← The Trial: USA
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- [00:03]
Hayden
The Crime Desk Arresting Podcasts
- [00:09]
Kayla Brantley
welcome to the Trial usa. I'm Kayla Brantley. Our focus today is on a truly horrific case out of Texas. First grader Athena Strand was abducted outside her home in a rural area in late November 2022. As her stepmother Ashley was preparing dinner, the 7 year old was taken by FedEx delivery driver Tanner Horner. What transpired in the truck was unspeakable. Horner sexually abused the little girl after she asked where he was taking her. He proceeded to beat, strangle and smother her lifeless, an evil end to the child's short life and one that will forever haunt her family and her community. It was days before her bruised and naked body was found in a creek nearby. Following a frantic search that mobilized an army of law enforcement and volunteers, Horner pleaded guilty in early April to murder and kidnapping. What followed was a five week trial to determine his sentence, an option available in Texas under certain circumstances. Athena's uncle Elijah Strand spoke on behalf of her family before the sentence was handed down.
- [01:17]
Elijah Strand
Athena was more than his wanting. She was laughter, curiosity, kindness and blissy. And she had dreams that she will never get to chase, birthdays that she will never celebrate in a life she'll never get to live. Because of his actions, our family has a magid life for
- [01:49]
Kayla Brantley
we'll be speaking to Daily Mail Texas Bureau Chief Marianne Martinez about the case. This is the Trial usa. I'm Kayla Brantley. We'll be back in a moment.
- [02:08]
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- [02:41]
Marianne Martinez
ACAST powers the world's best Podcasts Here's
- [02:45]
Nikayla Matthews Akome
a show that we recommend.
- [02:49]
Hayden
Do you like being educated on things that entertain but don't matter? Well, then you need to be listening to the Podcast with Knox and Jamie. Every Wednesday we put together an episode dedicated to delightful idiocy to give your brain a break from all the serious and important stuff.
- [03:01]
Nikayla Matthews Akome
Whether we're deep diving a classic movie, dissecting the true meanings behind the newest slang, or dunking on our own listeners for their bad takes or cringy stories, we always approach our topics with humor and just a little bit of side eye, and we end every episode with recommendations on all the best new movies,
- [03:15]
Marianne Martinez
books, TV shows or music.
- [03:17]
Hayden
To find out more, just search up the popcast with Knox and Jamie wherever you listen, listen to podcasts and prepare to make Wednesday your new favorite day of the week.
- [03:28]
Marianne Martinez
Acast helps creators launch, grow and monetize their podcasts everywhere. Acast.com this is a Monday.com ad the same Monday.com helping people worldwide getting work
- [03:40]
Kayla Brantley
done faster and better.
- [03:42]
Marianne Martinez
The same Monday.com designed for every team and every industry. The same Monday.com with built in AI scaling your work from day one the
- [03:52]
Kayla Brantley
same Monday.com that your team will actually love using the samemonday.com with an easy and intuitive setup.
- [04:00]
Marianne Martinez
Go to Monday.com and try it for free. Yes the same Monday.com.
- [04:09]
Kayla Brantley
We're joined today by Daily Mail's Texas bureau chief Marianne Martinez, who was in the courtroom in Fort Worth, Texas as Tanner Horner was sentenced to state execution by lethal injection. This case is heartbreaking and it was clear from the televised trial footage that witnesses were deeply and profoundly affected. That included testimony from Athena's first grade teacher, Lindsay Thompson, about the little girl's last day in school before her disappearance. The classroom was buzzing with anticipation for Christmas time activities and Thompson tried to focus the children on her lessons, which that day were centered on student health and safety. We1 teaching in particular was profoundly memorable. Stay away from strangers. Thompson was one of a number of witnesses at the trial whose grief over Athena's murder was evident. Athena's family was in the room as Horner learned his fate. The sentencing was an overwhelming display of sadness and heartache. And Marianne, you were there for all of it. Thank you so much for joining us.
- [05:12]
Marianne Martinez
Thank you for having me.
