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Caalaroga Shark Media. Good morning, I'm Red Carter. Wednesday, February eighteenth,
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twenty twenty six. Three stories today, Two murder trials that
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just opened, and a former CNN anchor fighting federal felony
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charges for doing his job. Winder, Georgia, Day two of
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the Colin Gray trial. The father who gave his fourteen
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year old son an Ar fifteen style rifle for Christmas,
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despite FBI warnings about online shooting threats, despite the boy
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googling how to kill your Dad at age eleven, despite
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a shrine to the Parkland school shooter hanging above his computer.
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September fourth, twenty twenty four, that boy allegedly carried the
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rifle to Appalachi High School in a backpack hidden behind
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poster board, killed two teachers and two students, wounded nine others.
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Now his father faces twenty nine felony counts. The wounded
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teenagers took the stand. Adrian Michigan the Dale Warner murder trial.
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His wife d told him she wanted a divorce and
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planned to sell their businesses April twenty fourth, twenty twenty one.
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She was never seen alive again. Three years later, investigators
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cut open a sealed and hydrous ammonia fertilizer tank on
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Warner Family property. Inside D's body, still in her pajamas,
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duct tape around her face and neck, strangled, blunt forced
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trauma to her head. Dale tracked her movements over two
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thousand times, searched the internet for how to dispose of
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a ten thousand gallon propane tank. Now he's on trial
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for murder and Don Lemon, former CNN anchor, pleaded not
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guilty Friday to two federal felony charges. His crime walking
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into a Minnesota church to cover a protest about an
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ice connected pastor. His attorneys call it an unconstitutional mess.
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The government seized his phone. Multiple judges refused to sign
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arrest warrants before prosecutors went to a grand jury. Press
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freedom advocates are furious. I'm reed Carter today. A father's
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Christmas gift that killed four people, a wife sealed in
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a tank, and a journalist facing prison for covering a story.
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This is celebrity trials. Let's start in Georgia, Barrow County
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Courthouse Winder the trial of Colin Gray. This is only
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the second time in American history that prosecutors have charged
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a parent with murder in connection with their child's mass shooting.
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First were Jennifer and James Crumbly in Michigan, both convicted
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of involuntary manslaughter in the Oxford High School shooting, sentenced
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to ten to fifteen years each in April twenty twenty four.
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Now Colin Gray fifty five years old, facing twenty nine
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felony counts, two counts of second degree murderunts of involuntary manslaughter,
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twenty counts of cruelty to children, five counts of reckless conduct.
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Maximum sentence one hundred eighty years in prison. He's pleaded
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not guilty. His son, Colt Gray, was fourteen years old
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on September fourth, twenty twenty four. It was his fifth
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day at Appalachi High School, New School, New Town, just
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enrolled after being out of school for an entire year.
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That morning, Colt put a sig sour M four hundred
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AR style rifle in his backpack, beryl sticking out, wrapped
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in poster board to conceal it. Boarded the school bus
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with a loaded weapon. First period computer science class teacher
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Suzanne Harris noticed the heavy backpack. Colt asked her about
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active shooter drills. Red flag. She emailed school officials. Nobody
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pulled him out before second period started. Colt's mother, Marcy Gray,
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called the school counselor, frantic she'd received alarming text messages
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from her. Prosecutors haven't revealed the content, but Marcy told
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the counselor that Colt had access to firearms. That triggered concern.
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School resource officers started searching for Colt too late. Colt
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left his second period class, told his teacher he needed
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to go to the counseling office, went to a bathroom instead,
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waited twenty six minutes, then emerged with the rifle. He
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opened fire in a classroom and hallway. Teachers Richard Aspinwall
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thirty nine years old, and Christina Irimi, fifty three students,
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Mason Shermerhorn and Christian Angelo, both fourteen, all four killed.
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Nine others wounded seven hit by gunfire. Barrow County Sheriff
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jud Smith was at the gun range that morning when
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the emergency notification came through. He raced to the school,
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found wounded students, one girl bleeding pleading with him, don't
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cover me with a sheet, don't let me die. Sheriff
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Smith delivered the most most devastating testimony on day one
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described helping wounded students describe the task. No law enforcement
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officer ever once telling parents that their children had been
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murdered at school. Then yesterday, day two, the wounded students
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took the stand. Natalie, a juvenile whose last name was
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withheld shot in her wrist and shoulder. She was fifteen
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years old. I started to scream that I got shot.
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It was like time stopped. Everything was moving quickly and slowly.
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I was worried I was going to die and how
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that would affect my parents. She saw Colt Gray on
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the floor afterward, hands behind his back. Said she'd seen
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him before but didn't recognize him, but I saw red
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when I saw him. Melanie Delira Castaneda, fifteen at the time,
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working on her math book. Her ear started ringing, smelled smoke.
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She stood up, turned toward the door and saw Colt
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Gray pointing a firearm into her classroom, firing indiscriminately. I
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didn't know I was shot, but I was. My body
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just told me to hold my arm. She hid between
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a pillar, the smartboard, and her desk. When police finally
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escorted her to the hallway, she saw two of the
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dead students lying on the floor. These are children testifying
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about being shot at school, being shot while doing math.
