A FedEx driver had sex with his fiancée just hours after kidnapping, sexually abusing and killing seven-year-old Athena Strand, a court heard. A psychiatrist who evaluated Tanner Horner, 34, for the defense told the jury that the confessed killer forced Strand into his van after she saw him snorting cocaine.
The Psychiatrist's Testimony
Dr Eileen Ryan said that Horner began 'catastrophizing' over what would happen if she reported him and made the 'completely unreasonable' decision to kidnap and kill her. The explanation differs wildly from Horner’s initial account, when he told investigators he panicked and grabbed Strand after accidentally hitting her with his delivery van. Ryan, who spent more than 20 hours interviewing Horner, also testified that the killer admitted to sexually assaulting Strand but denied he was a pedophile.
'He had sex with his fiancée,' Dr Eileen Ryan said during Thursday cross-examination by prosecutors in Fort Worth. 'It says here...that that night, he had sex with his girlfriend - I won't use her name- just to prove that he wasn't into kids. That's what he told you,' the prosecutor said, reading from the mental health expert's notes. Ryan explained that in order for someone to be diagnosed as having pedophilia disorder, they must show consistent interest or arousal in children, and that she did not consider Horner a pedophile.
The Crime
Horner had been delivering a box of Barbies that were due to be Strand's Christmas present when he took the youngster, strangled her and dumped her body in a creek. The two are pictured in his FedEx truck following the kidnapping, prosecutors have stated. The woman is also the mother of Horner's child and had a normal sex life with him, Ryan testified Thursday. Her testimony prompted eye-rolls from the jury throughout proceedings.
'I was pressing him to find out more about any prior interest in kids in that was something that he told me,' Ryan said. 'He had sex with his fiancée, according to him.' Horner admitted to murdering and kidnapping Strand from her home in November 2022 on the fifth day of the capital murder trial, entering a guilty plea to the shock of many. His admission pushed the trial from deciding his guilt into what's known as the punishment phase in Texas, where jurors will now decide if he'll get the death penalty or life in prison.
Details of the Kidnapping
Horner kidnapped Strand from her family’s driveway in Paradise, Texas, while Horner was delivering a package to the home on November 30, 2022. It is believed to have been a crime of opportunity. He had been delivering Barbie dolls that were to make up part of her Christmas gifts that year. Horner has offered multiple reasons for why he took her, including blaming his autism and evil alter ego 'Zero.' His original explanation that he took the girl after hitting her with his van blew up when video from inside the truck was obtained.
During her killing, Horner covered the camera with tape but sickening audio was captured and played to court during the trial, bringing some jurors to tears. The state's lawyer pressed Ryan on some of the graphic details captured in that audio. 'To explain the reason why she (Athena) seems like she's gagging, he tells you he's trying to put a pill in her mouth. That's what he tells you,' said the prosecutor. 'Yes,' Ryan answered. 'You don't believe that, do you?' the prosecutor asked Ryan. 'Well, I don't believe that's all of what happened,' she said. 'What do you believe all of what happened?' the prosecutor continued. Ryan stated that she believed Horner was attempting a sex act, the details of which are too graphic to publish.
The Killing
Horner also talked with the mental health expert about how he killed the young child, Ryan testified Thursday. 'He tried to kill her by breaking her neck, then he choked her,' Ryan read from her notes out loud on the witness stand. 'She was still alive after he choked her. He could hear her breathing. He did another line of coke.' Ryan also detailed in court how he used his fists and feet, an admission Horner did not make to police, to kill her after he wasn't successful at strangling her. 'He beat her with his fists,' Ryan recalled. 'What did you tell you he did with his feet?' the prosecutor asked. 'Kicked her,' she responded. 'You've seen the autopsy photos, have you not?' continued the prosecutor. 'Doesn't that explain why we have a tread-like pattern on her face?' Horner went so far as to request he be assigned to the same delivery truck the day after the slaying from his job in order to clean up the area where his attack on Athena had taken place, according to court testimony.
Despite his admission that he killed Athena, Horner faces life in prison or the death penalty. Testimony is expected to continue into next week, with closing arguments expected Tuesday.