- [05:13]
Kayla Brantley
So I just wanna start off by if you could describe for us the feeling in the courtroom, the moment that Horner was sentenced. What was the vibe as that sentence was handed down?
- [05:25]
Marianne Martinez
Well, I think, you know, there was, I guess, quite optimism. Obviously, aside from all the many feelings, really the reason Wyvern was there was to see that man get some measure of justice. I do think that the family and really anyone watching the trial felt fairly confident that that he would be sentenced to death. Although, you know, it is fairly hard to get the death penalty even in Texas, which a lot of people maybe don't think about it that way. But there's specific questions that jurors have to answer in a certain way. But despite that, I do think that most people felt pretty confident that the jury would come back with a death sentence.
- [06:08]
Kayla Brantley
And that moment that the sentence was handed down, what was the reaction on the family's face and then Tanner's face?
- [06:16]
Marianne Martinez
There wasn't any reaction From Tanner, actually, throughout most of the trial, I didn't see any reaction from him except for one time, which we can talk about later. But in that moment of the sentence, he was, you know, he stood there, heard the sentence. Shortly after the sentence was read, you could hear family members of Athena quietly crying. So I think there was just, you know, it was like their cup was full, you know, just maybe relief. A month long trial, so much they had been through.
- [06:48]
Kayla Brantley
It was a month long trial and as you can imagine, so much evidence, so much emotion when, you know, the family's in the courtroom. Can you highlight some of the most impactful and memorable moments from the sentencing and from the trial throughout?
- [07:04]
Marianne Martinez
Well, certainly the biggest piece of testimony, slash evidence that was seen by people in the courtroom was the recording of the actual abduction, you know, which is pretty extraordinary if you think about it. There are a lot of crimes that are covered in this country that we cover that, you know, that happen. And very rarely is there an actual recording of it in progress. In this case, it was the audio video that was inside the delivery truck that Tanner Horner was driving. He had covered it with a post it note, so he'd obscured the view. But there was audio of the entire attack which took place inside the delivery truck.
- [07:48]
Kayla Brantley
Yeah. And as you said, that is so rare to have actual evidence of the crime being committed. How does a defense team even begin to defend against that when you have evidence that strong?
- [08:02]
Marianne Martinez
Well, I think you don't. I think you try to try to mitigate it, which is why I think in this case we saw also another, you know, extraordinarily rare thing, which is that he pled guilty at the outset of the trial. He said, hey, I did it. So I think at that point, probably, you know, maybe it was the Hail Mary that the defense felt that they. Maybe the only card they could play was to try to come out, admit to it. I mean, obviously there, you know, there was an entire recording of it. So how are you going to say that it didn't happen? I think maybe they thought if they could just get ahead of it, admit to it, maybe was his best chance of getting some sympathy, some, you know, some mercy from the jury in terms of what the sentence would be.
- [08:48]
Kayla Brantley
Athena's uncle spoke on behalf of the family at the sentencing. What did her uncle express and why him be the family representative?
- [08:57]
Marianne Martinez
Well, both the parents did take the stand. Athena's mom has been very vocal, had been sharing daily updates on her Facebook page and shared quite a bit. Not sure how that decision was Made in terms of why he would represent. I know I had spoken to a family member of Jacob Strand, who's Athena's father. He definitely seemed to be more private, you know, obviously grieving. Perhaps it was just a decision that maybe for the parents it was too difficult to try to put down in a couple of sentences what they wanted to say. And sometimes there's a family member who says, hey, I can do it, you know, on behalf of everybody. And sometimes that's the, the person who comes forward and makes the statement on behalf of the family.
- [09:41]
Kayla Brantley
And now I just want to talk a bit about Athena, a seven year old girl. What do we know about her short life? Who was Athena?
