Dale Warner Faces Preliminary Exam for Murder of Dee Ann Warner

Dale and Dee Ann Warner. Photo courtesy of Parker Hardy.

Dale Warner was charged in November 2023 with murder and tampering with evidence after his wife, Dee Ann Warner, was reported missing April 25, 2021, from their Tipton, Michigan home. Dale faced a preliminary examination yesterday in Lenawee County to determine whether there is enough evidence to proceed with a murder trial.

Dale and Dee married in 2006. Both had been married previously and each had four children. Together, they had a daughter who is still a minor. Their other eight children are now adults.

Brian Bush, Dale and Dee’s former son-in-law, was the first of five to testify. He and Dale’s daughter divorced in 2022. Brian described his relationship with Dee as good and bad depending on the day. His relationship with Dale was good.

In 2019, Brian purchased a safe at Dale’s request, to replace the current safe in the Warner home. Brian said, “There were possible documents in there, as far as money.”  Brian explained why Dale asked him to purchase another safe by saying, “So he could find out what the documents were in the other safe.” He also stated that by replacing the original safe, Dale could get into it.

In January 2020, Dee was the primary driver of two vehicles, a Hummer and a Cadillac Escalade. Brian indicated there were electrical problems with the Hummer. Instead of taking the vehicle to be serviced, Dale asked Brian to purchase a tracking device to use as a diagnostic tool. Brian bought it on Amazon and created an account for Dale. From their phones, both Brian and Dale could track the location of the Hummer. Dale asked Brian to keep the tracking device a secret.

Brian estimated he used the app about 40 times, but when the prosecuting attorney asked him if 176 times was more accurate, Brian said, “Sure.”

In August 2020, Dee took the Hummer in for service and the mechanic found the tracking device.

When Dale needed a surveillance camera for inside the house, Brian gave him his extra trail came. Dale hid it in the back bar of the kitchen, facing the sliding glass door between the kitchen and living room. Brian said the purpose of the camera was, “to see who was coming in and out.” When pressed, Brian said, it was to watch for Dee or her son, Zack, coming in the house with paperwork.

Next on the stand was Kyle Wagner. He worked for Dale and Dee by helping them with any IT problems. He installed security cameras and troubleshooted their computer and phone issues. Kyle estimates it was a year or two before Dee went missing that Dee asked him to clone Dee’s phone. “He essentially wanted everything that was on her current phone at the time to be placed on another phone,” Kyle said. That would have enabled Dale to have access to Dee’s photos, texts, and contacts, as well as future messages.

Dale explained Dee had health issues and was facing a possible procedure. If she wasn’t available, he needed to have access to the contact information on her phone.

Kyle refused because he didn’t have Dee’s permission. “I did not think it was right,” Kyle said.

Kyle also noted Dale couldn’t use the Touch ID feature on an iPad because his fingerprints were burned off from fertilizer.

Amy Alexander, fiancé of Dale’s brother, testified she was the founder of the Justice for Dee Facebook page. She and her fiancé often travelled with Dale and Dee. Both couples had young daughters about 3 years apart and the cousins enjoyed playing together.

Amy described Dale and Dee’s relationship by saying, “There was a lot of yelling.” She noted if Dale tried to rub Dee’s shoulders, Dee would cringe and shrug him off.

Amy said that multiple times Dale would say to Dee, “This is until death do us part.”

The day before Dee disappeared, April 24, 2024, Dee told Amy she and Dale were arguing. “She had been hyperventilating and vomiting all day,” Amy said. “She said she had a migraine.” Dee planned to tell Dale she wanted a divorce and to sell their various businesses that night. Amy offered to take their daughter overnight to shield her from any unpleasantness.

When Amy arrived to pick up Dale and Dee’s daughter, Amy said, “I could tell she had been crying. She had blotchy marks on her neck.”

That next morning, Amy texted and called Dee but received no response.

Todd Neyrinck worked for Dee’s trucking company since 2006. Todd testified the last time he saw Dee was Friday afternoon, April 23, 2021, in the office. When asked to describe Dee’s demeanor, Todd said, “It was very frazzled. She was just not herself. She was not dressed like her normal self.”

The next day, Dee texted him and Todd called her back. “She was even more unreasonable,” Todd said. “She was upset Friday and even more upset Saturday.”

The final person to testify was Rikkell Bock, Dee’s daughter. She testified her mother had frequent migraines, high cholesterol, high blood pressure, and chronic neck pain. The day before Dee disappeared, Rikkell was at Dee’s house in the afternoon. “She was sobbing,” Rikkell said. Dee told Rikkell she was going to divorce Dale.

Rikkell said one of the last things Dee said to her was, “I watch Dateline every night. He could do something like that to me.”

The next day, when Rikkell and her family came over for their usual Sunday breakfast, Dee was gone. Rikkell searched the house and office. Dee’s vehicles were on the property.

Rikkell started making phone calls to find her mother. She went to her aunt and uncle’s house and then back to Dale and Dee’s to do another search. She noticed a mock door that looked like a bookcase was open. It led to the attic. Items on the shelves had fallen on the floor.

Dale entered the house and showed Rikkell Dee’s wedding ring. He told her he found it on his desk in the office. He also showed Rikkell pill bottles he claimed were Dee’s. “He said something about my mom is always trying to ruin my [Dale’s] life,” Rikkell said.

That afternoon, Rikkell and her siblings filed a missing person report.

In the weeks following Dee’s disappearance, Rikkell said she talked to Dale several times. Dale told Rikkell the night before Dee vanished their fight hadn’t been that bad. Dale said he reread his wedding vows to Dee. He gave Dee a massage to calm her down and she fell asleep on the living room floor. He lifted her to the couch and went to bed.

Rikkell testified Dale didn’t seem to act concerned Dee was gone.

The preliminary examination resumes today at noon at the Lenawee County Courthouse.

For background information on Dee’s disappearance, you can start here. For up-to-date information on Dee’s case, join the Justice for Dee Facebook page.