtroom
34:00
Speaker 1: reportedly broke out in tears during portions of the testimony.
34:04
Speaker 1: The truck recordings became some of the most devastating evidence
34:08
Speaker 1: presented during this whole trial. Jurors heard portions of the
34:11
Speaker 1: audio recordings from inside that vehicle, including Athena's crying, asking
34:16
Speaker 1: questions and trying to understand what was happening to her.
34:20
Speaker 2: That would be ridiculously hard to listen to.
34:24
Speaker 1: Yeah, and at various points during that playback, people were
34:26
Speaker 1: reportedly having to leave the courtroom They just they couldn't
34:30
Speaker 1: handle listening to those recordings and what was happening.
34:33
Speaker 2: Mm hmm.
34:34
Speaker 1: The prosecution spent much of the trial building the argument
34:37
Speaker 1: that the murder had been deliberate, sexually motivated, and carefully concealed. Afterwards,
34:44
Speaker 1: Wise County District Attorney James Staton repeatedly pointed towards the
34:48
Speaker 1: truck camera obstruction, the extended timeline inside the vehicle, the
34:53
Speaker 1: clean up attempts, the Internet searches, and the body disposal
34:56
Speaker 1: location as evidence, all showing planning and aware winess rather
35:00
Speaker 1: than any sort of panic occurring. The state also argued
35:04
Speaker 1: that Tanner represented a continuing danger to society, which under
35:08
Speaker 1: Texas law, became one of the central questions jurors needed
35:12
Speaker 1: to answer before they could impose a death sentence. The defense, meanwhile,
35:18
Speaker 1: approached the case very differently. Rather than challenging whether the
35:22
Speaker 1: murder occurred, defense attorneys focused heavily on Tanner's background, psychological history,
35:27
Speaker 1: emotional development, and mental health struggles. Jurors heard testimony about
35:32
Speaker 1: Tanner's unstable childhood, alleged fetal alcohol related development problems, social dysfunction,
35:38
Speaker 1: emotional immaturity, and possible autism spectrum characteristics. Psychologists also discussed
35:45
Speaker 1: Tanner's reference to this zero the alternate identity he repeatedly
35:50
Speaker 1: mentioned during questioning after the murder. The defense argued that
35:54
Speaker 1: zero represented psychological fragmentation and disassociation rather than SI pull manipulation,
36:01
Speaker 1: while prosecutors argue the behavior reflected attempts to distance himself
36:05
Speaker 1: from any sort of responsibility. The forensic evidence connected to
36:09
Speaker 1: possible sexual assault also became a major point of conflict
36:13
Speaker 1: during the trial. That's why it was very careful on
36:16
Speaker 1: using the word alleged with it earlier. Prosecutors argued that
36:20
Speaker 1: the biological evidence, truck recordings, clothing condition, and overall circumstances
36:25
Speaker 1: strongly supported that Athena had been sexually assaulted during the attack,
36:31
Speaker 1: while defense attorneys challenged how conclusive certain aspects of the
36:35
Speaker 1: forensic evidence actually were, arguing that some biological findings could
36:39
Speaker 1: not definitively establish every detail prosecutors were claiming. Still, much
36:45
Speaker 1: of the emotional center of the trial remained focused on
36:49
Speaker 1: Athena herself rather than legal arguments surrounding Tanner, which is good.
36:53
Speaker 1: I appreciate that throughout the proceedings, Athena's family continually wore
36:58
Speaker 1: pink in her honor, whether it was a pink shirt
37:01
Speaker 1: or a ribbon or anything. I mean, after all, it
37:04
Speaker 1: was her favorite color.
37:05
Speaker 2: Okay, so the family actually sat through all of this
37:08
Speaker 2: too and had to listen to those recordings as well. Correct,
37:11
Speaker 2: Oh my gosh, that is just that just feels like
37:15
Speaker 2: you just got like punched in the gut, that's all.
37:17
Speaker 1: I can't imagine the pain of being in that situation.
