Killer FedEx driver Tanner Horner blamed the murder of 7-year-old Athena Strand on his alter-ego “Zero,” and claimed that he thought his crimes were a “nightmare,” a jury in Texas heard.

Horner claimed that his other personality “took over” when he strangled the young girl after kidnapping her from outside her house, according to footage of his Wise County Sheriff’s Office police interview that was played in court Thursday.

Surveillance footage of 7-year-old Athena Strand inside Tanner Horner's FedEx truck.
Killer FedEx driver Tanner Horner blamed the murder of Athena Strand, 7, on his alter ego “Zero.”FOX 4 Dallas-Fort Worth

Tanner Horner walking into the courtroom during the first day of his capital murder trial.
Horner claimed that he thought his crimes were a “nightmare,” a jury in Texas heard.The Dallas Morning News via Getty Images
He claimed he had accidentally hit Strand with his truck and said he tried to calm her down.

When that failed, “Zero kind of took over,” he said.

“He [Zero] told her, ‘Just get in the back of the van, we’re going to go to the hospital,’” Horner told investigators, as he denied that he had killed Strand.

“I didn’t do it, but he [Zero] did, and that’s what f–ks with me … I’m wondering who the hell’s been in my head this whole time,” he said.

“Part of me is in denial because I didn’t pull the trigger,” Horner said.

“You feel like ‘Zero’ pulled the trigger?” the investigator asked, to which he responded, “I feel like it, yeah. I tried to disarm the gun. I tried to stop all of this from happening.”

A young girl with blonde hair in pigtails smiles, wearing a light blue shirt with a plaid pumpkin design and black and white checkered pants.
Horner claimed that his other personality “took over” when he strangled the young girl after kidnapping her from outside her house.Facebook/Maitlyn Presley Gandy
Horner strangled Strand and “tossed” her body in the back of his FedEx truck, before later stripping her and dumping her body in a river.

He told investigators he couldn’t remember what had happened when he killed the schoolgirl, before discovering her pants in his bag.

“That night I kind of had a nightmare. I thought it was a nightmare until I found the pants in my backpack. I thought the entire thing was a nightmare,” he said.

Horner explained that he initially dumped Strand’s body in a wooded area where he first took investigators to look for her.

Horner was also asked about specific marks on Strand’s body, to which he responded that they could have occurred when he took her body from his truck to the creek.

“I dragged her across the road and threw her in the bamboo,” he said.

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He claimed “Zero” then moved the girl’s body to the creek and suggested that he remove her clothes to throw off investigators.

Horner pleaded guilty on Tuesday to killing Strand in 2022.

He faces the death penalty or life in prison without parole if convicted.

SOURCE AND VIDEO: https://nypost.com/2026/04/09/us-news/killer-fedex-driver-blames-alter-ego-zero-for-7-year-old-athena-strands-murder/