SERIALously - The Heartbreaking Case of Athena Strand

Episode Date: May 6, 2026

Listen to the episode now!Apple: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/10-to-life/id1841942565?i=1000763917208Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/episode/4nUYpUWw5VZMkzn6H7Ig3u?si=TfgioA3gSWGOudjTXlX4OQ

The Capitol murder trial for former delivery driver Tanner Horner resumes in a few hours without the jury. Jurors cried, some wept openly as the prosecution played the audio recording from inside Tanner Horner's delivery truck. Seven-year-old Athena Strand asking if he is a kidnapper, Horner telling her to take off her shirt. Athena crying and screaming for her mom, telling Horner, my mom says you can't do that to me. The sound thing of a brutal murder and Athena's final game. prayer. This is the story of seven-year-old Athena Strand, who was abducted right outside of her home by a FedEx delivery driver who was actually dropping off a Christmas present for Athena, a set of Barbies for her, for Christmas, that package. And even just saying that, it still doesn't feel real.

This guy was dropping off a Christmas gift for her and the seven-year-old, innocent little girl, and then abducts her. But what we have learned since then, not only about the crime itself, but about Tanner, this monster, his past, the allegations against him, the predatory behavior, it paints an even more disturbing,

more horrifying picture than we originally knew. Because now, through the trial and the footage and the audio recordings that have come out, investigators believe that this was not only a sexually motivated crime, but a truly evil, crime of opportunity. We also now know that Athena was asking him for her mom, that at one point

she even asked him point blank, are you a kidnapper? Which just hearing that, it breaks your heart. Now back in my original deep dive, I shared my initial thoughts based on the limited information that we had at the time, and unfortunately, a lot of those early instincts have since been confirmed. I also went into his background, the allegations, the women who have. have come forward all of it. So today, what I want to do is reopen Athena's case. And if you're new here or new to this format, when I do a reopened episode, I walk you through the original case as it unfolded in real time, but I also layer in everything that we know now, the new evidence, the trial updates, the context that we didn't have back then, because the original episode,

it was recorded within days of Athena being abducted and then found, and so much has come out since then. As a quick reminder, in these reopened episodes, you may hear a slight difference in audio quality here or there because equipment has changed over time, but the goal in doing these episodes is to give you a full, comprehensive picture of the case. Now, I do want to give a little bit of a warning. This is one of the most unsettling and disturbing cases I have ever covered. And even following this trial in real time has been incredibly difficult. I'll be honest with you, there were moments where I genuinely didn't know if I was going to reopen this case. It's incredibly difficult to hear. But Athena's story, it deserves to be told. Her voice deserves to be heard. So take a

quick second. Hit that like button. Hit the subscribe button. Hit the follow button on your podcast. I'm Annie Elyse. This is 10 to Life. And today, we are reopening the case of Athena Strand. Let's jump right in. All right, everybody. What you just heard is a sneak preview from our case coverage of the Athena Strand case. This episode released last week on my second true crime podcast feed, 10 to Life. Also, the trial just wrapped up. The sentencing phase is complete. He was sentenced to the death penalty. But the full case, not only covering Athena's case and what happened to her, but covering the trial and past allegations from Tanner's past and other women, that episode is out.

now on the 10 to life feed. So I know a lot of you have been requesting it. It is available. You can go listen right now. I will link it in the show notes for you.