GUILTY TX - Athena Strand, 8, Abducted & Murdered by FedEx Contract Driver, Tanner Horner, Paradise, 30 November 2022 #2

[LooksSusToMe]

This monster doesn’t deserve to have a bed to sleep in, food to eat, friends in prison, visits from family, tv, access to the internet, etc if he was to be sentenced to life in prison. I’m sure Athena’s parents would give anything for her to be alive and locked up in prison instead. Why should we allow him to relive his sick perversions and murder in his head every day? Why should he be allowed to keep breathing when he viciously strangled and stomped the breathe out of Athena? I don’t think capitol punishment is abhorrent when it’s handed down to child killers who shouldn’t be allowed to walk this Earth. I have a lot of confidence that this jury will get it right. I’ve never seen a case where the entirety of the murder was captured on film/audio including the before and after moments. It’s not like there’s any question to his guilt. This is literally one of the worst cases and trials I’ve followed. Athena was such a sweet innocent baby girl.

 

[twall]

Here's what happened in court yesterday.

Tanner Horner capital murder trial enters expert witness hearings in Athena Strand case

On Monday, the court moved into what's known as the voir dire phase for expert witnesses.

www.cbsnews.com

One of the most striking moments came from the psychologist's testimony.

She said Horner admitted to killing Athena during her evaluation and offered a new explanation for why he kidnapped her. According to her testimony, Horner claimed he took Athena because he was "concerned she saw him using cocaine."

The judge also indicated that the defense's first witness, once the jury is back in the courtroom, is expected to be Tanner Horner's mother.

 

[su5ie]

Here's what happened in court yesterday.

Tanner Horner capital murder trial enters expert witness hearings in Athena Strand case

On Monday, the court moved into what's known as the voir dire phase for expert witnesses.

www.cbsnews.com

One of the most striking moments came from the psychologist's testimony.

She said Horner admitted to killing Athena during her evaluation and offered a new explanation for why he kidnapped her. According to her testimony, Horner claimed he took Athena because he was "concerned she saw him using cocaine."

The judge also indicated that the defense's first witness, once the jury is back in the courtroom, is expected to be Tanner Horner's mother.

Just when I think his vile excuses can go no further

So was it him or Zero using cocaine

 

[tlcya]

The psychologist testified that Horner referred to an alter ego he called "Zero," which she described as functioning more like an imaginary friend, a way for him to express thoughts and feelings he struggled to communicate directly.

Tanner Horner capital murder trial enters expert witness hearings in Athena Strand case

Yeah, even their own proposed expert doesn't claim he has DID, says he has an imaginary friend called Zero who does the things he wants to do but is too cowardly to do "himself"

That's not going to get him far IMO.

I am more worried about the autism, fetal alcohol syndrome and lead exposure buying him sympathy than that Zero

 

[tlcya]

Here's what happened in court yesterday.

Tanner Horner capital murder trial enters expert witness hearings in Athena Strand case

On Monday, the court moved into what's known as the voir dire phase for expert witnesses.

www.cbsnews.com

One of the most striking moments came from the psychologist's testimony.

She said Horner admitted to killing Athena during her evaluation and offered a new explanation for why he kidnapped her. According to her testimony, Horner claimed he took Athena because he was "concerned she saw him using cocaine."

The judge also indicated that the defense's first witness, once the jury is back in the courtroom, is expected to be Tanner Horner's mother.

You know, when I was watching him drive that truck around that day before during and after the abduction/murder I wondered if all that sniffing he was doing indicated he was on coke. Drugs man, they are the devil. Man lives in filth in a shed in a relative's backyard, has a child to support and a fiancé but has money for coke? Wouldn't surprise me a bit though. It's the nature of addiction.

That said, his excuse is just another stooopid one. Like Athena would even know what coke is or care that some rando delivery driver was using it.

 

[Megnut]

Just when I think his vile excuses can go no further

So was it him or Zero using cocaine

More proof he knows right from wrong.

He lied about it, covered it up, he knew it was wrong but did it anyway.

Because he wanted to.

And because he didn't want to also lose his job, even though he was prepared to, he didn't steal the pair of little girls. He made a calculation and drove away.

JMO

 

[Niner]

I am going to go ahead & post this.

