LENAWEE COUNTY, Mich. (FOX 2) - A jury has been seated for the Dee Warner murder case as her husband prepares to stand trial in Lenawee County.
Jury selection lasted two weeks in the case against Dale Warner, who is accused of killing his wife in 2021. Opening arguments are scheduled to begin Thursday morning.
The backstory:
Dee Warner, 52, was reported missing in April 2021. In 2023, her husband was arrested and charged with murder before her body was even found. The following year, police found Dee's body in an anhydrous ammonia tank on her husband's farm.
Despite extensive searches of the property surrounding Dee's Munger Road home in Franklin Township, it took years for her body to be found.
Even without a body, Dale was arrested in November 2023, and charged with tampering with evidence and murder.
Dee Warner
Attorney Todd Flood said that in order for that to happen, a declaration of death trial was held.
"During that timeframe, Dale knew where the body was, knew how he strangled her," Flood said. "We had to have a judge and a trial to show that she in fact was dead and not just missing."
In August 2024, Michigan State Police discovered remains on property owned by Dale found to be the missing grandmother.
Dig deeper:
Last March, Dee's 28-year-old stepson was charged with tampering with evidence and accessory after the fact to a felony, but those charges were later dropped.
Details surrounding what led to the charges and the subsequent dismissal of them are unclear.
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