Dale Warner Declines Plea Deal

Dale Warner in court today. Photo by Tracy Stengel.

Today, jury selection began in Lenawee County Circuit Court for Dale Warner who is charged with open murder and tampering with evidence in the death of his wife, Dee Ann Warner.

Prosecutor Jacqueline Wyse announced that she had spoken with Dee’s four adult children and had offered Dale a plea deal for second degree murder and tampering with evidence.

Dale declined the offer and opted to proceed with the trial. His attorney, Mary Chartier, said when she relayed the plea deal to him, he “declined the offer immediately.”

Prior to the preliminary examination of jurors, Ms. Chartier approached Gregg Hardy, Dee’s brother, with a subpoena calling him to be a witness for the defense. Gregg refused the subpoena and told her to contact his attorney. He was unable to remain in the courtroom because witnesses are sequestered until they make their testimony.

Since Dale faces the possibility of a life sentence, the court initially allotted the standard 12 peremptory challenges to the prosecution and the defense. Peremptory challenges allow the defense or prosecution to dismiss a juror without giving a reason. Due to a large jury pool, Judge Olsaver raised the number of peremptory challenges to 18 – a 50% increase.

Mary Chartier, has voiced concerns of a possible “stealth juror” which is someone who pretends to be impartial and will say all the right things, but is attempting to be on the jury in order to sway the verdict.

Today, the defense and prosecution questioned 28 potential jurors. Seventeen were men. Eleven were women.

The sixth potential juror said she was a member of the Justice for Dee Facebook page. She was asked to step into the hallway. Mary Chartier requested the judge rule that any members of the Justice for Dee group could be dismissed for cause. She said members of the group were advocates of Dee and largely against Dale Warner.

Judge Olsaver said he would take it into consideration but has not made a decision yet.

If Justice for Dee members can be dismissed for cause, the defense would not have to burn up their 18 peremptory challenges as quickly.

Jury selection will be a two-part process. Jurors that were not dismissed are asked to sign up for notifications from the court. They may be called back for another round of questioning. No peremptory challenges were used today.

The people who were dismissed today were dismissed for cause. The reasons included the financial hardship of not working during a 9-week trial, having a baby due soon, having memory issues, and the belief Dale was guilty made it impossible to be impartial.

Interest in this case has been building for almost five years when Dee disappeared from her rural Tecumseh, Michigan farm. Dale claimed she had left him and probably headed to Jamaica or Mexico.

Dee was found August 2024 in a 1,000-gallon anhydrous tank that had been cut and rewelded. It was found on in a fertilizer barn on Warner property.

For background on Dee's case, you can start here. For all the latest updates, join the Justice for Dee Facebook page.