Tuesday, April 21st:
*Trial continues/Voir Dire Hearing (Day 2) [Defense witnesses] (@ 9am CT) - TX - Athena Presley Monroe Strand (7) – (last seen near the 200 block of County 3573 on Nov. 30, 2022 in Paradise. Reported missing by stepmom @ 6:40pm on 11/30/22; found deceased along the water’s edge of the Trinity River southeast of Boyd on the evening of Dec. 2, 2022 about 9 miles from her home). *Tanner Lynn Horner (31/now 34) arrested (12/3/22), indicted (2/16/23), charged & arraigned (3/6/23) with capital murder (under the age of 10) & 1st degree felon aggravated kidnapping. Bond $1M (murder) $500K (kidnapping). Surety Bond total $1,545,000. Plead not guilty (3/6/23). DA will seek DP (2/18/23). Wise County/Now in 297th District Court-Tarrant County on 3/16/24
TX - *Tanner Lynn Horner (31/now 34) charged (12/21/22) with 3 counts of sexual assault (from 2013) in Fort Worth. Bond @ $45K. Surety Bond Total $135K. Tarrant County
Admitted kidnapping & killing Athena.
Jury selection began on 1/30/26 & ended on 2/11/26. Final jury selection began on 4/1/26 & ended. 12 jurors & 2 alternates.
Trial began on 4/7/26. Horner plead GUILTY. Punishment phase (sentencing) started on 4/7/26. State rested their case on 4/16/26.
Judge George Gallagher presiding. Wise County DA James Stainton. DA Allenna Banks. Defense: Public defenders Susan Anderson & Steven Goble. For Aggravated kidnapping defense attorney Pamela Fernandez.
Case & court info from 11/30/22 thru 12/21/22 [Tarrant County] & thru 1/21/26 [murder] & Jury Selection Day 1-4 (1/29-1/30, 2/11 & 4/1/26) & Trial/Sentencing Phase Day 1-7 (4/7-4/15/26) reference post #1371 here:
https://www.websleuths.com/forums/t...actor-tanner-horner-paradise-2.649712/page-69
4/16/26 Thursday, Trial Day 8/Sentencing Phase: State witnesses: Jacob Strand, Athena's father. Texas Ranger Job Espinoza back to the stand. Espinoza was asked questions about the camera inside Tanner Horner's FedEx van.
So far the jury has seen the videos taken in the days prior to & the day after the abduction. This afternoon, audio from inside the van that Horner was driving when he abducted 7-year-old Athena will be played for the jury — that part will not be shown on the live stream.
10:30am-jurors are now watching about 2.5 hours of video that includes the abduction & killing of Athena.
*State rested their case.
The judge has ordered the video feed cut. There will be no trial on Friday, Monday or Tuesday. From Friday until Tuesday, the judge & attorneys on both sides will meet without the jury present, as part of so-called Daubert hearings. The judge will determine the admissibility of expert witness testimony before the jury is able to hear it. Trial will resume on Wednesday, 4/22/26.
4/17/26 Update: Prosecutors rested their case Thursday, but attorneys on both sides returned to court Friday without jurors present. Over the next few days, the focus is expected to be on vetting witnesses & determining which experts will be allowed to testify before the jury next week. On Friday, the state called a rebuttal witness, psychiatrist Dr. Michael Arambula, who testified about his evaluation of Horner.
4/20/26 Monday Update: The murder trial of Horner resumed Monday without a jury in the courtroom, as the case entered a key legal step focused on vetting the defense's expert witnesses. On Monday, the court moved into what's known as the voir dire phase for expert witnesses—a process where the judge & attorneys decide what testimony the jury will ultimately be allowed to hear. Four medical experts called by the defense testified Monday outside the presence of the jury. All four said they had evaluated Horner & believed he had significant underlying health & developmental issues long before Athena's death. The witnesses included: A psychologist, two physicians who focus on environmental toxin & a pediatrician. Prosecutors pushed back on the defense experts' conclusions, focusing not just on what they found but how they found it. Those challenges will help the judge decide how much of the experts' testimony, and which opinions, the jury will be allowed to hear when the trial resumes in full. The voir dire hearings are expected to continue on Tuesday, 4/21/26, with four more witnesses scheduled to appear. Full testimony in front of the jury is set to resume on Wednesday, 4/22/26. The judge also indicated that the defense's first witness, once the jury is back in the courtroom, is expected to be Horner's mother.

