A man was found guilty Tuesday of killing his wife, whose body was found in an empty farm tank in rural Michigan in 2024, three years after she disappeared. Jurors heard evidence of a troubled marriage between Dee and Dale Warner. Though defense lawyers emphasized that there was no physical evidence linking him to her death, Dale Warner was convicted of second-degree murder and tampering with evidence.
The AP reports the case was featured on real-crime podcasts and TV shows, and signs and banners were posted around Lenawee County, about 70 miles southwest of Detroit, declaring, "Justice For Dee." WTOL reports that on April 24, 2021, Dee Warner, 52, told others she planned to end the marriage and sell their trucking company. When her adult children arrived for breakfast the next day, she wasn't home; she was reported missing that night.
Dale Warner was charged with murder more than two years later, although investigators still had not found a body. In 2024, her remains were discovered inside a fertilizer tank on property the couple owned. An autopsy showed Dee Warner was strangled and had suffered blunt force trauma. A handwritten tag on the side of the tank said, "out of service" and "do not fill."
WTOL reports prosecutors said investigators found iPad searches allegedly made by Dale for information on how to dispose of a 10,000-gallon propane tank; that's similar in size to the anhydrous tank where Dee's remains were located. Defense attorney Mary Chartier said there was plenty of reasonable doubt, noting that Dale Warner had regularly talked to investigators during the search and denied hurting his wife. Dale Warner will be sentenced May 7; CBS News reports he could face life without parole.
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