37:21
Speaker 1: And the thing is too, You're in a situation. You're
37:23
Speaker 1: in a room where you have to control yourself if
37:27
Speaker 1: you are like if you have a motion, you have
37:29
Speaker 1: to look down, you have to keep controlled, you have
37:31
Speaker 1: to excuse yourself from the room. You can't say anything,
37:33
Speaker 1: you can't do anything. Yet you're hearing the recordings of
37:37
Speaker 1: your daughter suffering through something so unimaginable at such a
37:41
Speaker 1: young age. Yet the person who did that very fucking
37:45
Speaker 1: thing is heat from you.
37:46
Speaker 2: Yeah, like you would want to literally just yeah, I
37:51
Speaker 2: won't go there, but it's I don't. Yeah, how could
37:53
Speaker 2: you even that takes ridiculous strength to control yourself.
37:57
Speaker 1: I'll tell you right now, I would be trying to
38:00
Speaker 1: to put that death sentence on him right then and
38:02
Speaker 1: there if I were that. Oh, I can't imagine.
38:06
Speaker 2: Yeah, that would just be almost just it's an impossible
38:09
Speaker 2: task to ask someone to have to do, but.
38:11
Speaker 1: Yet they did it.
38:13
Speaker 2: Yeah.
38:14
Speaker 1: Now. Jurors repeatedly heard descriptions of Athena's personality, her excitement
38:19
Speaker 1: for life, her love of barbies and art, and the
38:21
Speaker 1: devastation her murder caused throughout the family. Teachers described her
38:25
Speaker 1: as energetic and caring. Family members described her as loud
38:29
Speaker 1: and affectionate and impossible not to notice when she entered
38:32
Speaker 1: her room. And hanging over every part of the trial
38:35
Speaker 1: was the reality that all of this had started on
38:38
Speaker 1: what should have been an ordinary evening, just weeks before Christmas.
38:43
Speaker 1: As a sentencing phase continued, prosecutors focused heavily on building
38:47
Speaker 1: a picture of ten Or as someone who was not
38:50
Speaker 1: only responsible for Athena's murder, but someone they believed posed
38:54
Speaker 1: a continuous dangerous threat to society. And that under TECH
39:00
Speaker 1: law is critical in order for jurors to impose that
39:04
Speaker 1: death penalty, as I mentioned earlier, they need to determine
39:08
Speaker 1: that Tanner would likely commit future acts of violence if
39:11
Speaker 1: allowed to live. And I'm not saying just beyond the
39:14
Speaker 1: prison walls, because you can say, well, if he's in prison,
39:17
Speaker 1: he's not a threat to society. What about threats to inmates,
39:21
Speaker 1: what about threats to correctional officers? What about threats to himself?
39:25
Speaker 1: What about threats to anything? And to impose the death penalty,
39:29
Speaker 1: they needed to say that he was in fact a
39:31
Speaker 1: threat period.
39:33
Speaker 2: Okay, a threat within prison walls as well, is what
39:37
Speaker 2: your meaning?
39:38
Speaker 1: Just a threat? He is a potential threat if he lives, okay,
39:42
Speaker 1: and that includes everything, Okay, I see. So because of that,
39:45
Speaker 1: prosecutors spent weeks walking jurors through the evidence surrounding athenas
39:49
Speaker 1: abduction and murder, while also introducing information from Tanner's past
39:53
Speaker 1: that they argued showed that long term violent tendencies and
39:56
Speaker 1: manipulative behaviors they believed were present. Prosecutors argue the evidence
40:02
Speaker 1: showed control, concealment, planning, and sexual motivation from beginning to end, basically,
40:08
Speaker 1: and one of the biggest pieces of that argument involved
40:10
Speaker 1: the truck cameras. We've mentioned it a few times, but
40:14
Speaker 1: according to investigators' portions of the camera setup appeared to
40:17
Speaker 1: have been intentionally covered before Tanner ever arrived at the
40:21
Speaker 1: Strand property, and they argued that detail was extremely important
40:27
Speaker 1: because it suggests that Tanner had already been preparing to
40:30
Speaker 1: commit violence before ever encountering Athena, meaning he knew what
40:35
Speaker 1: he was going to do. It was premeditation.
40:38
Speaker 2: Jeez. And did he just not recall that they're also
40:42
Speaker 2: recording audio?
