In this episode of Pushing Up Lilies, I’m covering a case that is incredibly difficult to talk about, the kidnapping and murder of 7-year-old Athena Strand, and the man responsible, Tanner Lynn Horner. This is one of those stories that stays with you. Athena was just a child, full of life, curiosity, and innocence, and her disappearance quickly turned into something far more devastating than anyone could have imagined. What makes this case even more unsettling is how ordinary the circumstances seemed at first… and how quickly everything changed. As I walk through the timeline of what happened, I do so with great care, for Athena, for her family, and for anyone listening who may find this story especially heavy. This episode is not about sensationalizing tragedy. It’s about acknowledging it, understanding it, and honoring a life that should have had so much more time. From an investigative perspective, I also touch on how cases like this unfold, how quickly information moves, how critical those first hours are, and the realities behind scenes that most people never see. But at the center of this episode is not the perpetrator.It’s Athena. Her story matters. Her life matters. This episode contains discussion of child abduction and violence, and I encourage you to take care of yourself while listening. 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 still can’t get over how much fun I had last week at Beyond the Crime. 00:41 And I am really looking forward to CrimeCon. I have so much new merchandise that y’all are going to love. And so, if you get a chance, I’m an exhibitor. Stop by and visit with me and get your pushing up lilies poker chip. 00:57 I want to talk this week about a case that is here in Texas. I know that y’all have heard about it. It’s been all over the news. It’s been on Court TV, and it’s definitely been talked about here because it’s literally right down the road from me. 01:13 I want to start this episode by being completely honest with you. I was not planning to cover this story. In my work as a forensic nurse death investigator, I encounter many cases. A lot of them are widely known and others never make the headlines. 01:31 But over time, you kind of learn to be a little selective about which stories you share publicly, especially when they involve children. Because those cases stay with you in a different way. They’re a lot heavier, they’re harder to talk about, and they require a level of care and respect that really goes beyond ordinary storytelling. 01:54 The reality is that this trial is being broadcast live on court TV, and I know that many people are following this case very closely. Conversations about Athena Strand are happening everywhere, online, in workplaces, in homes, and across the country. 02:13 And when a case involving a child reaches this level of public attention, it really becomes important to discuss the facts very clearly, responsibly, and with professional context. And that’s why I made the decision to cover this story. 02:30 As a forensic nurse death investigator, my role in real life is to examine deaths that occur under suspicious, sudden, or violent circumstances. And so, I’ve worked very closely with law enforcement and prosecutors. 02:48 My job is to document what happened and maybe collect evidence and help determine the cause and manner of death. And it’s very detailed and it’s also very emotional. And it’s work that requires a lot of objectivity and compassion and precision. 03:07 And so, when I talk about this case today, I’m not speaking as a sensational storyteller. I’m speaking as a professional who understands how investigations unfold and how evidence is actually gathered and how the justice system evaluates what happened. 03:26 And more importantly, I’m speaking as someone who understands the impact that cases have on families and communities. So, this episode is going to walk through the full story of Athena Strand, who she was, what happened on November 30th, 2022, how investigators responded, and what jurors are now considering as they decide the sentence for this man who pleaded guilty to her murder. 03:55 Everything discussed here is based on reported facts from news coverage and court proceedings. So, my goal is actually to provide clarity, context, and understanding while also honoring the life of a child whose future was taken far too soon. 04:13 So, before we talk about crime scenes and investigations or courtrooms, we talk a little bit about Athena, because every case begins with a person and not just a headline. Athena was only seven. So many of us can relate. 04:29 We’ve got kids or grandkids her age. She was a first grader. She lived in Paradise, Texas, which is a very small rural community northwest of Fort Worth. And people who knew her described her as energetic, curious, and talkative. 04:47 She loved animals very much. She loved school. She loved learning. And like many kids her age, she had big dreams and a very vivid imagination. She was at a stage in life filled with discovery, reading new books and building friendships and looking forward to the holidays. 05:07 And in late November of 2022, when this was all happening, Christmas was approaching. Now, for children, Christmas carries a special kind of excitement. Now, if you’re like me, it carries an excitement for me, and I’m 58. 05:21 But it represents magic and anticipation and possibility. Athena was no different. Her stepmother had ordered a Christmas present
Julie Mattson: LIVE From Beyond The Crime 2026
