Dale Warner: Prosecution Focused on Key Electronic Evidence

Dale Warner. Photo by Tracy Stengel

Electronic evidence collected from cellphones, OnStar, and body cams were a key focus today in the Dale Warner murder trial. Dale is facing open murder and tampering charges in the death of his wife, Dee Ann Warner. This Lenawee County case in Michigan has captured national media attention. Dee was missing for over three years before authorities found her remains in a rewelded fertilizer tank on Dale’s property.

Georgia Ziegler, Michigan State Police Cellphone Message Specialist, testified she analyzed Dee Warner’s cellphone with records from her service provider. Verizon maintains a log of its customers' texts, calls, web browsing, any apps that require internet access, and other phone numbers. Verizon also keeps track of the interactions between their customers’ cellphones and the cell towers in the area. They can even determine what side of the tower the phone is pinging.

Since Dee’s phone was never found, Ms. Ziegler only used Verizon's records. Analyzing Dee’s phone’s interaction with the two nearby towers of her Munger Rd. farm was not enough to pinpoint the exact location of Dee’s phone. However, she could determine its location within a 1/10 of a mile.

According to Ms. Ziegler, Dee’s last outgoing call was 4:47 PM the day before she was reported missing. That was mere hours before she planned to tell Dale she wanted a divorce. All calls afterward were incoming.

On the Sunday Dee was reported missing, her phone used data from 7:01 to 7:05 AM. It continued to be connected to the network until 7:14 AM. After that, it was never active again. Ms. Ziegler named several reasons a phone could lose all contact with a network including the phone died, was out of range, was powered off, was in airplane mode, or it was destroyed.

Ms. Ziegler used March 30 – April 24, 2021, to establish a pattern. During that time, no more than 2 unanswered calls on Dee's phone went to voicemail in one day. On the day Dee went missing, 75 calls went to voicemail.

Devin Newell, GM Senior Manager and Technical Expert, testified a 583-page report was produced in response to a search warrant. The search warrant requested records from the OnStar and MyCadillac app connected to Dee’s 2016 Cadillac Escalade. Mr. Newell explained how OnStar can send help if a user is in a car accident and the MyCadillac app connects their phone to their vehicle.

The MyCadillac app allows users to start the vehicle remotely, sound an alarm, and lock and unlock the vehicle. It also allows users to check tire pressure and fuel levels, as well as, set up a map from where they are to where they want to go.

Mr. Newell generated reports from January 1, 2020 – April 28, 2021.

While the owners on the account were Dale and Dee, only one username and password had been created. During the 16 months in question, there were 2,100 location requests on Dee’s Cadillac, which was her primary vehicle. The unlock feature was only used twice. The last time was at 7:08 AM on the morning Dee vanished.

Madison “Maddie” Wolf began working for Dee as a personal assistant and nanny in 2016. Maddie was 16 years old, and her parents were getting a divorce. Dee became a mother figure during this difficult period. “She really stepped up,” Maddie said. She described Dee as “very loving” and said, “She would back you in any situation possible."

Maddie went to the Warner residence after school to watch Dale and Dee’s daughter, clean, get groceries, and work in the office. Dee was very accommodating with Maddie’s schedule. A lot of times, Maddie would go to the Munger Rd. farm just to hang out. Sometimes she’d spend the night just for fun or to babysit if Dee was going out.

Maddie, Dee, and the daughter would go shopping a lot together. They would leave the bags in the car or Maddie would take the packages up the stairway in the garage which led to the attic and then bring them to the bedroom on the second floor.

Once, Maddie went to Disney with Dale, Dee, and their daughter.

During the five years Maddie worked for Dee, she could see the relationship between Dale and Dee eroding. “They were always arguing about money,” Maddie said. Dee would “pull away” when Dale touched her.

According to Maddie, Dee usually initiated the arguments. She used a lot of arm movements and pointing. Dale was usually calm.

While Maddie clearly adored Dee, her relationship with Dale wasn't close. She said Dale had a nickname for her she didn’t like. At the time, Maddie was what she called, “severely overweight.” Dale liked to call her, “Fluffy.”

Maddie testified Dee usually slept on the couch. Dale would sleep in bed.

Maddie couldn’t pinpoint the date, but she witnessed a bruise/bump on Dee’s hairline in her forehead area.

Dee confided to Maddie there had been an affair. It lasted about a year and ended in January 2020. Dee put him in her phone’s contact list under the alias Michael.

The day before she disappeared, Dee texted Maddie about a nasty text message she received from an employee’s wife. Dee was so upset about it she told Maddie she was throwing up.

The next day, Maddie learned Dee was gone. A couple weeks later, police showed her bodycam of Det. Greca and Dale walking through the Warner house. The footage was just days after Dee disappeared and Greca wanted Maddie to point out anything that looked unusual. Maddie noticed scratches and burns on Dale’s arms. She hadn’t seen anything like that on him before.

During the cross examination, Maddie said Dee would drive around to different farm fields to see if Dale was there. Dee also snooped through his things.

Dee gave Maddie a checkbook in Dale’s name and a cellphone. It’s not clear why. Maddie turned over the checkbook to Det. Greca.

Maddie said the more Dee talked about divorce; the more Dee’s drinking began to concern her.

In the last year of her life, Dee began to walk around the farm on nice days. She did it to stay fit.

For background on this case, you can start here. For daily coverage of the trial, go to justiceforallmag.com.