- [09:50]
Marianne Martinez
Well, Athena was seven at the time of her murder. And she was described, you know, in some ways as a typical little girl, still, you know, very innocent to the world, still helpless, you know, liked bows and pink. Her family wore pink throughout the trial. Sort of like a silent show of support in the courtroom. Every day they were wearing pink, the mom's hair. For people who did not watch or maybe did see the videos of pictures of the trial and didn't know why the mother's hair was pink. The mother is blonde. And so her hair was, you know, fairly obviously pink throughout the trial. So that it was for Athena, who loved beaus, you know, was very girly in many ways, you know, a typical seven year old. But, you know, one thing that stood out to me, I'm a mom myself, and this is actually really heartbreaking. And I think it says a lot about how loved she was and sort of the upbringing that she had been given in that horrific video, the recording of what happened to her. Tanner Horner tells her to take her clothes off and starts instructing her to do sexual things. And he threatens her too. He tells her that he will kill her if she doesn't do these things. And Athena resists, which I thought was extraordinary because, you know, at 7, a lot of kids are still trying to find their voice and maybe don't know how to speak up for herself, but she did. And she says, my mommy says that I shouldn't do that. And I thought it was extraordinary that her parents had gone through those steps, which is, you know, that's a difficult conversation for a lot of parents to have with their kids to say, like, you know, if God forbid, someone asks you to do anything appropriate, this is what you should do, this is what you should say. And she knew to do those things.
- [11:35]
Kayla Brantley
Wow. I can only imagine her parents in that courtroom listening to that recording. I mean, it's heartbreaking, but also a moment of pride, you know, that they instilled that in her at so young and that she was such a strong. A strong little girl. What we do know about Tanner Horner, he pleaded guilty to murder and kidnapping, and prosecutors didn't need to prove his guilt beyond a reasonable doubt. The trial was just held to determine his sentence, either the death penalty or life in prison without parole. Horner's attorneys, they argued that his mental state was impaired by his developmental disability and asked the jury to treat it as a mitigating circumstance. What do we know about Tanner Horner? Who is he? What was his childhood like? What is his mental health history?
- [12:26]
Marianne Martinez
He was diagnosed with autism. There was a lot of talk about other conditions, but it seemed like, depending on what expert you talk to, whether they agreed that he had. There was talk of ptsd, attention deficit disorder, other disorders, but he definitely did have. He was on the lower spectrum of autism. The other thing that was talked about a lot was that he was born with fetal alcohol syndrome. So his mom had dealt with substance abuse throughout her life, and she drank while she was pregnant with him. And so there was, you know, a lot of talk by the defense about how that may or may not have affected his brain development, his understanding of the world, the way he reacted to things. And they did have quite a number of mental health experts come on and, you know, give their opinions. But actually, the really extraordinary thing was, and I think the jury agreed, the mental health experts, either because there was no needle to thread, or they just failed to do it, but they didn't really thread the needle between he has this condition, and therefore it resulted in this. So there was sort of expert after expert say he has this condition. But then, you know, as a. As just a viewer, you keep waiting for the moment where they were going to say, and because of this, then this happened. But when they were asked, so are you saying because he has autism because of this? Because of that? Also, his IQ was evaluating. He had a normal iq. He was not impaired in a way that he didn't know right from wrong, things like that. They actually said, no, I'm not saying that his autism can be blamed for this, or I'm not saying that this can be blamed for this. So I think if those mental health experts might have been able to thread the needle a little better, that maybe that would have been a mitigating circumstance. But the bridge never connected. So I think it kind of left the jury unable to give him the benefit of the doubt. And also, the prosecutors did a really good job of kind of destroying any idea that or any lingering doubt that because he had autism, that somehow that was to blame. So, for instance, anytime that the mental health experts would say, well, things sort of snowballed in his mind, he had a really hard time problem solving. And then the prosecutor would come back and say, well, I think we saw him problem solving how to clean up the evidence in the delivery truck. I mean, he had the forethought to say to his manager, hey, can I have the same truck tomorrow instead of turning it in tonight at the end of my shift after the murder? I mean, obviously the boss didn't know that there had been a murder, but Tanner did, and he was trying to cover it up. So he said to his boss, he made up a lie and said, can I have the same truck tomorrow? But the reason he wanted the truck was so that he could clean up the evidence that was left in the truck.
