Michigan man convicted of killing his wife whose body was stuffed in a farm tank years ago

FILE - A banner shows a photo of missing woman Dee Warner in Tipton, Mich., May 9, 2022. (Jacob Hamilton/Jackson Citizen Patriot via AP, File)

ADRIAN, Mich. (AP) — A man was found guilty Tuesday of killing his wife, whose body was found in a empty farm tank in rural Michigan in 2024, three years after she disappeared.

Jurors heard evidence of a troubled marriage between Dee and Dale Warner, though defense lawyers emphasized that there was no physical evidence linking him to her death. The case was featured on real-crime podcasts and TV shows.

Signs and banners were posted around Lenawee County, about 70 miles (110 kilometers) southwest of Detroit, declaring, “Justice For Dee.”

Dale Warner was convicted of second-degree murder and tampering with evidence.

Dee Warner, 52, disappeared in April 2021. Dale Warner was charged with murder more than two years later, although investigators still had not found a body. In 2024, her remains were discovered inside a fertilizer tank. A handwritten tag on the side of the tank said, “out of service” and “do not fill.”

An autopsy showed Dee Warner was strangled and had suffered blunt force trauma.

Prosecutor Jackie Wyse told jurors that Dale Warner could have called 911 and said, “I screwed up,” when he realized what had happened but instead taped Dee Warner’s mouth and nose so she could not breathe.

“Those were all conscious decisions,” Wyse said.

Defense attorney Mary Chartier said there was plenty of reasonable doubt, noting that Dale Warner had regularly talked to investigators during the search and denied hurting his wife. He worked in agriculture and trucking.

“You are not here to judge Mr. Warner as a husband,” Chartier told the jury. “You may think he was a bad husband, a not-very-attentive husband, whatever you may think of him.”