LENAWEE COUNTY, Mich. – The murder trial of Dale Warner continued Tuesday with emotional testimony from Dee Warner’s older brother, Gregg Hardy, who described the search for his sister and her husband’s actions after she vanished.
Dale Warner is accused of killing his wife, Dee Warner, in 2021, whose remains were found years later in a fertilizer tank on the couple’s Lenawee County property.
Read more --> Timeline of everything we know about the Dee Warner murder trial and investigation
The prosecution rested on Tuesday morning, and Hardy was one of the witnesses the defense called to testify. You can watch Hardy’s full testimony in the video at the top of this article.
‘I was very interested in finding my sister’
Hardy, 19 years older than Dee, said he learned she was missing around 10 a.m. on April 25, 2021, when his wife called him.
“I was very interested in finding my sister,” Hardy testified, explaining why he wanted to be the primary point of contact for prosecutors and investigators when questioned by the defense.
Defense attorneys pressed Hardy about his familiarity with fertilizer tanks on the Munger property, where fertilizer was stored and sold, and where Hardy had previously obtained fertilizer for his farm.
Hardy initially denied telling Michigan State Police there was a specific tank he wanted searched. However, the defense played a recorded interview in which he referenced a particular tank, identified in court as Tank No. 8, that he said he had seen in a barn the week after Dee went missing. Hardy acknowledged making the statement.
The defense also questioned whether Hardy feared potential liability if prosecutors failed to secure a conviction against Dale.
“Well, honestly, Mr. Warner is an evil person,” Hardy said in response, before the judge cut him off.
Later, during the prosecution’s cross-examination, Hardy agreed that a text message he sent about potential liability was because of the public statements he made.
At the time he learned of Dee’s disappearance, Hardy was running his family’s fifth-generation dairy farm. He said he had been up since early morning, tending to cows in the robotic milking barn and special-needs barn before planning to chisel plow a nearby field that had recently been heavily fertilized with manure.
He was working that field when he learned about Dee being missing. Hardy said he tried calling and texting Dee. When she didn’t respond, he became alarmed.
“We don’t typically just chat,” Hardy said through tears. “If we called, it was usually something important.”
Meeting with Dale in a field
That evening, around 8 p.m., Hardy and his wife, Shelly, drove to find Dale. They located him tilling part of a field east of the Warner home farm.
Hardy noted that he found it unusual that Dale was only tilling part of the field and that he didn’t plant it until weeks later.
When asked what was going on, Hardy said Dale told him they had a “hell of a fight” and that Dee had taken a to-go bag, her curling iron, makeup bag and phone and left.
Hardy said Dale then pulled Dee’s wedding ring from his jeans pocket and bounced it in his hand “like a golf ball.”
Hardy organizes search, offers reward
In the days that followed, Hardy said he helped organize a large-scale search of roughly 500 to 1,000 acres of property. Around 30 people participated, according to Hardy’s testimony.
He said Dale wasn’t interested in making his wife’s disappearance public.
“It bothered me a lot because he wasn’t doing anything,” Hardy said, referring to what he perceived as a lack of urgency on Dale’s part in searching for his wife.
Hardy also said he reviewed Dee’s phone records to determine who she may have last spoken to.
When there were numbers he didn’t recognize, he would call them to see who they were and ask if they knew anything.
Hardy said he also called anyone he could think of for answers, including friends, family and coworkers. He estimated that he contacted more than 100 people.
Hardy testified that he urged Dale to offer a cash reward to prompt public assistance.
When Dale declined, Hardy said he offered $50,000 himself. This was around March 10, 2022.
He also worked to publicize the disappearance through news media, billboards and even a podcast.
Two or three standard billboards were put up, and a man with electronic billboards offered space for a message about Dee’s disappearance as well.
During cross-examination, the prosecution asked, “Did you get a lot of support from the public. Hardy said they received ”huge" support from the public as they searched for Dee.
Questions about Dee’s behavior
Jurors asked Hardy whether he had ever noticed bipolar tendencies in his sister or seen her abuse prescription pills.
“Absolutely not,” he said regarding pill abuse.
As for her personality, Hardy said Dee was not bipolar, but described her as “very dynamic,” explaining that if she disagreed with him, “I would really know it.”
“If she were mad at me today, she’d probably hug me tomorrow,” he said through tears.
Hardy acknowledged Dee had occasionally come to his home as a “safe haven,” sometimes bringing her children. He said Dee would communicate frustrations about her marriage. However, he said the last time that occurred was three or four years before she disappeared.
He emphasized that it was highly unusual for her not to answer his calls.
Old phone, tracking Dee through car
Hardy also testified about a conversation on April 26 in his office at the robotic milking facility. He said Dale asked whether Hardy’s son, Parker, could retrieve information from Dee’s old phone, which had been replaced during a trip to Florida and left in a motor home.
Hardy testified that Dale mentioned tracking Dee through her vehicle. Hardy suggested they visit the tracked locations to check for security cameras and identify anyone she may have left with.
According to Hardy, Dale showed no interest in that suggestion.
Relationship with Dale deteriorates
After being asked about their relationship via a question from the jury, Hardy said his relationship with Dale deteriorated gradually, beginning about two months after Dee went missing.
Throughout his testimony, Hardy frequently became emotional, at times covering his face and asking for a moment to compose himself.
He said he was on his farm when a detective eventually called to inform him that human remains had been found.
Defense rests
The defense rested following Hardy’s testimony. Neither the defense nor the prosecution plans to call any more witnesses.
Closing arguments are scheduled to begin at 9 a.m. on Thursday.