- [15:32]
Kayla Brantley
Right.
- [15:33]
Marianne Martinez
So the prosecution did a really good job of using this really horrific, impactful piece of evidence to destroy any argument that he couldn't problem solve or that he didn't understand cause and effect. So they were very effective, the prosecutors, in how they treated the evidence.
- [15:54]
Kayla Brantley
And Tanner, he also was a new father. He was a fiance. Did they describe anything about his personal life, just who he was as a guy?
- [16:04]
Marianne Martinez
Yeah, they did. I didn't hear a ton about his son, which I was surprised. I thought, you know, if you have children yourself, that might have been something we might have heard more of. The only times we heard about his child, it was not great. So, for instance, Tanner's mom took the stand and testified that she thought she had worried at some point that Tanner might hurt his own child. So that wasn't great. And then we did hear a little bit about his mother of his child. She did not take the stand. So then again, you're wondering, Tanner's such a great guy, why are we not hearing from his girlfriend, you know, the mother of his child? And then we heard really unpleasant things about his relationship with his girlfriend, like that they engaged in consensual, by all accounts, but sadism in their sex life. So he wanted to do things like hog tie her, and she didn't want that. It also came up in testimony from, actually, this is one of the witnesses the defense put up that after the crime, the day of the crime, as a matter of fact, Tanner told this mental health expert that he went home and had sex with his girlfriend to prove to himself that he was not a Pedophile. Wow.
- [17:20]
Kayla Brantley
So that says clearly a lot about his history and especially having someone like his mother testifying that, you know, he maybe wasn't the best father. Was there also a history of violence that anyone testified to?
- [17:33]
Marianne Martinez
There was. There was quite a long history in his family, both his mother and his grandmother. Tanner was essentially raised by his grandmother because of his mom's substance abuse issues. The mom was in and out of Tanner's life. And so basically, he was raised by his grandmother, who was. Seemed to be, you know, a steady, loving force in his life. And both his mother and grandmother had been sexually abused as children. And there was actually a revelation that Tanner himself had been sexually, sexually abused when he was about 10 by a landlord. But even that, there wasn't a whole lot of explanation which felt that there should have been maybe more detail or more. I wanted to hear more about that. You know, maybe it would have. Maybe that could have been mitigating evidence as well. But we didn't hear a whole lot other than just to say that. We heard about that. And then we heard from the mental health expert about how victims of sex abuse, that they have the propensity to behave certain ways, including become abusers themselves.
- [18:40]
Kayla Brantley
Well, nothing that, you know, his side said clearly swayed the jury in any way, because they only took three hours to deliberate. And in a case like this, when you're deciding the death penalty, typically it would take much longer than three hours to decide the fate of someone's life, whether they live or die. And you've been reporting in Texas for 20 years. Texas is known for being the most active death penalty state in the U.S. but not all murder cases in Texas are death penalty eligible. Why was Athena's murder a capital case?
- [19:14]
Marianne Martinez
So in Texas, only capital murder cases are death penalty eligible. And so capital murder is a murder that is committed to in the commission of a second crime. So, like, if you kidnapped somebody and then killed them or robbed them and then killed them, also killing a police officer is also automatically a capital offense as well. So it has to be legally a narrow definition for it to qualify as a death penalty case.
- [19:46]
Kayla Brantley
And in this case, it was kidnapping and murder.
- [19:48]
Marianne Martinez
Correct. And, you know, one thing that was interesting is, you know, this is at the very, very end, the DA came out, and we actually asked them. One of the reporters there was like a media gaggle, asked him about why they did not charge for the rape, for the sexual assault. And he said it was just purely a tactical decision that they made. You know, sometimes they think that some charge is More of a slam dunk than another, and they just don't want to jeopardize it. In Athena's case, obviously, she was sexually assaulted. They did find male DNA on her body, and she was naked also when they found her. And the male DNA that was found on her body could not be excluded as being Tanner Horner's DNA. Not sure if that played into the decision not to charge for this sex abuse, but the DA said they could have gone that way. And it was just. They thought that was the strongest case they could make by doing the kidnapping and the murder charge.
