A Michigan man was sentenced to up to 70 years in prison for the murder of his wife and welding her body in a tank on the couple’s property. Dale Warner, 58, was found guilty of second-degree murder and tampering of evidence by a Lenawee County jury on March 10, 2026, for the death of his wife, 52-year-old Dee Warner.

Cruel Death of Dee Warner

On April 25, 2021, Dee disappeared, and her last known whereabouts were her home in Franklin Township, Michigan. It took investigators three years to find her remains, which were sealed in a tank on the couple’s property. 

The tank had been previously used to hold anhydrous ammonia, but there was no ammonia found at the time her body was discovered. Prosecutors alleged at trial that the evidence proved the victim was beaten and strangled to death. Before her body was put in the double-sealed tank, her mouth and nose were duct-taped shut.

“I did not want to believe he was capable of this, just as I did not want to believe my mother would ever leave without saying a word to us,” TJ Bock, Dee Warner’s son, said at Thursday’s sentencing hearing. “But only one of those things was true.”

Disappearance Without a Word

Dee and Dale Warner married in 2006 and entered their marriage with four adult children from previous relationships. They had one child together and were together approximately 15 years before Dale filed for divorce shortly after his wife’s disappearance. 

Dale told his wife’s family and friends that she had left without a word. “He cut off all communication between my little sister and the rest of our family,” Rikkel Bock, Dee Warner’s daughter, said. “He made her believe that her own mom had simply walked out of her life to start a new one in another country.”

Dale’s defense attorneys conceded his conviction, acknowledged the tragedy of the case, but said he was a “kind and even-tempered man who gave a lot to the community and tried to help out others where he could.”

Dale Warner’s Motive

During the weeks-long trial, prosecutors alleged that Dale hid his wife’s body in a safe and used farming machinery to transport her. From there, he supposedly welded her into the fertilizer tank.

Authorities believe the motive behind the killing was that Dee told Dale that she wanted a divorce and to sell the family business. He obviously did not take too kindly to that, so he chose to kill her and attempt to cover his tracks.

Victim Impact Statement

At Dale Warner’s sentencing hearing, Judge Michael Olsaver warned those delivering victim impact statements against swearing and name-calling the defendant. He requested that all comments be directed towards him, but Dee’s brother refused.

“Dale Warner, you’re a narcissistic psychopathic liar and murderer. Your lack of any remorse for brutally killing my sister is unforgivable and deserves to be punished by the fullest extent of the law, and you certainly deserve more. The barbaric act of covering up your crime by welding my sister in a cold steel tomb is beyond human,” Greggory Hardy said. 

“You are a spineless piece of human debris.”

Sentencing Hearing

Olsaver used the victim’s life to determine the sentence that Dale should receive. “Assuming Ms. Warner had an average life expectancy, she had about 29 years of life taken from her. But it’s not just the 29 years that were stolen from her by this act,” the judge said before sentencing the defendant to consecutive prison sentences.

Dale Warner is expected to serve 31.25 to 60 years in prison for murder, followed by an additional 17 months to 10 years for tampering with evidence. He will be eligible for parole at age 91, in approximately 33 years.