40:44
Speaker 1: I mean, I guess he's that dumb and he didn't, huh.
40:48
Speaker 2: And also makes you wonder too if he had been
40:50
Speaker 2: there before, right and knew of this little girl.
40:53
Speaker 1: It is possible. I mean, I would say it's not
40:57
Speaker 1: probable because likely would have come up in information through
41:02
Speaker 1: the investigation looking through potential routes he went through before.
41:06
Speaker 1: It is possible, but that information never came up that
41:09
Speaker 1: other routes he went through and saw the strand of
41:11
Speaker 1: family in the past and made a decision. My guess
41:15
Speaker 1: is likely he knew of areas like this, He knew
41:20
Speaker 1: of families with kids playing outside, not quite being attended
41:24
Speaker 1: to every single second, knowing there's opportunities, and he covered
41:28
Speaker 1: the camera looking for one of those opportunities, and he
41:31
Speaker 1: found one in Athena.
41:32
Speaker 2: That is just so messed up that you just are
41:35
Speaker 2: going to work one day and you decide I'm going
41:38
Speaker 2: to do some shady ass shit today.
41:41
Speaker 1: I know, but I'm not going to discredit what you're
41:44
Speaker 1: saying there is a possibility that he had been through
41:46
Speaker 1: this before, maybe with a different contractor who knows. All
41:49
Speaker 1: I know is there is not a history brought to
41:52
Speaker 1: the forefront, but it's possible he had seen Athena before,
41:55
Speaker 1: and it's possible he did.
41:56
Speaker 2: Target her, so disturbing.
42:00
Speaker 1: Several points during the trial, prosecutors revisited portions of the
42:03
Speaker 1: audio recording to drive home the crimes Tanner had committed,
42:06
Speaker 1: and jurors again heard Athena asking Tanner if he was
42:09
Speaker 1: a kidnapper. They heard her asking why he was doing
42:12
Speaker 1: this to her, and they heard Tanner's response, because you
42:14
Speaker 1: are pretty. The prosecution argued that that statement alone revealed
42:20
Speaker 1: sexual motivation and completely underminded Tanner's later attempts to portray
42:24
Speaker 1: the murder as some kind of accident or panic response.
42:28
Speaker 1: The state also called mental health experts who challenged the
42:32
Speaker 1: defense's portrayal of Tanner as psychologically detached from reality. During
42:37
Speaker 1: the murder, prosecution expert doctor Michael Arambula argued that Tanner's
42:42
Speaker 1: behavior showed organization and situal awareness, as well as adaptability
42:47
Speaker 1: and consciousness of guilt. He pointed towards the truck camera
42:52
Speaker 1: obstruction again he pointed towards attempts of cleanup internet searches
42:56
Speaker 1: and misleading statements the evidence concealment all of it as
43:00
Speaker 1: proof that Tanner fully understood both his actions and the
43:04
Speaker 1: consequences of them. While prosecutors spent the trial presenting Tanner
43:09
Speaker 1: as a calculated, sexually motivated predator, the defense focused on
43:14
Speaker 1: something very different. They focused on how Tanner became Tanner
43:19
Speaker 1: now because he had already pleaded guilty to capital murder
43:22
Speaker 1: and aggravated kidnapping. The defense was not trying to convince
43:26
Speaker 1: jurors he was innocent. That was clear. That wasn't the case.
