Dale Warner: Prosecution Shows Evidence of Stalking

Dale Warner in court today with attorney, Shawn Head. Photo by Tracy Stengel.

Testimony continued today in the Dale Warner murder trial. Dale Warner is charged with open murder and tampering with evidence in the death of his wife, Dee Ann Warner. For over 3 years, Dee was considered a missing person after disappearing from her Tecumseh, Michigan farm the day after she planned to tell Dale she wanted a divorce. In August 2024, her body was found in a fertilizer tank on Dale’s property. He turned down a plea deal for 2^nd degree murder and tampering.

The prosecution recalled Deputy Hall to the stand and then showed body cam footage that lasted just over an hour. The footage was recorded May 3^rd, 2021. Detective Greca and Deputy Hall questioned Dale at his kitchen table.

Dale said Dee hadn’t been acting right since her recent Covid diagnosis. She had laid on the couch for 3 weeks. He described Dee as, “very unstable.”

Although she had left him for a day or two hundreds of times during their 15-year marriage, this time was different. She had never left her wedding ring behind, and most importantly, she had never left without their nine-year-old daughter. “I’m just completely puzzled,” he said.

Two days before Dee vanished, she had gotten into an argument with two employees from her trucking business, Todd and Terry Neyrinck. Afterward, Terry’s wife sent Dee a hurtful text message berating Dee’s character and ability to run a business. It also said Dale had told the employees Dee was “a mess” and on Xanax.

On Saturday, April 24, 2021, Dee told several people she was going to tell Dale she wanted a divorce. A close friend picked up Dale and Dee's daughter in the evening to shield her from an unpleasant confrontation.

The friend told police that when Dee gave her daughter a hug goodbye, it was just a “regular” hug. Not the kind of hug you’d give your child if you were planning on leaving for an extended time.  

According to Dale, Dee tried to start an argument when he got home that night. She was still upset about the argument with her employees. “You won’t back me up,” she told Dale.

Dale said, “We’re not going to argue tonight.”

Dee kept persisting.

When she said she wanted to sell everything, Dale told her, “It’s not your decision to sell everything. This is our business.”

Dale denied telling the employees Dee was taking Xanax.

Dee started getting a migraine, so Dale urged her to eat. He said she took some migraine medication. After eating burritos, Dale tried to calm her down. She laid in the living room as he massaged her back. Dale said, “Her speech was slurred.”

He helped her to the couch where she fell asleep. He took a shower and went to bed. The next morning, Dale said Dee was, “snoring away.”

When her daughter and family came over for their usual Sunday breakfast around 9:00, Dee was gone.

Dale rated their argument a 5 on a scale of 1 to 10. He called it, “mediocre.”

When pressed, Dale couldn’t remember if anyone worked with him on Sunday. “It’s a blur,” he said.

Dale said he didn’t get concerned until two or three days later.

When asked if Dee has ever stayed in one of the local hotels, Dale said, “She wouldn’t be caught in the hotels around here.”

Detective Greca told Dale, “You’re a huge potential suspect.” He asked to see Dale’s arms to check for scratches or bruising. Dale offered to take off his shirt. He turned around as Detective Greca took pictures.

Deputy Hall said he wasn’t surprised Dale didn’t have any marks on his skin. Dee had been gone 8 days.

Detective Greca brought up the six-carat diamond ring left on Dale’s desk. “If someone was going to harm your wife, there’s no logic to put it there,” Greca said. He suggested an attacker may have tossed it somewhere or sold it.

Dale said “on any given day” Dee wore jewelry worth about $200K and that could have made her a target.

Dale suggested police look at the cameras at Panera Bread. He said Dee would often go there for coffee after dropping their daughter off at school. Maybe she’s been meeting someone there? “Every time she goes, there’s two hours unanswered for," Dale said.

Next to testify was Dustin Lolley. He is the significant other of Dee’s daughter, Rickell Bock.  Dustin and Rikkell have three children and have been dating since 2016. In July 2020, Dee asked Dustin to look at a small black device found in her Hummer. He Googled the numbers on it and discovered it was a tracking device. Dustin said Dee was, “extremely angry" about it.

 In 2019, Rickelle and Dustin purchased a house from Dale and Dee about a half mile from the Warner farm. Dustin gutted it and began a complete remodel that took several years. During this time, they ate dinner at Dale and Dee’s house almost every night and Sunday morning breakfasts.

Dustin was usually the last to eat dinner because he’d work on his house until about 9 PM. Rikkell and Dee would sit with him and have conversation. Dustin described Dee as fun and relaxed when Dale was working late. “When Dale was around, she was a lot more uptight and watching over her shoulder,” Dustin said.

