Delivery driver killer wrote note to 7-year-old Athena Strand's family
· Toronto Sun
WARNING: STORY CONTAINS GRAPHIC DETAILS
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Tanner Horner, the FedEx delivery driver who pleaded guilty to the murder of 7-year-old Athena Strand, wrote a note to her family apologizing for her slaying and blaming his boss for switching up delivery routes which triggered him.
The 34-year-old wrote the note, among a series of rambling letters, shortly before he attempted suicide in 2023 while on trial for the girl’s murder, a Texas jury heard Monday.
“I’m sorry I took your little angel away from you. She didn’t deserve it,” he wrote, per WFAA . “I pray my death eases your suffering in some way … Just know I have found God through all of this. I love you all and I’m sorry,” he wrote, adding that his son would now be forced to grow up without a father.
Death penalty or life in prison?
Horner pleaded guilty last Tuesday to the 2022 murder of Athena, but it is now up to a jury to decide whether or not to sentence him to death or life in prison.
Per CBS News , Horner said he has Asperger’s syndrome and did not adjust well to FedEx making changes to his route, adding that it nearly made him kill himself and led to a breakdown in his mental health. He said his alter ego, “Zero,” was the one who committed the murder.
Initially, Horner told authorities, according to an arrest warrant, that he strangled Athena after accidentally hitting her with his van while backing up. He said that she wasn’t seriously hurt, but he panicked and put her in the van.
Horner said he didn’t want to let her father know what happened, so he tried to break her neck. When that failed, he choked Athena to death in the back of the van. The warrant added Horner took authorities to the body.
Prosecution called story ‘an absolute lie”
The prosecution called Horner’s story, “an absolute lie,” and showed video footage of the little girl sitting inside the truck — unharmed — after she was abducted.
“The only truthful thing that Tanner Horner told law enforcement was that he killed her,” Wise County District Attorney James Stainton said during opening statements. “The pattern and web of lies that he put together, it’s going to be hard for you all to keep up with. It is lie upon lie upon lie upon lie.
“The first thing Tanner Horner says to Athena when he picks her up and puts her in that truck, he leans down and he says: ‘Don’t scream or I’ll hurt you.’ He says that twice.”
Killer’s mother asks if he sexually abused murder victim
The jury in Fort Worth also heard chilling phone calls from Horner’s mother, asking him if he sexually abused his murder victim.
“Tanner, I just hope you didn’t do nothing weird to that little girl,” she said, according to Fox 4 News .
When Horner told his mother that he didn’t, his mother said, “I just know how you get.”
“Well, actually, with my medication, I barely even have a libido as it is,” Horner responded.
In another phone call with his grandmother, Horner once again denied raping Athena, saying he was “remorseful” for his crimes. “How can I not be? I haven’t been on my medication for the last few weeks, and I’m feeling emotional,” he said.
In opening statements, the prosecution said Horner’s DNA was found under Athena’s fingernails and “in places where you shouldn’t find DNA on a 7-year-old girl.”
“You are going to hear what a 250-pound man can do to a 67-pound child,” Stainton said. “And when I say it’s horrible, I mean it … He brought violence, fear and death. That’s what he brought with him.”