{"id":615712,"date":"2026-04-18T20:06:20","date_gmt":"2026-04-18T20:06:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/615712\/"},"modified":"2026-04-18T20:06:20","modified_gmt":"2026-04-18T20:06:20","slug":"tanner-horner-fedex-driver-reveals-chilling-new-details-in-murder-of-texas-girl-athena-strand","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/615712\/","title":{"rendered":"Tanner Horner: FedEx driver reveals chilling new details in murder of Texas girl Athena Strand"},"content":{"rendered":"

Warning: Disturbing content<\/p>\n

More chilling details have emerged in the trial of a delivery driver who admitted abducting and murdering seven-year-old Athena Strand, as jurors were shown new evidence revealing the moments after the crime.<\/p>\n

A court in Fort Worth heard that Tanner Horner, 34, was captured on video methodically cleaning the van prosecutors say he used to carry out the killing in November 2022. Footage played to the jury showed Horner using paper towels and a cleaning substance to wipe down the interior of the vehicle for several minutes before calmly driving away.<\/p>\n

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The court was also shown an image of Athena inside the van shortly before she was killed.<\/p>\n

Prosecutors allege Horner abducted the child from outside her home in Paradise, Texas, while delivering a package containing Barbies purchased as a Christmas gift.<\/p>\n

Horner pleaded guilty to murder on April 7, shortly before the trial was due to begin. A jury will now determine whether he should face the death penalty.<\/p>\n

Prosecutors rejected Horner\u2019s earlier claim that Athena\u2019s death followed an accidental collision, describing the account as an \u201cabsolute lie\u201d and arguing the child was not injured prior to being abducted, Fox4<\/a> reported.<\/p>\n

Investigators told the court that items, including bungee cords, were recovered from the vehicle, which prosecutors have referred to as the \u201cabduction van\u201d. Crime scene investigator Alise Amey testified that markings on Athena\u2019s face were consistent with the surface of the van floor.<\/p>\n

\"7yo7yo Athena Strand who was kidnapped and strangled on November 30, 2022, by a FedEx worker delivering Christmas gifts to her home unknown Credit: unknown\/NBC 5 News<\/p>\n

Medical examiner Dr Jessica Dwyer said Athena died from blunt force injuries combined with smothering and strangulation. Dr Dwyer told the court the injuries showed a distinctive zigzag pattern and said the child had likely suffered prior to her death.<\/p>\n

\u201cLack of injuries does not mean that there\u2019s a possibility that a sexual assault did or did not occur,\u201d Dr Dwyer said.<\/p>\n

The trial has included emotional testimony, including the playing of footage capturing the moments after Horner encountered Athena while delivering packages. Jurors heard the child repeatedly ask, \u201cAre you a kidnapper?\u201d after being placed inside the van.<\/p>\n

\"SevenSeven year-old kidnapped and murdered by a delivery driver. Credit: Suplied<\/p>\n

Horner could be heard telling the girl to sit down and warning he would hurt her if she screamed. During the recording, he asked her about her age, school and teacher before telling her: \u201cYou\u2019re really pretty. You know that?\u201d<\/p>\n

As the vehicle stopped and started again, Athena asked questions about where they were going and requested her mother. At one point, Horner asked the child to remove her shirt, which she refused to do before becoming distressed.<\/p>\n

Athena\u2019s parents, Jacob Strand and Maitlyn Gandy, both testified earlier in the proceedings but were not present in court when the footage was played.<\/p>\n

Prosecutors said Horner had only been truthful when admitting he killed the child, arguing the evidence showed a pattern of deception.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe pattern and web of lies that he put together, it\u2019s going to be hard for y\u2019all to keep up with,\u201d Wise County District Attorney James Stainton said.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt is lie upon lie upon lie upon lie,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n

Horner previously told investigators he panicked after encountering Athena and later attempted to attribute the killing to an alter ego he referred to as \u201cZero\u201d.<\/p>\n

\u2018That\u2019s what f..ks with me,\u2019 he told investigators, per reports. \u2018I\u2019m wondering who the hell\u2019s been in my head this whole time.\u2019<\/p>\n

The jury will now decide whether Horner will be sentenced to death.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Warning: Disturbing content More chilling details have emerged in the trial of a delivery driver who admitted abducting…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":615713,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[43,44,41,39,42,40,2957,1720],"class_list":["post-615712","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-headlines","tag-headlines","tag-news","tag-top-news","tag-top-stories","tag-topnews","tag-topstories","tag-usa","tag-world"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/615712","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=615712"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/615712\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/615713"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=615712"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=615712"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=615712"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}