43:30
Speaker 1: They knew the evidence surrounding Athena's murder was overwhelming, and
43:33
Speaker 1: so instead they concentrated almost entirely on mitigation. Instead, their
43:39
Speaker 1: goal was to persuade jurors that, despite the brutality of
43:42
Speaker 1: the crime, Tanner's psychological history, developmental problems, and dysfunctional upbringing
43:48
Speaker 1: all justified sparing his life and sentencing him to prison
43:52
Speaker 1: without parole instead of the death penalty. And much of
43:56
Speaker 1: the defense's case centered around Tanner's childhood. Jerbers heard testimony
44:01
Speaker 1: describing a chaotic and unstable upbringing marked by addiction, emotional dysfunction,
44:06
Speaker 1: and long term neglect. All those things we mentioned. According
44:10
Speaker 1: to the testimony presented during the trial, Tanner's mother drank
44:13
Speaker 1: heavily while pregnant with him. The defense expert argued that
44:16
Speaker 1: fetal alcohol related developmental damage may have affected him throughout
44:21
Speaker 1: his entire life. The defense also introduced testimony involving possible
44:26
Speaker 1: lead exposure during Tanner's childhood. I experts explain that chronic
44:31
Speaker 1: led exposure can impact impulse control, emotional regulation, cognitive development,
44:37
Speaker 1: and decision making abilities, especially when combined with trauma and
44:40
Speaker 1: instability during early development. Psychologists called by the defense described
44:46
Speaker 1: Tanner as emotionally mature, socially isolated, and psychologically damaged long
44:52
Speaker 1: before Athena's murder ever occurred. One of the central witnesses
44:56
Speaker 1: for the defense was psychologist doctor Joel bram who spent
45:01
Speaker 1: extensive time evaluating Tanner and reviewing his background history, and
45:05
Speaker 1: according to doctor Brahms, Tanner struggled with emotional regulation throughout
45:09
Speaker 1: much of his life and often coped with stress or
45:12
Speaker 1: emotional conflicts through avoidance and fantasy rather than healthy processing.
45:18
Speaker 1: The defense also argued Tanner displayed characteristics associated with autism,
45:23
Speaker 1: spectrum disorder, and developmental dysfunction. Witnesses described him as being withdrawn, isolated,
45:30
Speaker 1: and frequently unable to understand or navigate normal social interactions.
45:35
Speaker 1: According to testimony, Tanner had reportedly struggled with bullying, emotional instability,
45:40
Speaker 1: and social problems dating all the way back to school
45:43
Speaker 1: and childhood, and then there was zero. Throughout the investigative trial,
45:49
Speaker 1: Tanner repeatedly referred to another personality or another version of
45:53
Speaker 1: himself by the name Zero. The defense argued that this
45:56
Speaker 1: zero was not simply an invented excuse, but instead it
46:00
Speaker 1: was part of Tanner's disassociative coping mechanisms and emotional fragmentation.
46:06
Speaker 1: Doctor Brahms testified that she did not believe Tanner literally
46:10
Speaker 1: had multiple personalities, at least not in the way many
46:13
Speaker 1: people imagine it, imagine this disassociative identity disorder to be. Instead,
46:19
Speaker 1: she described zero more as a psychological separation Tanner had
46:23
Speaker 1: created between himself and the actions he emotionally could not
46:27
Speaker 1: process or confront directly, which to me says, Okay, he's
46:31
Speaker 1: just not taking blame for it, but he knows he
46:34
Speaker 1: still did it.
46:35
Speaker 2: You know, I get this, but it's also just such
46:37
Speaker 2: a piss off that everyone just has to sit there
46:39
Speaker 2: and listen all about him.
46:41
Speaker 1: I know, and honestly I didn't want to do it
46:44
Speaker 1: in this episode either, but to understand the case, we
46:47
Speaker 1: kind of have to.
46:47
Speaker 2: I know, you have to. But it's also just like
46:49
Speaker 2: he did something so bad that I feel like, who cares?
46:54
Speaker 1: I know, right, you know, But I think this part
46:57
Speaker 1: is so funny because even this doctor Brams is saying
47:01
Speaker 1: he knows what he did, he's just disassociating it. And
47:05
Speaker 1: that's what this zero is.
47:07
Speaker 2: Yeah, which is absolutely not okay.
47:09
Speaker 1: It's not okay, But it's even funny that that's his
47:11
Speaker 1: defense saying that this is what he's doing and no,
47:14
Speaker 1: it's not okay, but he's still doing that, and that's
47:16
Speaker 1: what all right, cool, you're that's an argument for the
47:19
Speaker 1: prosecutor's side.
47:20
Speaker 2: In my opinion, Well, the defense has to freaking pick
47:23
Speaker 2: something to try to defend this monster, right, I know, right.
