Dale Warner Told Police His Side of the Story

Dee Ann Warner. Photo courtesy of Parker Hardy.

Today marked the second day jurors listened to testimony in the Dale Warner murder trial. Dale is charged with open murder and tampering with evidence in the death of his wife, Dee Ann Warner. On January 27, 2026, Dale turned down a plea deal for 2^nd degree murder and tampering with evidence.

Dee was missing from April 25, 2021 - August 17, 2024, when her remains were found in a rewelded anhydrous ammonia tank on Dale’s property. Dale had a fertilizer business and owned many tanks.

Zack Bock, Dee’s son, was the first to testify today. He described his relationship with Dee as, “extremely close. We talked or saw each other almost every day.” Dee’s phone was always in her hand. If Zack sent a text or called her, she would always reply. “The only time she never responded to me was when she was killed,” he said.

He described his relationship with Dale as, “He’s my mom’s partner.”

Zack did the books for Dale and Dee’s businesses sporadically through high school. When Dee fired their accountant, Mark Weisberg, an ex-con convicted of embezzlement, Zack stepped back in to help out.

Zack lived on and off with Dale and Dee through the years. He said Dale and Dee fought, “Just about every day.” The arguments were usually about money and business.

The day before Dee’s disappearance, Zack saw her briefly at his sister’s house in the morning. They texted throughout the day. Dee was upset about an argument she had the night before with employees. She told Zack she was done with everything. At one point, she told him, “I’ll sign it all over to you and you can deal with it.”

Their back-and-forth texts lasted until about 7:00 or 8:00 PM.

On Sunday, when Zack learned Dee was missing, he tried calling and texting her, but nothing went through. Dee often stayed a day or two at Zack’s house after an argument with Dale.

He went to Dee and Dale’s house, went through the office, which is separate from the house, and then ran into Dale outside. They walked back to the office together. Dale mentioned there was money missing from the safe. Zack couldn’t remember the amount, but he estimated that Dale had said it was somewhere around $100,000.

Zack headed toward the server room to check the security cameras and Dale veered toward his office. Seconds later, Zack heard Dale yell out an expletive. Zack turned around and Dale was holding Dee’s wedding ring. He said he found it on his desk.

Zack didn’t find Dee on any of the camera footage the night before or that day. He left and went to all the properties Dale and Dee owned that had a structure.

That evening, he met with his siblings, and they called the police and filed a missing person report. Even though Dee left Dale an average of 10 times a year, this was the first time they had called the police.

The next morning, Zack returned to Dale and Dee’s at his usual start time of about 9 AM. He checked to see if there was activity on Dee’s credit cards. He met Detective Greca at the TLC bank in Tecumseh to determine if there had been any activity on Dee’s personal account. They drove separately back to the Warner farm. He called Dale out of the field and left him to speak to Greca.

Zack still had a bedroom at the Munger Rd. house, even though he didn’t live with Dale and Dee anymore. In it, there was a safe Dee bought for him with the intention of using it herself. Zack put his passport in it along with important paperwork. Dee put in cash.

On cross examination, Zack was asked if the argument with the employees on Friday night was an unusual occurrence. “She definitely would get into it with employees,” Zack said. “But this one was different.” Zack also said, “She would get in fights with just about anyone. Mom had her opinions.”

Before Zack stepped down, Judge Olsaver read two questions the jury had for him. The first question asked if there was animosity between Dale and Zack before Dee went missing. Zack replied, “Yes.”

The next question asked what Dale and Zack relationship was like before Dee’s disappearance. “We spoke about work related things and that was it,” Zack said.

After lunch, Austin Hall took the stand. He worked as a Lenawee County Sheriff’s Office Road Patrol Deputy when Dee disappeared. He took the missing person report from three of Dee’s adult children and then went to talk to Dale.

The prosecution showed the body cam footage of the interaction.

Dale met Deputy Hall in the driveway and when asked about Dee, Dale said, “Well, I don’t know if she’s missing or if she just left.” He said she’d been very upset the day before about the argument with employees. “She was talking about killing herself and taking off and leaving,” Dale said.

Dee had just gotten over Covid. “She ain’t acted right since.”

