In a chilling revelation that has left courtroom observers stunned, the confessed FedEx driver who admitted to kidnapping and murdering an innocent 7-year-old girl told experts he believed he had struck a “deal with the devil” by taking her life. He compared his actions to a horror movie plot about satanic pacts for personal gain. The disturbing details emerged during Tanner Horner’s murder trial, painting a picture of a calculated killer who saw no other way out of his perceived problems than the ultimate crime.

Killer FedEx driver Tanner Horner claimed he had made a “deal with the devil” by slaying 7-year-old Athena Strand, the jury at his murder trial was told.

The confessed child murderer compared his crimes to the 2017 movie American Satan, in which a rock band commits human sacrifices as part of a pact with a demonic entity to achieve fame and success, forensic psychiatrist Dr. Eileen Ryan told the jury in a Fort Worth, Texas, courtroom.

“He [Horner] spoke quite specifically about the movie ‘American Satan.’ He described a belief that he had entered into a ‘deal with the devil’ — not necessarily in a supernatural sense, but as a catastrophic moral trade,” Ryan said.

“In his mind, he believed that by taking Athena’s life, he was ‘saving’ his own life and career,” she added. “He felt that if he didn’t do this, his world would end, his job would be gone, and he would be ruined.”

The psychiatrist noted that while Horner has diagnoses of Asperger’s syndrome, ADHD, and bipolar disorder, these were not the cause of his heinous crimes. Rather, she said they contributed to his “rigid, black-and-white thinking,” where the only two options were Athena’s death or his life being ruined.

Under cross-examination, she admitted that despite Horner’s diagnoses, he still had the capacity to plan, hide evidence, and lie to investigators to cover his tracks.

Horner is awaiting sentencing for the November 2022 murder of Athena after kidnapping her from outside her home in Paradise, Texas, and dumping her naked body in a rural creek.

This case continues to send shockwaves through the community of Paradise, Texas, and across the nation, as families grapple with how a seemingly ordinary delivery driver could commit such an unthinkable act against a young child who was simply playing near her home.

The testimony from Dr. Ryan sheds light on Horner’s twisted mindset, where he allegedly viewed the murder not as an act of evil but as a desperate transaction to protect his own future — a rationale that many find impossible to comprehend.

The brutal details of Athena Strand’s kidnapping, murder, and the discovery of her body have fueled calls for stronger background checks in delivery services and greater awareness around child safety in rural and suburban areas.

As Horner awaits his final sentence, the focus remains on delivering justice for little Athena, whose short life was stolen in what prosecutors and the community describe as a preventable tragedy driven by one man’s catastrophic moral failure.