In this episode of Pushing Up Lilies, I’m coming to you live from Beyond the Crime 2026 at the Isleta Casino and Resort! And instead of focusing on just one case, I’m sharing something a little more personal… and a lot more unpredictable. I take you through my journey from the emergency room to becoming a forensic death investigator, and how my perspective on death, trauma, and investigation completely transformed along the way. This career wasn’t something I ever imagined for myself, especially as someone who once feared death so deeply, but it became one of the most defining parts of my life. From there, I share some of the cases that have stayed with me over the years, the strange, the shocking, the heartbreaking, and yes… even the ones that make you shake your head and say, there’s no way that actually happened. Because in this field, no two scenes are ever the same. We’re talking about everything from unexpected discoveries and bizarre death scenes to the realities of working with families on the worst day of their lives. I also open up about the emotional weight of this work, the importance of mental health, and how I learned to balance compassion with professionalism in situations most people never experience. This episode is raw, real, and at times unbelievable, but it’s also a look behind the curtain at what death investigation truly looks like, beyond what you see on TV. And if you’ve ever wondered what it’s really like to do this job…this is one you won’t forget. * Listener discretion is advised. 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, this is Julie with Pushing Up Lilies again here for another episode. I’m happy to be LIVE, here at the Isleta Casino and Resort, and we’re at Beyond the Crime. 00:43 So, this is really exciting. And I thought instead of like telling one specific story, I would kind of share a little bit about my career and then tell some stories that kind of stand out because some of them are strange, really strange. 00:57 So, if you told me, though, years ago that I was going to be around death, I would have said there’s absolutely no way. I was terrified of death when I was a kid. I was afraid of dying. Every day I thought that might be the last day I saw my parents. 01:09 So, it was really weird. Like I obsessed about it. So, it was really crazy that I ended up in this career field. I worked in the ER for a long time. I was a brand new nurse. And of course, I wanted to fix everything and help everybody get better and stabilize them. 01:24 And so, when someone died, I felt like a failure. I would go home and kind of feel defeated. Like, what did we do wrong? What could we have done different? It was just heavy, you know, just a heavy feeling. 01:37 I always felt like we’d done something wrong, even when I knew we did everything right. So it was, it was a weird guilt feeling. But I learned fast in the ER. It’s very fast, unpredictable. And we never knew what we were going to get. 01:50 Saw a lot of trauma, did a lot of CPR. And we still had to be calm, which was learned. Because at first, you just want to panic because everything’s going fast and people are hurting and screaming and crying and pushing their call bell. 02:06 And it’s just, you start to get frantic, but you can’t ever show it. So, we always had to stay calm, but it really built confidence and resilience in me and exposed me to a lot of situations that people never see. 02:20 CPR was always hard, especially when it was someone I knew. Many times, in a small town, you end up doing CPR on, I did CPR on my doctor. Like, yeah, he coded comes in, you know, and it was like, oh my God. 02:33 And he did not make it. And again, you just feel because I knew his family. I knew his dad. I knew his kids. But that silence is really heavy and is really hard for me when they gave up the fight. We had to give up the fight. 02:49 But I always saw people in their worst day, and I saw trauma and fear and illness and a lot of resilience. But I had to stay focused, and I found myself asking questions like beyond treatment. So that’s when I realized maybe I would be a good investigator, you know, like I want to be nosy, but we always want to ask questions that are inappropriate. 03:13 And so, when I got a job as a death investigator, it was my job. So, I could be nosy and I was getting paid for it. So, it was kind of cool. But I remember the first time I saw a death investigator come into the ER when we lost a patient. 03:26 And I think it was a hanging. He’s 80 years old now. So, he’s still alive. But I asked him, what can I do to get your job? And a lot of people ask me that now. And he’s like, go to all the trainings you can. 03:38 You don’t have to pay a million dollars but get a certificate that says you learned and keep it behind your resume and just keep building it. When people see your desire to learn and the fact that you’ve educated yourself, they will know that you’re serious about it and take you
Pedro Rodrigues Filho: The Man Who Killed Killers