47:27
Speaker 1: And that's basically what they're saying in this as they're
47:29
Speaker 1: emphasizing like his mental condition was not the same thing
47:32
Speaker 1: as like what people really think it is, and it
47:35
Speaker 1: doesn't excuse what he did to Athena. But They're like,
47:37
Speaker 1: but it is a thing I don't know. Anyways, they
47:42
Speaker 1: still acknowledge that Tanner understood right from wrong. It's basically
47:45
Speaker 1: what I'm trying to get at with this. But still
47:48
Speaker 1: the defense argued that Tanner's damaged psychological state made him
47:51
Speaker 1: less morally culpable than prosecutors claimed. Is what their point
47:57
Speaker 1: was that they were trying to make. I don't think
47:58
Speaker 1: they made that point, but that's what they were trying
48:00
Speaker 1: to do. And I alluded to this a few times already.
48:03
Speaker 1: But the forensic evidence surrounding the possible sexual assault also
48:06
Speaker 1: became a major area of challenging for challenges for the
48:10
Speaker 1: defense because while prosecutors argue the evidence strongly supported that
48:14
Speaker 1: Athena had been sexually assaulted and raped during the murder,
48:18
Speaker 1: defense attorneys repeatedly questioned how definitive certain forensic conclusions actually were.
48:24
Speaker 1: Jurors heard arguments that investigators could not conclusively determine the
48:29
Speaker 1: exact source of every biological sample recovered during the autopsy,
48:34
Speaker 1: basically saying, yeah, it's his biological DNA, but can you
48:37
Speaker 1: say how it got there, why it got there, and
48:39
Speaker 1: is it actually seen? In all this sort of stuff,
48:42
Speaker 1: defense attorneys also pointed towards testimony indicating that there was
48:46
Speaker 1: no obvious visible genitalia trauma identified during the medical examination
48:51
Speaker 1: and rape kit. The defense argued prosecutors were overstating the
48:56
Speaker 1: certainty of the sexual assault and rape related evidence in
49:00
Speaker 1: order to emotionally influence the jury, and at the same time,
49:05
Speaker 1: the defense also tried to push back against the state's
49:07
Speaker 1: arguments that Tanner represented an ongoing danger to society, but
49:12
Speaker 1: to step back for a second to the sexual assault
49:15
Speaker 1: and rape. Again. The reason why I'm using the word
49:18
Speaker 1: allegedly is because there is arguments in court whether it
49:23
Speaker 1: was factual or was not factual, and because he was
49:26
Speaker 1: not ever committed of any sexual act, we cannot definitively
49:31
Speaker 1: say for certain that it occurred. We can say there
49:34
Speaker 1: is evidence that it likely occurred, but unfortunately that's as
49:39
Speaker 1: far as we can legally go. But I'm sure we
49:43
Speaker 1: can all make our proper resis.
49:44
Speaker 2: Well, Yeah, we can definitely decide that he is a
49:47
Speaker 2: sick piece of shit. Yeah, nasty motherfucker.
49:51
Speaker 1: Really, we all have our assumptions and I'm pretty sure
49:54
Speaker 1: those assumptions are on the right path now. As testimony
49:59
Speaker 1: unfolded day after day, Athena's family was forced to sit
50:02
Speaker 1: through details no family should ever have to hear, and
50:06
Speaker 1: one of the most emotional moments of the trial came
50:08
Speaker 1: when Athena's uncle, Elijah Strand, addressed the courtroom directly. He
50:14
Speaker 1: described the devastation that Tanner had caused throughout the family.
50:18
Speaker 1: He spoke about Athena not as a victim or a headline,
50:22
Speaker 1: but as the little girl they knew personally. Quote there
50:27
Speaker 1: are no words that truly capture the devastation that Tanner
50:30
Speaker 1: Horner caused us in our family end quote. He described
50:35
Speaker 1: how Athena had filled every space around her with energy
50:39
Speaker 1: and excitement. He spoke about memories of her running towards him,
50:42
Speaker 1: yelling Uncle Elijah, and the pain of knowing he would
50:46
Speaker 1: never hear those words again. Elijah also described how Athena's
50:51
Speaker 1: murder permanently changed the younger children in the family. According
50:54
Speaker 1: to him, children who once felt safe playing outside no
50:57
Speaker 1: longer viewed the world the same way after what had
51:00
Speaker 1: happened to Athena. Athena had not disappeared from some dangerous
51:05
Speaker 1: urban environment late at night. She had vanished while playing
51:07
Speaker 1: outside near her home in rural Texas during the early
51:11
Speaker 1: evenings in a place literally called paradise.