- [20:49]
Kayla Brantley
Yeah, I mean, clearly justice has been served here. But I do wonder for her family, you know, to not have that specific charge, it kind of. Even though it would just be like a symbolic charge at that point because he's already been sentenced to death, I do wonder how her family may have felt about that. And how does this case compare to other capital cases you've covered or are familiar with in Texas?
- [21:12]
Marianne Martinez
Well, I think it was probably the biggest slam dunk I've ever seen. I think that in Texas, prosecutors try to be fairly careful about using the death penalty, which, again, I think is a disconnect that people don't think of. I think that people think that in Texas, like, you get a speeding ticket and you could get the death penalty. But actually every. I've lived in every big city in Texas except for Austin, which you're probably not going to see a lot of death penalty cases in Austin because it is fairly liberal city. But in every other city that I've lived in and I've seen capital murder cases go to trial, the DAs are pretty, I think, measured, and they don't like to bring the death penalty unless they think that they have a pretty good chance of getting it. And yeah, this case, I would say, is probably the most slam dunk case that I've seen, obviously with that horrific video. But how do you defend against it? And as I was saying before, it is fairly hard because you have to answer two questions and the jurors have to answer two questions in a certain way. And if they don't answer them in that way, if there's a disagreement, the person walks away with life in prison. So I do think this was probably the clearest case. And the DA said at the end of the Athena Strand trial, he said this is why the death penalty exists in Texas, for when you have a crime that's so horrific against an innocent child who can't defend themselves, who can't say no, who can't fight back when it's just so egregious that it almost leaves you breathless. That's why we have the death penalty in Texas.
- [22:55]
Kayla Brantley
Well, I mean, the death penalty in Texas does remain a controversial and a politically charged issue. Texas had the highest number of executions from 1976 through 2024, and the second highest number of executions per capita. How did this case contribute to that ongoing debate? I mean, you said, the prosecutor at the end said, you know, this is why we have this. But do you think that a case like this really, you know, helped this debate or if the debate really rages on even after this?
- [23:27]
Marianne Martinez
I don't know that that's a huge debate in Texas. I think it's a bigger debate outside of Texas. But I have covered and been part of other death penalty cases in Texas where it comes up more about why do we need this, or it's not going to bring the person back. One thing that I think is actually a legitimate debate about the death penalty is that these guys, once they're on death row, they sit in solitary confinement and they have a fairly comfortable life. They're not in general population. They're not. Like, for instance in the Athena Strand case. On Twitter, people were commenting on some of my tweets, saying things like, well, you know, the other inmates will get him. And it's like, no, there will be no. They're all in solitary confinement. So sometimes there is this sort of debate of he's just going to go sit by himself for 10, 15, 20 years, through the appeals process, getting visits by, you know, attorneys, things like that, is basically who he'll see during his time on death row. But, I mean, it's a lot harder life to be in general population where you are facing life alongside other criminals.
- [24:40]
Kayla Brantley
What you're saying is that it's more of a punishment to get life in prison than it would be the death penalty.
- [24:46]
Marianne Martinez
It's a harder life. I don't want to say it's a harder punishment because I think that particularly for a lot of victims families, the fact that this is what the law says is the ultimate punishment, which is the death penalty, I think a lot of victims families want that for, you know, for their loved one. But I'll put it to you this way. The life expectancy is a lot shorter in general population than it is on death row.
- [25:16]
Kayla Brantley
We're taking a quick break after this.
- [25:28]
Elijah Strand
What if a marginal gain unlocked greater performance? What if an insight in data could change everything? At Aramco, our focus on detail helps us deliver reliable energy to millions across the world. Because margins aren't marginal. They're where we can truly push the limits of what's possible. Aramco, an integrated energy and chemicals company. Learn more@aramco.com Howdy, howdy ho, and welcome
- [26:00]
Hayden
to Fantasy Fan Fellas. I'm Hayden, producer of the Fantasy Fangirls podcast and your resident lover of all things Sanderson.