Hey y’all, it’s Julie Mattson, and in this episode of Pushing Up Lilies, I’m taking you into one of the most complex and controversial cases I’ve ever explored, the story of Pedro Rodrigues Filho, also known as the Brazilian “Dexter”. This is not your typical serial killer case. Pedro didn’t just target innocent victims, he claimed to hunt criminals. Murderers. People he believed deserved to die. Over the course of his life, he confessed to dozens of killings, many of them carried out inside prison walls. And somehow, instead of fading into obscurity, he later reemerged as a public figure, sharing his story openly, even building a following online. But here’s the question that sits at the center of this case… Was he a vigilante delivering his own version of justice?Or simply a serial killer rewriting his narrative? In this episode, I walk through his early life, the violence that shaped him, and the psychology behind someone who blurs the line between revenge and murder. As a forensic death investigator, I also look at what cases like this reveal about motive, trauma, and the dangerous territory between justice and personal vengeance. Because when someone decides who deserves to live or die…we have to ask, where does that end? This episode contains discussions of violence, homicide, and moral ambiguity. * Listener discretion is advised. 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. My name is Julie. Again, I’m your host and I have my voice back, I think almost completely. I may be still a little bit squeaky, but hopefully you can tolerate me this time. 00:46 Super excited leaving Friday to go to Beyond the Crime, which is a true crime convention. And it happens April 11th and 12th in Albuquerque. And it’s going to feature advocacy for families of the missing and also feature several podcasts. 01:07 While I’m there, I will be part of the podcast Mingle, which is the first night we’re there. We’re going to get to visit a lot of the guests and the guests will get to meet all the podcasters that are there. 01:19 And we’ll be selling our merch at the merch tables. And then on Sunday, I will be doing a live podcast on the podcasting stage. So super exciting. We’re really gung-ho on going. We decided to fly. So I’m going to have luggage full of merchandise and I just hope I can get it all in there. 01:39 It’ll be fun. We’re really excited to go. This is our first event. And so traveling out of state is a really big deal for us. And so I’m looking forward to this and hoping for many more. I’ll be attending CrimeCon at the end of May. 01:53 And that’s an even bigger event. But I’m excited about this. There will be attention brought to some missing persons cases and some of the keynote speakers. Super interesting. There’s over 30 guest speakers, including the mothers of Gabby Petito and also the death row defense attorney for John Wayne Gacy. 02:18 It’s going to be interesting. It is ticketed. I’m excited. So I’d like to see who’s going. And if you are going, I would love for you to stop by and visit. I want to talk to you this week about the man who killed killers. 02:34 And I don’t know if y’all have heard this story before, but a lot of killers become infamous because of the number of people that they kill. But a lot of them become notorious because of how cruel or unpredictable their crimes are. 02:49 Ever so often, a criminal will emerge whose story unsettles people in a different way. And that’s not because the violence is random, but because it seems, at least on the surface, intentional and targeted. 03:05 Now, Pedro Rodriguez Filho was one of those men. Over the course of his life, he would kill at least 70 people. Some stories state that there were at least 100, but possibly more than 100. And many of his victims were criminals themselves, drug dealers, rapists, murderers. 03:27 And because of that, some people saw him not as a monster, but as a vigilante. Others believed he was simply a killer who tried to justify his actions with some sort of twisted moral code. But either way, his story would eventually earn him a nickname that echoed around the world as the real-life Dexter. 03:50 And many of you know about Dexter. Dexter aired from 2006 to 2013. It was set in Miami, and it was centered on Dexter Morgan. And he was a forensic technician who specialized in bloodstain pattern analysis for a fictional police department. 04:08 He led a secret parallel life as a vigilante serial killer, and he hunted down murderers who really weren’t adequately punished by the justice system. So this is the real life Dexter. Now, what makes this story so disturbing is not really just the number of people that he killed, but the way violence kind of shaped every stage of his life. 04:35 From the moment he was born, brutality surrounded him. It was present in his home, in his relationships, in his decisions, and then ultimately in his identity. To understand how Pedro became one of the most feared criminals in Brazil, we have to really begin at the beginning. 04:55 Before his first crime and before his first arrest and even before his first breath.
Spence and Mo’ Tepe: The Murdered Dentist and His Wife
On this episode of Pushing Up Lilies, we’re delving into the twisted tale of David Tronnes, a Florida man whose obsession with home renovations and dreams of reality TV stardom ended in murder.
Roadside Horror Revisited: Joe “The Cannibal” Metheny
In this bone-chilling episode, we delve into the horrifying tale of Serial Killer, Joe Metheny. Brace yourself as we uncover the dark and disturbing story of a seemingly ordinary food vendor who harbored a deadly secret. Join us as we navigate the twisted mind of Joe Metheny, exploring the shocking details of his crimes, his methods of luring unsuspecting victims, the unimaginable horrors he committed, and the customers that unknowingly consumed human flesh from his roadside food truck.
New Year’s Eve Murder Encore – Son Decapitates Mom
On New Years Eve in 2014, a son attacked his mother at their home and decapitated her with an ax, because she “nagged him” to do the chores.
Revisiting the Holiday Murder of Rhonda Hinson
In this episode, we’re taking a closer look at the heartbreaking 1981 murder of 19-year-old Rhonda Hinson, a North Carolina teen whose life was brutally cut short just two days before Christmas.
