Dale Warner's Day of Reckoning

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

Dale Warner received the maximum penalty for his 2^nd degree murder and tampering with evidence conviction. Dale will serve the sentences consecutively instead of concurrently, meaning the two sentences will be served one after the other rather than simultaneously.

For the 2^nd degree murder charge, Dale was sentenced to 31.25 to 60 years in prison. The tampering charge gave him an additional 17 months to 10 years. He was arrested in November 2023 and will get credit for time already served.

Dale Warner is 58 years old.

Prior to sentencing, Dale had an opportunity to address the court. He declined and instead had his defense attorney, Mary Chartier, speak on his behalf. “He loved his wife, he maintains his innocence, and he did not kill his wife,” Chartier said.

Members of Dee’s family read their victim impact statements to the court, mere feet from where Dale sat in handcuffs and leg irons.

Dee’s sister-in-law, Shelley Hardy, told Dale she wished he would have just walked away instead of destroying her family and the lives of his own family, including his children. Especially devastating was the fact Dale took the mother away from the young daughter he and Dee shared.

Shelley said Dee’s laughter and love of life will be kept alive in the hearts of her loved ones. Shelley stressed that Dale would never have control of Dee again.

“Dee knew we would fight to the end, and we won,” Shelley said, taking off her Justice for Dee bracelet she has worn since Dee disappeared 5 years ago. “We’ve got justice.”

Rikkell Bock, one of Dee’s four adult children, said her mother’s death has affected her family every single day. The question that has haunted her is, ‘Why?’

“Unfortunately, I now believe the answer is selfishness and greed. The only thing that Dale cared about more than himself was money,” Rikkell said.

“Dale was nothing without my mom. She was the force behind everything he wants to claim as his own. She was a force he could no longer control, and because of that, he took her life. He sought, manipulated, and preyed on the very person he was supposed to love and protect. He brutally beat her, strangled her, and if that wasn’t enough, he duct-taped her hands and mouth. He wrapped her up in a tarp, hid her in a tank, and tried to conceal who he really was,” Rikkell said.

Rikkell spoke of the harm Dale inflicted on her little sister when he made her believe her mother walked out of her life and moved to another country. Now she is left without either parent.

“My mom’s name, Dee Hardy, will live in our hearts and in our community for an eternity, but Dale Warner’s name will be gone forever,” Rikkell said.

T. J. Bock, Dee’s son, stated Dale Warner will no longer have control or influence over anything that matters, but the damage he has caused will take years to repair, if it can ever be repaired.

“He tried to erase her, but he failed.”

T.J. told the court that early on in Dale and Dee’s relationship, Dale was living in a camper barely making a profit on the bit of land he farmed. Dee gave him the opportunity to succeed. Everything he became was because of Dee.

“His actions weren’t just violent, but calculating and self-serving. Dale doesn’t take responsibility. He manipulates, he distorts reality, and shifts the blame.” T. J. said.

While T.J. is angry, he understands Dale’s family members are victims too. Dale manipulated them into believing his lies. T.J. admitted it took him a long time to accept the fact of his stepfather was capable of such a vile act.

“Dale does not hurt people out of anger. He hurts them for control,” T.J. said. “He prolonged our pain as long as he could.

Parker Hardy is Dee’s nephew. Parker’s house is on the Hardy Farm a mile from Dale and Dee's house.

Since the day Dale killed Parker’s beautiful aunt, he slept restlessly with one eye open. He told the court it made him uneasy being in such close proximity to Dale. He wondered what Dale would do next. After all, Parker is the only son of Gregg, who has pushed tirelessly to get justice for his sister,

Dee.

“I felt as though myself and my farm were on the frontline of a long, drawn-out battle,” Parker said.

In July 2023, Dee had been missing for over two years. In the dark of night, the Hardy Farm’s office and dairy barn filled with prized Holstein cows burned to the ground. The cause of the fire was never determined. Everything was ruled out except for arson.

“I know for a fact Dale Warner proceeded to attempt to torture myself and my family by violently vandalizing the very farm that was bringing justice to his wife and proving him guilty,” Parker said.

He told Dale he knew about every act of vandalism he had done including slashing hay bales, cutting wire fences so the cows would wander in the road, unchaining gates, throwing rocks and wire in the fields to damage equipment – as if killing Dee weren’t enough.

“You didn’t win,” Parker told Dale.

Parker asked the judge to give Dale the maximum sentence and send him far away from home. He said if Dale is let out, he will come back to the Hardy farm seeking revenge.

Gregg Hardy, Dee’s brother, has been the face of the Justice for Dee movement. Without him, Dee’s loved ones believe Dee’s disappearance would have become a cold case.

“Dale John Warner, you are a narcissistic psychopath, liar, and murderer. Your lack of any remorse for brutally killing my sister is unforgivable and deserves to be punished by the fullest extent of the law, and you certainly deserve more. The barbaric act of covering up your crime by welding my sister in a cold steel tomb is beyond human. You maliciously went to all ends to lie and deceive everyone about the murder you committed. These deceptive acts fully express that you preemptively planned this vicious act well before you committed the heinous crime. And even though the jury was not given enough information and evidence to officially convict you, this certainly was premeditated," Gregg said.

In Gregg's opinion, the fact Dale tried to convince him his sister took off on her own was a criminal act in itself.

“I hope the only way Dale Warner is able to leave prison is in a small, dark, box,” Gregg told the judge.

To read the victim’s impact statement of Kathryn Adams who is one of the leaders of the Justice for Dee Facebook page, join the group and get all the latest updates.