Horner's letter to the Strand family was apologetic and placed blame for the girl's death on him, but a letter to detectives blamed someone else.
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Tanner Horner's jailhouse letters, including apology to Athena Strand's family, read in court during sentencing phase
Tanner Horner's sentencing phase continued into its fifth day on Monday, nearly a week after
he pleaded guilty to killing Athena Strand in rural Wise County in 2022. During Monday's proceeding, letters that Horner had written in jail prior to a suicide attempt — including one meant for Athena's family — were shown and read in court.
Yaro said Horner had left the letters laid out on a bench in the cell. One envelope was addressed to "Athena's Family," another was addressed to "Detectives ONLY!!!" and yet another was addressed to Legacy Church in Springtown, located in Parker County. Another envelope was addressed to two people living in Fort Worth, while one more was addressed to someone living in Burleson.
The prosecution chose to read two of those letters on Monday: the one addressed to the Strand family and the one addressed to detectives.
Horner's two-page letter to the Strand family, which was read aloud by the prosecution, opened up with him saying: "I want to start by saying how sorry I am about Athena." Horner went on to say that his legal counsel advised him against apologizing until the trial, but that he "couldn't hold it in any longer."
"I've done a terrible thing to your family and I'm sorry," the letter continued. "I can't tell you how many countless nights I've stayed awake, unable to sleep. I pray for all of you. So many people were affected by my breakdown. Not just your family but my own as well. You'll never get to see your baby girl grow up and I'm sorry. Now my son is going to grow up without his father and protector."
In his letter, Horner went on to say he lives with Asperger's syndrome and doesn't do well with changes that are "unpredictable in nature." He also said that when he began working as a FedEx driver, he was given a singular route that didn't change for a while. However, Horner said his employer, who was not identified in the letter, began "making random changes" to his route "so they could make more money." He emphasized again that he didn't adjust to change well and said that changes one day almost sent him into a suicidal episode.
The conclusion of Horner's letter began with more apologies to the Strand family.
"I'm sorry I allowed my mental state to be unstable. I'm sorry I took your little angel away from you. She didn't deserve it. Y'all didn't deserve it," he wrote. "My son didn't deserve to lose his father. My mother didn't deserve to lose her son. My fiancé didn't deserve to have her wedding day stripped away from her."
The prosecution went on to read Horner's letter to detectives, which was one page in length. He noted that he wrote this letter two days before his arraignment date and that he was worried he'd be killed either en route to court or on the way back from it.
In this letter, Horner claimed that the day Athena was killed, he "wasn't the only one involved." He claimed that when he arrived at the Strand property, an older man had "pulled a rifle" on him and demanded his wallet. Horner claimed the man returned his wallet to him and told him to take Athena and bring her elsewhere, to the area with bamboo he first led investigators to during the search for the girl.
Horner claimed this man gave him a change of clothes for Athena and told him to have her change into them before handing her over to him. Horner claimed this man threatened his family and that he didn't know what else to do but go along with it. He also asked detectives not to tell the media and that he was still unsure if this man would "do something."
"If I'm killed on the way to or from the courthouse," Horner continued, "I'll assume it was him."
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