Dale admitted she’d left plenty of times before, but this time was different. She wasn’t answering anyone’s calls, she didn’t take their nine-year-old daughter, and she didn’t take a vehicle. He pointed out that she had taken some items like her curling iron and go-bag. “So, I mean, it’s not like somebody forced her to go anywhere.”

He told Deputy Hall Dee had another phone that she didn’t know he knew about. “She’s very, very secretive about what she’s doing,” Dale said, and then chuckled. “She doesn’t want anyone to know where she’s at.”

Dee’s missing person case became a training opportunity for Deputy Hall. He went along with Detective Greca on several interviews with Dale. On Monday, the day after Dee was reported missing, Greca’s body cam footage shows Dale in the kitchen checking on a roast in the oven. Dale said Dee would be back in a day or so and that somebody picked her up this time.

He said after Covid, Dee’s whole personality changed. “It wasn’t my wife anymore.”

Dale said Dee called him Saturday morning when he was out in the field. “I could tell by her voice I was going to get an ass chewing for something,” he said.

Dale retold the story of how he came home and Dee was upset about her argument with employees and couldn’t let it go. They argued and he calmed her down. He gave her a neck massage before she fell asleep on the couch.

He said it wasn’t unusual for Dee to sleep on the couch. She’d been sleeping on the couch off and on because of neck pain. “We both sleep better together,” Dale said. Then added, “You can’t win a battle with a wife.”

Dale took Detective Greca through the house and showed him the only gun they had registered. It was a Ruger 380.

During this time, Dale was very chatty and covered a lot of topics quickly. He hinted Dee may have addictions. “I’ve always thought when she drinks, she drinks way too much.” Of the pills she takes for pain, he said, “She’s always going to the cupboard.” Dale said $50,000 to $100,000 was missing from the safe. “She’s been taking money out of the office for the last couple years,” he said. The wedding ring she left behind was six carats and worth about $35,000 to $40,000. Dale told their daughter’s school to call him if Dee shows up.

“Maybe she’s addicted to some drugs,” he said.

Dale expressed loss. “I just want her to come home.”

The jurors viewed another of Detective Greca’s body cam videos from Tuesday. Again, they were inside the house. They made a list of properties Dale and Dee owned.

Detective Greca and Deputy Hall returned to interview Dale on Thursday, April 29, 2021. Dale was inside the sprayer barn A semi was running inside and it was very loud. A tank and a camouflage safe sat along the back wall with heavy duty chains on the floor. Dale asked the officers to step outside. He had chemicals on the floor and needed to spray it down.

 More clips from Thursday were shown. Now they were inside the house. Dale retold the story of what happened on Saturday.

After Dee’s phone call to him while he was out in the field that morning, she hung up and wouldn’t take his calls the rest of the day.  

Later that night, after their daughter left for a sleepover with her cousin, Dale and Dee had an argument. It stemmed from Dee feeling betrayed he wasn’t standing up for her after she’d had the argument with employees on Friday.

Dale said her face was puffy like she’d been crying all day.

“She was insistent about starting a fight,” Dale said. “She knows how to fire me up and I know how to fire her up.”

He said, looking back, he realized she was just trying to goad him into a fight, so she’d have an excuse to leave.

She kept making jabs and he kept trying to calm her down.

Conversation switched to Dee’s vehicles. Dale said the tracker he put on her Hummer was a diagnostic tool. He forgot it was even there. Then, Dee found it and got upset.

On a vacation about six months prior, Dale discovered Dee had a second phone. He didn’t make a big deal about it because it would have ruined their trip.

Dale said the day after Dee went missing, he had an IT guy come out. He didn’t want Zack to have access to the security cameras. Up until then, Zack could use an app from his phone to monitor the footage.

Dale told the officers, “The biggest thing, I want my wife back.” He said they didn’t fight over money. “I can make more money. I can’t make another wife.” According to Dale, he and Dee started with nothing. “We built an empire together.”

That empire almost crashed when they lost $20 - $25M on a potato farm in Manchester.

Dale circled back to Dee. He said if anyone mentioned she may be bi-polar, Dee would get riled up. He said there were 3 or 4 times in their marriage Dee would talk of suicide.

“Personally, I think she has a lot of mental problems,” he said.

Dale told officers he’s already been through one divorce and wasn’t about to go through another.

No matter what.

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