Lenawee County judge rules husband to stand trial in murder of Dee Warner

ADRIAN, Mich. – A Lenawee County judge ruled Friday, June 7, that there is enough evidence for Dale Warner to be put on trial for the murder of his wife, Dee Warner.

Dee Warner was last seen in April 2021 at her home on Mugner Road in Tipton. On Tuesday, Nov. 21, 2023, Michigan State Police announced that Warner’s husband had been arrested in connection with her death. Her body has never been found, but she has been declared legally dead.

Dale Warner was charged with open murder in the death investigation of his wife Dee that began after the 52-year-old woman went missing from her Franklin Township home.

In court Friday, prosecutors revealed Dee Warner’s text messages, including one she wrote a friend about being pushed into a dresser by her husband and that she feared he could kill her.

The defense focused on a Michigan State Police investigator who testified there wasn’t evidence that Dee Warner was murdered and there was nothing physical that links Dale Warner to a crime.

Dale Warner will return to court June 20.