 

[BUF]

The judge also indicated that the defense's first witness, once the jury is back in the courtroom, is expected to be Tanner Horner's mother.

I hope that the prosecution has his mother explain her comment to TH
“I know how you get” in detail

 

[gucci2times]

I am wondering if the defense witnesses are just hired experts to discuss generally how FAS and lead impact IQ and impulse control and if the psychologist is just an assessment paid for by the defense vs. “neutral” court evaluation.

I would expect there to be a paper trail from TH’s own pediatrician at the time as well as documentation from TH’s childhood related to the autism diagnosis and associated school plans and supports (IEPs, school psychologist testing). Not sure about Texas’s records retention laws.

Without those who actually treated him for these mental health and cognitive issues during childhood/adolescence testifying, then it’s all just hypothetical.

 

[TMich6811]

I agree with the above expectations for why and who will be presented. I don’t expect it to work after what they’ve now been traumatized witnessing

 

[Megnut]

I am wondering if the defense witnesses are just hired experts to discuss generally how FAS and lead impact IQ and impulse control and if the psychologist is just an assessment paid for by the defense vs. “neutral” court evaluation.

I would expect there to be a paper trail from TH’s own pediatrician at the time as well as documentation from TH’s childhood related to the autism diagnosis and associated school plans and supports (IEPs, school psychologist testing). Not sure about Texas’s records retention laws.

Without those who actually treated him for these mental health and cognitive issues during childhood/adolescence testifying, then it’s all just hypothetical.

And there is nothing unique about his alleged diagnoses. And millions of people live with all kinds of challenges and manage not to steal little girls and sexually torture them to death.

He did this on purpose, even created a scapegoat to blame, one who used his body secretly to do it. Maybe that has worked for him in the past, you know how he gets.

Not this time.

JMO

 

[Megnut]

I agree with the above expectations for why and who will be presented. I don’t expect it to work after what they’ve now been traumatized witnessing

I suspect that most or all of the Defense "experts" have never met nor evaluated the defendant. Nor did they prepare any reports or the State wouldn't need voir dire.

I imagine they'll be retired physicians or academics who can speak generically about theoretical deficits or sweeping generalizations.

The Court will probably be generous in latitude, even where specific relevance is lagging, only because the DP is on the table and the Court wants no room for appeal.

But at the same time, I suspect some or much will be denied, as inadmissable, owing to relevance.

Seriously how do you bring in an expert to say, for example, that FAS (combined with ADHD and ASD) leads to impulse control issues as a mitigating factor, when the evidence shows he did control his impulses. He turned his camera off in anticipation before arriving at the home with the two little girls, asked for their parents who materialized, and drove off, not abducting anyone.

Tragically he may have used the same predatory lure with Athena, asking if her parents were there (in order for him, who created his own sick protocol for delivery, one that had nothing to do with policy but served him in looking polite when his motives were anything but courtesy and everything about predation.

He waited until he had successfully excused her from the safety of her home but chose to begin his assault before his assigned deliveries were completed.

Covered up the camera.

He made all sorts of free choices that day. Including leaving her battered body in water in the hopes of washing his DNA away.

Consciousness of guilt cancels out any possible cognitive mitigation.

No one will deserve his sentence more than Tanner Horner.

JMO

 

[gucci2times]

And there is nothing unique about his alleged diagnoses. And millions of people live with all kinds of challenges and manage not to steal little girls and sexually torture them to death.

He did this on purpose, even created a scapegoat to blame, one who used his body secretly to do it. Maybe that has worked for him in the past, you know how he gets.

Not this time.

JMO

That’s the thing about perpetrators who lie to the police/FBI…they are that confident in their ability to pull it off because they have been successful liars thus far. Beyond the “hit her with the truck” story, this joker was literally doing a split personality routine for a Texas Ranger. It’s so wild to me, psychologically speaking.

 

[gucci2times]

I suspect that most or all of the Defense "experts" have never met nor evaluated the defendant. Nor did they prepare any reports or the State wouldn't need voir dire.

I imagine they'll be retired physicians or academics who can speak generically about theoretical deficits or sweeping generalizations.