- [26:06]
Marianne Martinez
And I'm Stephen, your bookish Internet goofball, but you can call me the Smash Daddy.
- [26:10]
Hayden
And we are currently deep diving Brandon Sanderson's fantasy epic Mistborn. But here's the catch. Steven here has not read Mistborn before.
- [26:19]
Marianne Martinez
That's right.
- [26:19]
Hayden
Hey.
- [26:19]
Marianne Martinez
Hey. So each week you'll get my unfiltered raw reactions to every single chapter.
- [26:24]
Hayden
And along the way, we'll do character deep dives, magic explainers, and Steven will even try to guess what's next. Spoiler alert. He'll be wrong.
- [26:31]
Marianne Martinez
News flash. I'm never wrong. Episodes come out every Wednesday, and you can find Fantasy Friday fanfellows wherever you get your podcasts.
- [26:42]
Kayla Brantley
So Tanner Horner has been sentenced to death. He will sit in a prison cell for X amount of years. What is his life going to be like from now until he reaches execution?
- [26:55]
Marianne Martinez
Yeah, so this is what I was being asked online about, you know, what he can expect on death row. So in Texas, there's an automatic appeal anytime that someone is sentenced to death. So automatically, the state will go back and look at every death penalty case and make sure that sort of everything was by the book, you know, that none of his rights were violated. There's also a second appellate process that is purely a habeas corpus one. So this was actually explained to Tanner Horner in court the day of the sentencing that he will go through this appeal process. That appeals process is why it takes so long for people to be executed. In Texas. Typically, that's a process that takes 10 to 15 years. It just depends on the appeals and if people have to go back to court, that type of thing. There have been a couple of cases, not that many, where defendants can waive those appeals. And obviously, if they choose to waive them, it speeds everything up. But for the most part, it takes about 10 years, maybe a little bit more, maybe a little bit less, to exhaust those appeals. And then the once all the appeals are exhausted, then an execution date will be scheduled. In the meantime, he will be in solitary confinement there in a cell for about 22, 24 hours a day in solitary confinement. I did look up Tanner's case. He is already in Huntsville. So he was transferred very quickly from the county jail in Fort Worth. I mean, overnight they sent him to Huntsville. So he's there now, and he is adjusting to life on death row.
- [28:43]
Kayla Brantley
Can you explain exactly what the conditions are like at Huntsville and why it's significant?
- [28:49]
Marianne Martinez
Sure. Well, Huntsville, you know, their claim to fame is death row. I mean, it's a small town about an hour and a half outside of Houston, and that's what they're known for. And basically that's what the local economy is based around, serving a couple of the facilities that the Texas Department of Criminal justice has there. So they have Death row is located there. There's also a women's prison there. And I believe there's a third facility there that is not death row, but really it's for death row. I mean, that's what the town is known for. And they have certain days. Tuesdays and Thursdays are the days they schedule executions. And everybody knows that. And, yeah, I mean, obviously, the prison system in that town is, I would venture to say, probably the biggest employer locally. And so the town supports that. And, yeah, worldwide, if you say Huntsville, people know that's the home of Texas death row. And another thing I'll tell you about that gets talked about a lot about Texas death row is the final meal. There's been a couple of changes to that. The inmates used to be able to request to make a final request. The state has done away with that. But for years, famously, this list or this request of what the inmate's last meal was was released to the media. But one thing they never clarified to the media was they can literally write down whatever. I mean, it's their right to write down, like, lobster if they want, but that doesn't actually mean that they're getting lobster. So oftentimes they would write down what they wanted. And so that was released to the media, and people would think that they
- [30:30]
Kayla Brantley
were getting steak and lobster.
- [30:33]
Marianne Martinez
Right. But that's actually not true. So even things like strawberries are considered a luxury on death row. And they don't have strawberries, they don't have ice cream. They don't have soda. So those are pretty frequent requests. Things like. Like soda floats or cake or things like that. They aren't getting any of that. That is considered a luxury on death row, like ice cream. They are never going to get ice cream. And even other things like maybe mashed potatoes, let's say, very popular request to steak and potatoes.