51:14
Speaker 2: No one was doing anything wrong except for Tanner.
51:17
Speaker 1: And that reality deeply unsettled both the community and Athenis
51:21
Speaker 1: family all the way down to the youngest. Elijah spoke
51:24
Speaker 1: directly to Tanner during the statements and said this too, quote,
51:29
Speaker 1: you do not just take a life, you destroy the family.
51:33
Speaker 1: That became especially clear during the final moments of Elijah's
51:36
Speaker 1: statements because even looking directly towards Tanner, once again, Elijah
51:40
Speaker 1: said this quote, I want you to know that you
51:43
Speaker 1: are nothing. You were a footnote in Atheni's story end quote.
51:49
Speaker 1: The trial had spent weeks dissecting Tanner Horner's behavior, his psychology,
51:54
Speaker 1: his lies, his actions, and his violence, But for Athena's family,
51:57
Speaker 1: the story was never supposed to become about him. It
52:00
Speaker 1: was supposed to remain about Athena. Everything that took place
52:04
Speaker 1: in the courtroom was heavy, beyond belief and emotionally weighed
52:08
Speaker 1: inside everyone inside the courtroom. It was reportedly overwhelming, Yet
52:13
Speaker 1: under Texas law, jurors considered the death penalty and they
52:16
Speaker 1: had to decide whether Tanner would likely commit future violent
52:19
Speaker 1: acts if allowed to live, and they still had their
52:22
Speaker 1: job to do too. Was on May fifth, twenty twenty six,
52:27
Speaker 1: only three days ago as of recording this episode, when
52:32
Speaker 1: jurors returned to the courtroom with their decision and Judge
52:35
Speaker 1: George Gallagher read the jury's findings aloud. As the judge
52:40
Speaker 1: addressed the court, he said, first, jurors unanimously determined that
52:43
Speaker 1: Tanner Horner would in fact likely commit future acts of
52:47
Speaker 1: violence and therefore represented a continuing danger to society. They
52:52
Speaker 1: also rejected the argument that mitigating factors in Tanner's background
52:55
Speaker 1: justified sentencing him to life without parole instead of death,
53:01
Speaker 1: and so with those findings complete, the sentencing became official.
53:06
Speaker 1: Tanner Horner was sentenced to death, and Judge Gallagher formally
53:11
Speaker 1: sentenced Tanner to death by lethal injection. Under Texas procedure.
53:15
Speaker 1: The execution itself will eventually take place in Huntsville at
53:19
Speaker 1: a later date still to be determined. The court also
53:23
Speaker 1: acknowledged that an automatic appeal process would immediately begin. Under
53:29
Speaker 1: Texas law, any sort of death sentence automatically goes to
53:33
Speaker 1: appeal as required by any sort of death penal case
53:36
Speaker 1: or whatever meaning. Athena's family, though will likely still be
53:39
Speaker 1: going through court dates ahead of them for years to
53:42
Speaker 1: come as they continue to deal with Tanner and the
53:45
Speaker 1: loss of Athena. Still, for Athena's family, the verdict brought
53:50
Speaker 1: a complex mix of emotions, as no sentence could actually
53:53
Speaker 1: undo what had happened. Athena was still gone. A seven
53:57
Speaker 1: year old little girl was still abducted from outside her
54:00
Speaker 1: home by a delivery driver during the Christmas season. It's
54:04
Speaker 1: a kind of crime that shook everyone on a very
54:07
Speaker 1: deep level. It shattered assumptions about safety, trust, and ordinary
54:12
Speaker 1: routines in a way that will linger long after the
54:14
Speaker 1: headline's fade. Athena was a seven year old girl who
54:18
Speaker 1: suffered far too much for any child, and throughout the
54:22
Speaker 1: investigation and trial, family members, teachers, and friends consistently described
54:27
Speaker 1: Athena in almost the exact same way. She was loud,
54:32
Speaker 1: She was funny, emotional, creative, energetic, She loved attention, she
54:38
Speaker 1: loved being around people, She loved Pink Barbie's art and
54:41
Speaker 1: expressing herself. People repeatedly described her as the kind of
54:46
Speaker 1: kid who completely filled the room with energy the moment
54:49
Speaker 1: that she walked into it. Her teacher remembered her as
54:52
Speaker 1: a social and deeply caring individual towards her classmates and
54:56
Speaker 1: especially kids who seemed upset or left out. Only members
55:00
Speaker 1: described her as dramatic in the way only little kids
55:03
Speaker 1: can be, shifting from emotional tears to excitement within minutes,
55:07
Speaker 1: and because those descriptions remained so consistent throughout the years,
55:11
Speaker 1: Athena never became just another true crime victim in the
55:14
Speaker 1: eyes of the people who loved her. She remained a
55:17
Speaker 1: real child with a real personality, a real person who
55:21
Speaker 1: will be missed, and that mattered deeply to her family.
