In this episode of Pushing Up Lilies, I continue Inside the Crime That Shook a Community with Part Three, focusing on the trial of the man responsible for the death of 7-year-old Athena Strand. This is the part of the story where the legal process begins… but that doesn’t make it any easier. As I walk through the courtroom proceedings, I do so with the same care and intention, because behind every testimony, every piece of evidence, and every legal argument is a family still living with unimaginable loss. Trials are meant to bring answers.They’re meant to bring accountability. But they don’t always bring peace. From an investigative perspective, I also share insight into what happens when a case moves from the scene into the courtroom, how evidence is presented, how timelines are reconstructed, and how the justice system works to piece together the truth in a way that can be understood by a jury. And while this part of the story focuses on the trial…I want to be very clear about something. This is not about the man who committed the crime. It is still about Athena. Her life.Her memory.And the impact she left behind. This episode contains discussion of child violence, courtroom testimony, and sensitive details surrounding the case. Please take care of yourself while listening, and step away if you need to. EPISODE TRANSCRIPT:  00:06 Welcome to Pushing Up Lilies. I’m your host, Julie Mattson. Pushing Up Lilies is a weekly true crime podcast with spine-tingling, unusual, and terrifyingly true stories from my perspective as a forensic death investigator and a sexual assault nurse examiner.  00:24 Do I have some stories for you? Are you ready? Hey guys, welcome to another episode of Pushing Up Lilies. This is your host, Julie Mattson. I can’t even tell you how excited I am about CrimeCon. I have never been as a spectator, an exhibitor, or a creator.  00:47 So, I’m super excited to get to go this year. I’m an exhibitor. I could not get on Creator’s Row. I understand that that’s rather difficult. And so, I’m going as an exhibitor, kind of get my foot in the door.  00:58 And I’m hoping to go to Crime Cruise also in November, which travels out of Florida. So if you are planning on going, stop and see me. I would love to visit with you. I’ll have all my merch there. We’re going to do the canvas bags, pens, stickers, t-shirts, hoodies, and poker chips.  01:18 My chips are clay. I think I told y’all I ordered the clay ones. I wanted it to be like a real souvenir and not something that was easy to throw away and super lightweight. So anyway, they’re clay. I’m excited about those.  01:32 They’re cute. They’ve got like my QR code on the back. So, you can go straight to my website. But my merch will be available on the website soon. It’s all new designed stuff that will be available at CrimeCon.  01:46 The first time it’s been available was at Beyond the Crime when we went to New Mexico last month. So, it’s all kind of new design and we sold a lot of merch at Beyond the Crime. So that was so much fun.  01:59 I’m really looking forward to Crime Con. Three days, I think last year they said 6,000 people attended Caesar’s Palace and it’s May 29th through 31st and so super excited. Look forward to seeing you there.  02:13 This week, I want to talk a little more about the Athena Strand case. Again, it’s not one that I really wanted to cover, but I wanted to make sure that I covered just the facts, not guessing what’s happening or guessing what’s going on in people’s heads, but just kind of covering the story and what’s going on.  02:34 So, this episode is a heavy one. And before I get into it, again, I want to say out loud that there are a lot of cases that I cover and you just move on. And there are ones that kind of stay with you even after I stop recording.  02:48 And this is one of those because at the center of everything, we’re about to talk about, it’s not just a case and it’s not just evidence and it’s not just a defendant sitting in the courtroom. It’s a little girl.  02:59 Athena was only seven. What we’re walking through today is the sentencing phase of Tanner Horner’s trial. Now, he already pled guilty, so there’s no question about whether or not he did this. That part is done.  03:12 So now the jury is left with one decision. And it’s one of the hardest decisions any jury will ever have to make. Is he going to get life in prison without parole or the death penalty? And to get there, unfortunately, they had to sit through days of testimony and listen to witnesses who reminded the courtroom who Athena was.  03:36 Some of them walked through exactly what happened and others kind of tried to explain who Tanner Horner is and how he became the person sitting at the defense table. Now, I want to cover a little bit about like what happened during the trial days because like me, I work.  03:55 I can’t sit and watch the trial all day long. I would love to because it’s super interesting. And I did watch the O.J. Simpson trial. I remember back in the day, but that was before life started lifing.  04:09 On the first day, the tone was set pretty much. Tanner Horner stood up. He pleaded guilty. There was no drawn out trial over guilt and no uncertainty at all. It was just acknowledgement, basically. In a way, that shifts the entire weight of the trial because now the jury’s not trying to figure out if he did it.  04:31 They’re just trying to figure out what to do with the truth.