The Court will probably be generous in latitude, even where specific relevance is lagging, only because the DP is on the table and the Court wants no room for appeal.

But at the same time, I suspect some or much will be denied, as inadmissable, owing to relevance.

Seriously how do you bring in an expert to say, for example, that FAS (combined with ADHD and ASD) leads to impulse control issues as a mitigating factor, when the evidence shows he did control his impulses. He turned his camera off in anticipation before arriving at the home with the two little girls, asked for their parents who materialized, and drove off, not abducting anyone.

Tragically he may have used the same predatory lure with Athena, asking if her parents were there (in order for him, who created his own sick protocol for delivery, one that had nothing to do with policy but served him in looking polite when his motives were anything but courtesy and everything about predation.

He waited until he had successfully excused her from the safety of her home but chose to begin his assault before his assigned deliveries were completed.

Covered up the camera.

He made all sorts of free choices that day. Including leaving her battered body in water in the hopes of washing his DNA away.

Consciousness of guilt cancels out any possible cognitive mitigation.

No one will deserve his sentence more than Tanner Horner.

JMO

Yes there’s a difference between an irresistible impulse and an impulse not resisted!

If I was a juror I would need to hear from other people in Tanner’s life who had knowledge of his life history and mental health. We’ve only heard it self-reported from Tanner, a known unreliable reporter and liar. I would not think a professor with a PHD in neurotoxins would be relevant when deciding his fate.

 

[mickey2942]

MOO, TH does not present with FAS, Fetal Alcohol Syndrome.

Fetal alcohol syndrome - Symptoms and causes

www.mayoclinic.org

Most common in FAS is vision problems. TH doesn't wear glasses for distance, near, or driving. Often FAS have more issues with sunlight, bright light, due to more rod cells than cone cells in eye structure. Don't see any sunglasses for driving.

 

[ivylambs]

I am against the death penalty... but I can’t pretend I’m not glad this case occurred in one of the few states without a moratorium on executions. There is only one appropriate verdict.

 

[tlcya]

If, as @Megnut suggested earlier, defense plans to trot out experts to speak in generalities about autism/Asperger's, FAS, etc the prosecution should be able to make quick work of discrediting them by simply asking if they reviewed TH's childhood medical records and what within those records indicates he suffers these things. My guess is, these are excuses given him over the years by enablers around him as to why he simply cannot get it together and adult. JMO guess.

 

[iamshadow21]

If, as @Megnut suggested earlier, defense plans to trot out experts to speak in generalities about autism/Asperger's, FAS, etc the prosecution should be able to make quick work of discrediting them by simply asking if they reviewed TH's childhood medical records and what within those records indicates he suffers these things. My guess is, these are excuses given him over the years by enablers around him as to why he simply cannot get it together and adult. JMO guess.

The fact is, having FAS, autism, DID or imaginary friends doesn't make you a violent sexual offender who kidnaps children to murder them.

Many millions of people live with these conditions, or even have multiple diagnoses of all of them, and live blameless lives in society harming no one.

This is all on him for being a predator.

MOO

 

[tlcya]

The fact is, having FAS, autism, DID or imaginary friends doesn't make you a violent sexual offender who kidnaps children to murder them.

Many millions of people live with these conditions, or even have multiple diagnoses of all of them, and live blameless lives in society harming no one.

This is all on him for being a predator.

MOO

I know and am not suggesting they do. Guilt has already been established. But the defense is trying to use those things as mitigators for his sentencing. I am just saying I don't even know that he HAS those things. And as you say, even if he does, they should not buy him any mercy for what he has done.

 

[iamshadow21]

I know and am not suggesting they do. Guilt has already been established. But the defense is trying to use those things as mitigators for his sentencing. I am just saying I don't even know that he HAS those things. And as you say, even if he does, they should not buy him any mercy for what he has done.

Yeah, I was agreeing with you.

I don't have FAS, but I do have a learning disability (undxed), autism, and a dissociative disorder (both dxed) and there are very few things that make me more steamed than violent sociopaths like TH or Letecia Stauch trying to fabricate a get out of jail free card from conditions that are already feared, ridiculed and marginalised in society, when the vast majority of people with them would never think to hurt anyone intentionally and would be horrified if they somehow did accidentally because of their condition.

MOO