Dale Warner to serve up to 70 years in prison for the murder of his wife Dee Warner

Dale Warner, a Michigan man accused of killing his wife, Dee Warner, was ordered to serve up to 70 years in prison on charges of second-degree murder and tampering with evidence in her death. 

Judge Michael Olsaver issued a sentence of 375 months to 60 years in prison on the murder charge during the hearing Thursday morning in Lenawee County, with a consecutive term of 17 months to 10 years on tampering with evidence. Dale Warner will receive credit on the murder charge for time served in jail.

When the judge asked Dale Warner if he wanted to say anything before the sentence was issued, he shook his head. 

He was wearing an orange jail uniform, chains around his wrists and ankles. Four uniformed deputies stood near the defense attorney's table.

Five people gave victim impact statements during the hearing. They were Shelley Hardy, a sister-in-law; Rikkell Bock, a daughter of Dee; T.J. Bock, a son of Dee; Parker Hardy, a nephew of Dee; and Greg Hardy, a brother of Dee. 

They overwhelmingly asked the judge for the maximum penalty possible. Some of the comments also mentioned the impact they noticed on the youngest child in the family, who was the daughter of both Dee and Dale Warner. And Rikkell Bock said she was left stranded without child care for her two older children, as Dee Warner was providing care at the time as a grandmother.

"Our mother was the foundation of our family," Rikkell Bock added.

T.J. Bock insisted that if Dale Warner ever came up for a parole hearing, he would do everything in his power to make sure that his stepfather was not released.

"The tragedy of these events is immeasurable," the judge said as he began his remarks.

Dale Warner was arrested prior to his wife's body being found

Dee Warner was reported missing in April 2021 after she had last been seen at her home in Lenawee County. Her remains were found three years later, in August 2024, in a fertilizer tank on Dale Warner's property. 

Before her body was found, Dale Warner was arrested in November 2023 and charged with one count each of open homicide and tampering with evidence. The case was bound over to circuit court in June 2024.   

In between Dee Warner's disappearance and the charges being filed, her family related details of being distraught over not finding her, stories that proved to be untrue about her leaving the country, and repeated bouts of vandalism to some of the nearby family property. Numerous searches took place, involving both public and private resources.

The judge said during Thursday's hearing that it appears the murder took place in an attempt to avoid the legal proceedings of a divorce and the financial division of the couple's assets afterward.

The judge also said that at any time during those years, Dale Warner could have ended the family's suffering "and chose not to."

The trial began on Feb. 12 in the 39th Circuit Court in Adrian, with a jury returning a verdict on March 10. According to testimony in court, the cause of death was strangulation and blunt trauma; she is believed to have been dead before her body was stuffed into the chemical tank.  

The case received national attention and was featured on an episode of "48 Hours" in February 2025. It was also featured on "People Magazine Investigates" in January 2026.

According to statements made at the hearing, Dale Warner reserves the right to appeal.