- [31:04]
Kayla Brantley
Yeah. So no one's getting a steak. No one's getting a Lobster, actually.
- [31:07]
Marianne Martinez
Well, no, they're not. But even something like, let's say you requested mashed potatoes. If they happen to have potatoes in the kitchen, you will get mashed potatoes. But if they don't have potatoes, they're not going to run out and get potatoes for you. So, yeah, there are some things that death row inmates never got. But it was just kind of lost in translation because what happens is the Texas Department of Criminal justice, that's the agency that runs death row, they would literally just release whatever the inmate would write down without clarifying that that's not
- [31:39]
Kayla Brantley
exactly what they're getting.
- [31:40]
Marianne Martinez
Exactly.
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Kayla Brantley
Got it. And so when it comes to the day, you know, the execution date is set, Tanner Horner, it's his time. Athena's family can go, they can witness it. And it's fairly quick.
- [31:55]
Marianne Martinez
I hear the actual moment itself is. But it's a multiple day process. So, yeah, they would fly into. Unless they decided to drive to Huntsville, which is about an hour and a half outside of Houston, though they would fly to Houston and then make the drive to Huntsville. The victim's family will have sort of an all day orientation where the prison system will do their best to walk them through this is what you can expect. And then they will be taken into the viewing room. It's an incredibly small room and there's a partition where somebody on, you know, the defendant's side, like his family members or friends or loved ones can be there. And I will tell you that I've. I've been told that that wall is so thin that sometimes you can hear people on either side crying. Wow. So it's shocking. I mean, there is privacy, there is a separation, but not a lot. And another thing that I think people are always surprised to know is it's fairly anticlimactic. So when the family members of the victim, the defendant, whoever watches it, when they are allowed into the viewing room, the person who's being put to death will already have had the needle put in. Everything will already have been done. So when they come in, he will be lying down with a sheet up
- [33:21]
Kayla Brantley
to here, up to his neck.
- [33:23]
Marianne Martinez
Yeah, yeah. They won't see anything really dramatic or they won't see any of that. Everything will already be in place. The only thing that happens once the actual execution starts is they will release the drugs into the IV and basically the clock starts. So, you know, they make note of the time that that happens, and it, it happens fairly quickly. You know, it's a matter of minutes between the time that the, the drugs are released into the system and the time that the person stops breathing. It's also fairly well lit room, which, you know, I think a lot of people, I don't know if it's movies or what people think it's like very dark and then there's like a spotlight. It's not like that at all. I mean, it's like the same lighting as a classroom.
- [34:09]
Kayla Brantley
Fluorescent overhead lighting.
- [34:11]
Marianne Martinez
Yeah. So it's fairly. But you know, it's very. Also because of the lighting, depending on where you're standing in the room, they can see you. You know, they can see that who's there and who's watching the person being executed. So that's something that the family will have to face in about a decade.
- [34:31]
Kayla Brantley
All right, well, thank you, Marianne. So that's it for today. We'll be back with a new episode next Wednesday. The Trial USA is part of the Crime Desk. Subscribers can listen ad free, get early access to new shows, full access to the Archives archive and the member only podcast the trial. Plus visit TheCrimeDest.com to find out more. A link is in the show Notes. Follow us on TikTok at the crime Desk and on Instagram the Trial Pod. Leave a comment on Apple Podcasts or Spotify or send us a voice note on WhatsApp 447-796-57512. Start your message with the word.
- [35:21]
Elijah Strand
Seeking Pushing, Optimizing, Creating, Learning, Discovering. At Aramco, we believe in harnessing the power of data to push the limits of what's possible. That's how we deliver reliable energy to millions across the world. Aramco, an integrated energy and chemicals company. Learn more about us@aramco.com.
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Kayla Brantley
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Marianne Martinez
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Nikayla Matthews Akome
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Marianne Martinez
Procrastination is the easiest form of resistance
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Nikayla Matthews Akome
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Acast helps creators launch, grow and monetize their podcast.
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