55:26
Speaker 1: Throughout the trial, they repeatedly tried to pull focus away
55:29
Speaker 1: from Tanner and back towards Athena herself, which is amazing
55:33
Speaker 1: and exactly something we stand to strive for in this podcast.
55:37
Speaker 1: Tell a victim story, remember them. They deserve it at
55:39
Speaker 1: the very least, and that sentiment especially became clear through
55:44
Speaker 1: Elijah's Strand's statement describing Tanner as quote only a footnote
55:48
Speaker 1: in Athena's story. For the family, the case was never
55:52
Speaker 1: supposed to become about a man who murdered her. It
55:55
Speaker 1: was supposed to remain about Athena, and in fact, I
55:59
Speaker 1: withheld a quote from Athena's uncle Elijah to mention right
56:03
Speaker 1: now in order to highlight this sentiment, because he said
56:06
Speaker 1: it better than I ever could. As he stood in
56:09
Speaker 1: the courtroom that day, up on the stand, he looked
56:12
Speaker 1: directly towards Tanner, and Elijah said this quote, her name
56:18
Speaker 1: will forever be remembered, her name will forever be celebrated,
56:22
Speaker 1: and everyone will forget you. End quote. Athena was an
56:28
Speaker 1: innocent seven year old girl looking forward to Christmas. And
56:31
Speaker 1: she's no longer here, but that doesn't mean her name
56:34
Speaker 1: or memory has to fade. And that's the story of
56:38
Speaker 1: Athenis Strand.
56:42
Speaker 2: What a ridiculous loss to this world. Hey, I know
56:46
Speaker 2: like she I mean I said it before, but just
56:49
Speaker 2: seemed like amazing, lovely little human that I think what
56:54
Speaker 2: had so much going for her. And it's like you
56:57
Speaker 2: can only imagine what she would have grown up to be.
57:00
Speaker 1: Mm hmmm. I love how people describe her as like
57:03
Speaker 1: allowed and she walks in the room and you know
57:05
Speaker 1: she's there, like I just picture this child just like
57:08
Speaker 1: such confidence and like energy radiating offer that she's just
57:12
Speaker 1: like like for example, Uncle Elijah, she runs through the
57:16
Speaker 1: door and gives her uncle a hug with just such joy.
57:20
Speaker 2: Ah he did a really good job with his what
57:23
Speaker 2: is that called your testimony? Yeah, because something else you
57:28
Speaker 2: had said where he it's not just like taking a life,
57:32
Speaker 2: but or you're taking a life, but you're also destroying
57:35
Speaker 2: the family. Yeah, and because yeah, we're always like, yeah,
57:38
Speaker 2: there's the victim, right, but then there's so many more
57:41
Speaker 2: victims that are having to face like the consequences of
57:44
Speaker 2: what happened and stuff. So that was like worded really well.