When Dustin and Rikkell realized Dee wasn’t there for their usual Sunday breakfasts on April 25, 2021, Dustin helped look for Dee.

The week after the disappearance, Gregg Hardy, Dee’s brother, organized a search party. Dustin was among the volunteers. Dale did not participate in the search.

For a short time, Dustin and Dale retained a polite relationship. They had always been more acquaintances than friends. A couple months after Dee’s disappearance, Dale popped over to Dustin’s house, stood in his living room, and told Dustin that Dee had always hated him.

Stacey Brodie was Dee’s massage therapist for 5 years. She testified Dee would come in for weekly one-hour sessions to focus on her neck and back pain.

She noticed bruising on Dee 8 to 10 times over the years. The first time was after Dee was a client for about a year. Stacey noticed a large bruise the size of an orange on her right hip. Another time she noticed bruising consistent with someone grabbing her upper right arm.

The last time she saw Dee was the Wednesday before she went missing. Dee was distraught. She had been crying and was shaking. It was probably the most upset she had ever seen Dee.

The last thing Dee said to her was that she was tired of how things were going and wanted to see a lawyer.

Stephanie Voelkle testified she began working for Dee in 2016 in the office. They gradually became best friends. They often socialized on the weekends, would go shopping, and once went on a cruise together. They communicated almost every day in person, by phone or text, and through Snapchat.

Stephanie described Dee as feisty, fierce, and with a beautiful heart. She noted Dee always looked like a million dollars. “She was always wearing something fancy,” she said.

Dee showed Stephanie the tracking device a mechanic found on her car. Stephanie had seen a strange charge on a credit card and investigated it. She realized the charge was related to the tracker.

Stephanie described Dee’s wedding ring as a “big rock.” She never saw Dee take it off.

She observed several shouting matches between Dale and Dee. Stephanie testified she never saw Dee with a secret phone or had any concerns about Dee using drugs. About six months prior to Dee’s disappearance, Dee showed Stephanie a goose egg she had on her hairline.

Stephanie said prior to disappearing, Dee had Covid and had been in bed for a couple weeks. When she recovered, Stephanie didn’t notice any odd behavior and Dee didn’t complain about any lingering symptoms.

Stephanie sent Dee a text the evening before she went missing. She wanted to check on her because she knew they’d be fighting about Dee’s request for a divorce. Dee didn’t answer and Stephanie got worried -- Dee always responded.

Stephanie quit working at the Warner farm shortly after Dee vanished.

Kyle Wagner testified next. He did IT work for Dale and Dee’s various businesses. The morning after Dee disappeared, Dale called asking Kyle to get the app installed on his phone so he could monitor the surveillance cameras. Dale didn’t want to meet at his office. Instead, they met in front of Dee’s brother’s property.

Dale also wanted Dee’s son, Zack Bock, and nephew, Parker Hardy, to have their access to the cameras and computer system in the office taken away. That left Dale as the only person with access to the surveillance cameras and financial information on the computers.

In 2019 or 2020, Dale asked Kyle to clone Dee’s phone, giving him access to her texts, photos, notes, phone records, and contacts. Dale told him Dee was having a medical procedure and might need access to these things. Kyle refused because he didn’t have Dee’s permission and didn’t think it was right.

Brian Bush was the last to testify today. He married Dale’s daughter, Jennica, in 2018. They divorced in 2021 or 2022. Prior to the divorce, Dale was a father figure to Brian.

In June 2019, Dale asked Brian to purchase a safe identical to the one Zack and Dee used in an upstairs closet. Brian testified Dale want to get into the safe and see the documents inside. Brian bought a safe from Amazon and took it to Dale.

Brian guessed it was also in 2019 that he provided Dale with trail cams to set up in the house. Brian testified Dale wanted to see who was coming into the house with documents in their hands.

On January 9, 2020, Dale had Brian purchase a tracking device from Amazon. “He wanted to track the Hummer,” Brian said. Dale had found Dee’s vehicle sitting at Meijer for 3 hours and wanted to know why. Dale told Brian he didn’t need to track Dee’s Escalade because it had OnStar. Dale didn’t want Brian telling anyone about the tracker. “It was to stay between him and I,” Brian said.

Dale would ask Brian to utilize the account he set up for the tracker and tell him where Dee’s Hummer was about 50 times a week.

For background on the case, you can start here. For daily trial updates, visit justiceforallmag.com.