The Disappearance of Ana Walshe
In this episode, I’m digging into the unsettling story of Faye and Raymond Copeland—the oldest couple ever sentenced to death in the United States.
Anna Kepner: Vanished at Sea
In this episode, I’m digging into the unsettling story of Faye and Raymond Copeland—the oldest couple ever sentenced to death in the United States.
Teen Murderer: The Case That Shook Fairfax
Hey y’all, it’s Julie Mattson, your Forensic Nurse Death Investigator and host of Pushing Up Lilies. This week, we’re diving into a case that stunned an entire community, Fairfax, Virginia, where a teenage boy brutally took a life in a way no one could have imagined. I’ve seen a lot in my years of working crime scenes, but when someone so young commits such a calculated act of violence, it hits differently. In this episode, I’ll walk you through the chilling details of what happened, the shocking motive behind it all, and how the community, and law enforcement, responded to the horror that unfolded. Grab a blanket, turn down the lights, and let’s talk about the teen murderer who changed everything in Fairfax. * Listener discretion is advised. 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 back. We’re here for another week and it’s been kind of a, I don’t want to say it too loud, a slow week at work so far. I mean yesterday was a little bit… a little bit busy. 00:46 We had a couple hospital deaths, some hospice deaths. Those you would think would be super quick, but many times a hospice death can take just as long as a case. I mean, there’s a lot of information to get. 01:02 It’s not always easily accessible, especially when the person is new to hospice. Many times, they’ve barely been admitted before they pass because, I mean, their prognosis is not good, right? So, we don’t expect them to live a lot longer, but sometimes they’re barely placed on hospice before they’re pronounced. 01:26 It’s always still sad though, because it’s close to the holidays and you know, you know that these families are going to be struggling to be without their family members for the holidays. So even though it’s expected, I know it doesn’t make it any easier for these families. 01:43 So, we just always try to remember that, you know, it’s every death is a loss of a person, and the families still have to survive. And it’s not always easy. Anyway, I’m so glad. that you’re here with me today you’re gonna hear one of the most shocking cases to come out of Ohio in years, and this is the murder of Sheila Tenpenny. 02:12 Sheila was only 64 years old she lived in Fairfax and she was very loved by her family. She was a second mother to her nieces and nephews, and she was known as someone who showed up for people and cared about people and we should all be that way but not everyone is. 02:36 Sheila was loved is what it sounds like. Her death was very sudden, her death was violent and it was carried out by a boy who lived nearby but the really sad part I mean it’s all sad, but he was only 13. 02:54 The case is disturbing and it raises real questions about premeditation at a very young age. It raises questions about warning signs, and it raises questions about what justice looks like when the suspect is a juvenile. 03:16 And it’s scary that kids think the way they think sometimes. And a lot of it could be related to social media and a lot of it could be related to what they’ve seen on television or just curiosity. But I want to walk you through this story step by step because you will hear what happened inside her home. 03:39 You’ll hear how investigators solve the case, what the boy researched before the murder. And you will hear the fear expressed by the lead investigator and also the pain carried by her family. Take a deep breath if you need it because this case might stay with you. 04:03 Sheila Tenpenny lived on Germania Street in Fairfax, Ohio. Sheila was 64 years old, very young as I get closer to that age. She was a sister. She was an aunt. And again, her family described her as nurturing. 04:24 Her nieces and nephews called her their second mother. She lived a very quiet life. She kept a peaceful home. There were no signs of turmoil, no disputes with her neighbors, nothing about her background, really put her at risk for being a murder victim. 04:45 Her home became the location of a brutal homicide, the kind of homicide that leaves the whole community shaken. This is the interesting part. The suspect lived nearby. He was only 13 at the time of this murder, and he was a juvenile with no criminal history at all. 05:08 His mother had concerns, she kept a journal, and she wrote that he was interested in serial killers. She sensed that something was not quite right, something was wrong, but she did not realize how far he’d gone. 05:27 Investigators later found out that he had spent months researching violent topics. So, he was looking at things like how to strangle someone. He looked at how to find the perfect victim. He searched for guidance on how to defeat a police interrogation. 05:48 Now that’s really scary too, because not only is he trying to find ways to do it, he’s asking for help finding a victim and ideas on how to trick the police. His online activity revealed deliberate planning. 06:06 It was not impulsive. It was not sudden. He obviously prepared for this. So, the night of the murder, this was February 2nd, between 2 and 5 in the morning, he entered Tenpenny’s home and he went through the front door. 06:25 She was asleep in her bed, and I know that I’d talk to y’all about the importance of locking