57:47
Speaker 1: Yeah, it's like that ripple effect going outwards, right, Yeah,
57:50
Speaker 1: it goes from like the victim to the family, to
57:52
Speaker 1: the friends, the school, the community, and all these people.
57:55
Speaker 2: Yeah, affect so many people, And yeah, she'll be remembered,
57:59
Speaker 2: but like maybe Tanner's kind of in the news now,
58:03
Speaker 2: but it does seem like it's more so about the
58:04
Speaker 2: little girl. And give it a little bit of time
58:07
Speaker 2: and he will literally be nothing.
58:08
Speaker 1: No one will know. I'm not going to say his
58:10
Speaker 1: name again. In fact, yeah, he's a monster. That's how
58:12
Speaker 1: I'll refer to him. A monster.
58:14
Speaker 2: Yeah. Yeah, so just a brutal story, but it is
58:21
Speaker 2: you know, it's good that she's being remembered for like
58:25
Speaker 2: the kind, beautiful soul she was.
58:27
Speaker 1: Yeah, and it's easy to see why this story has
58:30
Speaker 1: gone as viral as it is because it is it's
58:33
Speaker 1: so heart wrenching.
58:35
Speaker 2: Huh, I fucked this guy?
58:37
Speaker 1: Man.
58:38
Speaker 2: Well, it's unimaginable because how many interactions in the world
58:42
Speaker 2: in a day is a little kid having with a
58:45
Speaker 2: delivery person. Yeah, And I mean we've done so many cases,
58:50
Speaker 2: and I just I don't know, And I'm like a
58:53
Speaker 2: pretty cautious person person, and I don't think that that
58:57
Speaker 2: would have ever triggered anything me that that could have
59:00
Speaker 2: been dangerous.
59:02
Speaker 1: Yeah, for sure. You just if you're a parent or something,
59:05
Speaker 1: and you know what, you're out clipping some flowers in
59:08
Speaker 1: your front yard and your kids playing, and a delivery
59:10
Speaker 1: driver just comes up behind you delivering a package, Yeah,
59:13
Speaker 1: you probably don't think twice.
59:14
Speaker 2: No, even if you're inside in the kitchen or whatever,
59:16
Speaker 2: making dinner and like you're looking through the window like periodically,
59:21
Speaker 2: you know. Yeah, even if you've seen this person pull up,
59:23
Speaker 2: I don't even think that you would think anything wrong.
59:25
Speaker 2: Probably doesn't want to go wrong or anything bad about it.
59:28
Speaker 1: But that's the thing. You shouldn't have to think that
59:30
Speaker 1: I could go wrong.
59:31
Speaker 2: No, because this family, like I said, they did nothing wrong. No,
59:34
Speaker 2: you know, the little girl, the family. They did nothing wrong.
59:37
Speaker 2: It was just that there is unfortunately a freaking absolute
59:41
Speaker 2: monster in this world.
59:42
Speaker 1: Yeah, fuck him. There are some things that will carry
59:47
Speaker 1: on to this case because there are automatic appeals that
59:49
Speaker 1: will happen knocks. I do not foresee any sort of
59:53
Speaker 1: appeal coming through unless there is something that can happen
59:57
Speaker 1: where the defense says that the trial didn't go appropriately
1:00:01
Speaker 1: according to law. But even still, if there's going to
1:00:05
Speaker 1: be a retrial, the evidence is far too heavy. They
1:00:07
Speaker 1: have them on recording, they have like video and a
1:00:11
Speaker 1: lot of audio. There's so much to it. He is
1:00:13
Speaker 1: fucked and I'm so glad he's going to be removed
1:00:15
Speaker 1: from this world because fuck this guy. Oh I'm raging.
1:00:19
Speaker 2: I'm sorry. Yeah, he knew that he was too right,
1:00:22
Speaker 2: frick Yeah, so gosh.
1:00:26
Speaker 1: Anyways, thank you guys for being here. If you want
1:00:29
Speaker 1: to talk to us about this episode, or you want
1:00:30
Speaker 1: to check out more of our social links or anything,
1:00:32
Speaker 1: check out the description of this podcast. It is all
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Speaker 1: thank you, and until next time, stay wicked at a
1:03:00
Speaker 2: No.