Marriage, for many, proves a far more intricate entanglement to unravel than to enter. Heather Leann Horst discovered this truth with chilling clarity. She faced a web of shared finances, children, possessions – even the seemingly trivial collection of Aunt Henrietta’s Hummels – that held her captive.
Heather wasn’t the glamorous, dangerous woman of noir films. She wasn’t a Barbara Stanwyck type. Plain, even a little matronly, she lacked the overt allure of a femme fatale. Yet, beneath the surface resided a cold, calculating determination, and a desperate greed – a combination that would lead to unimaginable consequences.
She wanted her husband, Brandon James Horst, a young man serving in the Minnesota Air National Guard, removed from the picture. Not through the messy, expensive process of divorce, but through a “coldly calculated execution.” Her offer? A staggering $100,000 to anyone willing to end his life while he slept. “I want him dead,” she stated with chilling directness.
Divorce loomed as a financial disaster for Heather. A careful assessment of assets and debts revealed a bleak future. A divorce would leave her stripped bare. But Brandon’s death? That presented a different, far more lucrative possibility. Throughout the summer of 2013, her marriage crumbled, and she confided in friends, painting a picture of ruin should she attempt to leave.
She confided in Aaron William Allen, a troubled young man of 26, weaving a heartbreaking tale of abuse. She spoke of physical and sexual torment, even claiming Brandon had caused her to suffer multiple miscarriages – a lie that resonated with Allen’s own vulnerabilities. She expertly manipulated his sympathy, preying on his desire to be a hero.
Her desperation manifested in increasingly bizarre ways. Once, she drove to Allen’s apartment with a strand of red twine tied around her neck, claiming Brandon had choked her with it. Even Allen, susceptible as he was, questioned the logic. “Why would you drive 10 minutes with something tied around your neck?” he asked, sensing something was amiss. He’d observed no visible injuries on her.
As their financial situation worsened, Heather engaged in a series of affairs, seeking solace – and perhaps opportunity – outside her marriage. The stage was set for a tragic culmination. August 5, 2013, would become a day etched in infamy.
In a cruel twist of fate, Allen was engaged to Brandon’s stepsister. Both he and Heather were driven by need – his for money, hers for freedom. Prosecutor Karen Lewis would later describe the crime as stemming from Heather’s “greed and selfishness,” highlighting how she’d provided Allen access to her home and her weapon.
As Allen waited in the basement, consumed by doubt, Heather offered chilling reassurance: “Everything’s going to be okay. Everybody dies at some point, and what about what he did to the baby?” The fabricated tragedy of a lost child served as a final, manipulative justification for the act.
Initially, the plan involved multiple accomplices, a staged robbery meant to disguise the true motive. But they wisely backed out, unwilling to participate in the violence. Heather relentlessly pressured Allen to act alone, insisting he be the one to carry out the deed. “She asked me to kill him. Directly flat out just like that,” Allen confessed to police. “She was very persistent on my being the one to slit Brandon’s throat.”
She promised him they would escape detection. “We’d get away with it. Don’t worry. Just make it quick and clean, and we’ll be free,” she urged, repeating the false narrative of abuse and adding another layer of deception – a claim of battling cancer. But their scheme was built on lies, and the truth would inevitably surface.
Within days, both were apprehended. Allen, seeking leniency, quickly confessed, accepting a plea deal of 40 years in prison. When Heather encountered Allen after his arrest, her first question was shockingly callous: “How many rounds did you put in him?”
In court, Allen, overcome with remorse, admitted to firing just one shot. “One was too much,” he sobbed. Friends and family noted Heather displayed no grief after Brandon’s death, offering no condolences or even informing them of his passing. She skipped the funeral entirely.
Marcus Strombaugh, a man with whom Heather had been having a long-term affair, testified that their relationship predated her marriage to Brandon, and that he was aware of it and preparing to file for divorce. In March 2014, a jury swiftly convicted Heather of aiding and abetting first-degree murder, delivering a life sentence without the possibility of parole – the mandatory punishment for such a heinous crime.
