According to trial testimony and multiple news reports, the jury in Tanner Horner’s capital murder case listened on Thursday to audio from inside his delivery van as he strangled seven-year-old Athena Strand. They were also shown video footage from the FedEx truck that graphically captured the entire kidnapping and killing. Courtroom observers reported that several jurors were visibly distraught, crying and dabbing their eyes during the disturbing playback.
Horner had previously entered a guilty plea to capital murder and kidnapping in the death of Athena. Court documents confirm that he admitted to abducting the girl on November 30, 2022, while making a package delivery to her home in Wise County, Texas. As the video played, Horner initially watched the screen with apparent focus, but soon turned away and buried his head in his hand when Athena was visible inside the truck, according to those present.
The audio recordings captured the child repeatedly asking where she was being taken, and she spoke about her school and a teacher before her voice became audibly frightened. At one point, she can be heard pleading for her life, which caused many in the courtroom to weep. Athena’s father took the stand to deliver emotional testimony about the devastating impact of his daughter’s death on him and his family, according to local media covering the trial.
The jury, having heard the evidence, will ultimately decide whether Horner receives a life sentence without parole or the death penalty, a verdict that is expected later this month. In a separate piece of evidence, investigators revealed video from the day after the kidnapping, which showed Horner driving back to the search area. He encountered law enforcement officers and volunteer search parties, and when questioned, he claimed to have no knowledge of the girl’s disappearance, according to police testimony.
The court announced that the trial will be adjourned on Friday, Monday, and Tuesday, with proceedings set to resume on Wednesday morning. Meanwhile, in a separate courtroom in Connecticut, a mistrial was declared in the murder trial of Marc Karun, who faced charges of killing and kidnapping 11-year-old Kathleen Flynn in 1986. Kathleen Flynn was a sixth-grader at Ponus Ridge Middle School who disappeared while walking home on September 23, 1986.
She was last seen carrying her schoolbooks, and her disappearance triggered an extensive search. Her body was later found in a wooded area near Hunters Lane in Norwalk, but the case remained unsolved for more than three decades until investigators linked it to Karun through DNA and similarities to his prior crimes. Karun was arrested at his home in Stetson, Maine, in 2019 after advancements in genetic testing and investigative work connected him to the murder, as well as to a string of attacks on other victims in the 1980s.
Detectives had long considered the case a cold one, but a renewed push using familial DNA led to the breakthrough. He was charged with murder and kidnapping and brought to trial more than 35 years after the crime. During the trial, prosecutors received an email from retired Norwalk police lieutenant Robert Fabrizzio, who stated that a state crime lab officer had told him Flynn’s body was placed in a used body bag following its discovery.
Fabrizzio expressed deep concern that the reused bag could have contaminated key evidence, undermining the prosecution’s case. J. Simpson trial and who died last month at the age of 84.
Judge John Blawie declared a mistrial but did not dismiss the charges against Karun, preserving the possibility of a retrial. State Attorney Paul Ferencek expressed his disappointment, particularly for the family of Kathleen Flynn, who have already waited 40 years for justice. The state crime lab’s spokesman, Rick Green, reacted with surprise and asserted that the lab stands by its testimony in the case.
Prosecutors are now working closely with the medical examiner’s office and the state crime lab to verify Fabrizzio’s body bag claim. If the contamination allegation is disproven, the case could still go to trial again, but no decision has been made. Karun has a history of violent offenses: he previously served a 10-year prison sentence for sexually assaulting or kidnapping four other female victims during the 1980s.
Following his 2019 arrest, police searched his Maine residence and found nearly 90 firearms, which he was legally barred from owning as a convicted felon. In an unrelated 2015 case, evidence did not hold and the man was released from custody, underscoring the challenges of evidence integrity in criminal trials.