Overview
- Opening statements began Feb. 12 in Lenawee County’s 39th Circuit Court after jury selection concluded, launching multiweek proceedings.
- The state told jurors Dee Warner was strangled and suffered blunt-force head trauma, with her body found in 2024 inside a welded fertilizer tank wrapped in a tarp with duct tape.
- Investigators say a police drone recorded Dale Warner moving the tank after being told a cadaver dog would search the property; an X-ray showed a body silhouette before the tank was cut open.
- Prosecutors presented texts in which Dee discussed divorcing Dale and selling their businesses, plus evidence of GPS and OnStar tracking, welding-supply purchases and apparent welding burns.
- The defense argued the case is circumstantial and noted others were on the farm, as jurors also heard early testimony including a deputy’s bodycam interview and accounts of frequent fights over money.