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Make it make sense. Now, Here's why Colin Gray is
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on trial, not because his son pulled the trigger, because
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prosecutors say he loaded the gun years before. The timeline
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is devastating. September twenty twenty one, Colt Gray was eleven
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years old, search the Internet for abuse and how to
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kill your dad. Child welfare case opened monthly checkups with
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a caseworker. Colin Gray consistently told the caseworker everything was fine,
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never mentioned counseling needs. May twenty twenty three, FBI received
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an anonymous tip a user on Disaccord the messaging platform
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had threatened in a chat group to shoot up a
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school within the next two years. FBI traced the threat
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to a computer in the Gray home. Jackson County deputies
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visited the home, questioned Colin Gray, asked if his son
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had access to firearms. Colin Gray's answer, he and his
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son take this school shooting stuff very seriously. Said if
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Colt made threats, he'd be mad as hell and all
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the guns would go away. Colt denied making the threats,
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said his account was hacked. Nobody confirmed or denied whether
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the threats came from Colt. Prosecutors say Colin Gray never
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received a definitive answer from law enforcement. Defense says that matters,
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Prosecution says it doesn't. Christmas twenty twenty three, seven months
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after the FBI visit, Colin Gray gave his fourteen year
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old son the AR fifteen style rifle as a Christmas gift.
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Continued buying accessories after that, including, according to prosecutors, a
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lot of ammunition. Prosecutors alleged Colin Gray knew about the
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Parkland shrine. Photos shown to the jury. Colt had images
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of Nicholas Cruz, the Parkland shooter who killed seventeen people
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in twenty eighteen, displayed above his computer. Prosecutors say Colt's mother,
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Marci knew the boy had tried to email crews in
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prison and send him money. She allegedly responded to this
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information with a laughing emoji. Days before the shooting, Colt
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told his father he was hearing voices telling him what
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to do. Prosecutors say Colin Gray still allowed the rifle
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to remain propped against a wall in his son's bedroom
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when deputies arrived at the Gray home after the shooting
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Colin Gray's first words, according to the prosecution, I knew it.
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My little girl just texted me. She's in middle school.
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She said, we're in lockdown. I'm like, God Almighty, please
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tell me your brother didn't do something. I knew it.
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Two words the prosecution wants burned into every juror's brain.
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Defense attorney Brian Hobbs painted a different picture, said Colt
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Gray lived a double life, sent affectionate text messages to
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his father, hid violent plans in private phone notes and
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online accounts. That the shooting was originally planned for February
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twenty twenty five, but Colt accelerated the timeline. Colin couldn't
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predict what was deliberately concealed from him. When someone conceals
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a plan, deceives the people around them acts independently. The
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law does not allow us to pretend that the people
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left behind should have seen through all of it. Hobbes argued.
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Colin Gray was a single father. Colt's mother, Marci, had
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lost custody of the two younger siblings due to substance
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abuse issues. Colin was raising three kids on his own.
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Tried to get his son help, even scheduled a mental
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health appointment for September fifth. The shooting happened September fourth,
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one day too late. The defense also pointed the finger
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at Marseilles, said she knew about Colt's obsession with school shooters,
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knew about the cruise case, didn't warn Colin. Trial expected
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to last three weeks. Jurors imported from Hall County because
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the judge agreed Barrow County residents were too close to
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the tragedy. Dozens more witnesses expected. The legal question, did
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Colin Gray consciously disregard a known risk? Did he have
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enough warning signs to know his son could hurt people?
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Or was Colt Gray so deceptive that no parent could
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have predicted what happened? The human question is simpler. You
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buy an AR fifteen for your mentally ill teenager who
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was visited by the FBI about school shooting threats, and
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who has a shrine to a mass murderer on his wall?
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What did you think was going to happen? Richard Aspinwall
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was thirty nine years old math teacher coach. Father Christina
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Eremi was fifty three, math teacher, immigrant from Romania who
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came to America for a better life. Mason Shermerhorn was fourteen,
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Christian Angelo was fourteen. They should be in class us
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right now, should be complaining about homework, should be planning
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prom Someone has to say their names. We'll be right
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back with the Dale Warner murder trial. His wife told
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him she wanted a divorce. Three years later, they found
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her body sealed inside a fertilizer tank on his property.
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Welcome back to celebrity trials. I'm reed, Carter Adrian, Michigan,
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Lenawee County Circuit Court. The murder trial of Dale Warner,
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charged with open murder and tampering with evidence, faces life
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in prison. Pleaded not guilty, rejected a plea deal for
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second degree murder. April twenty fourth, twenty twenty one, tecumsa
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Michigan small farming community southeast of ann Arbor. Dale and
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d Warner lived on a large agricultural property on Munger Road,
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multiple buildings, barns, offices. They ran several businesses together, a farm,
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a farm equipment supply company, a trucking operation. D managed
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three companies employing fewer than twenty people. The marriage was over,
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had been over. Prosecutors described it as no intimacy, only secrecy.
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They didn't sleep together. They were just roommates. The couple
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fought nearly every day by text, face to face, over money,
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over the businesses, over everything. That Saturday morning, D learned
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Dale had told an acquaintance that she was on xanax
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and was a mess. That was the final straw. D's daughter,
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Amber Million, testified about what she saw when her mother
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came home. She was hysterically crying. When she came into
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the house, she threw up and was crying and just
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saying she was done, done with the marriage, done with Dale,
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wanted a divorce, wanted to sell everything. That evening, D's
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sister in life law, Amy Joe Alexander, came to pick
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up the warner's nine year old daughter for a sleepover.
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Arrived at seven forty two pm found D outside on
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the deck. She'd been crying, red, blotchy spots on her neck,
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puffy eyes, make up, a mess. D told Amy she
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was done, wanted to sell the trucking company, planned to
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ask Dale for a divorce. That night, Amy took the daughter.
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It was D's idea to have the child sleep elsewhere.
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She didn't want her daughter witnessing the fight she was
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about to have with Dale. Nobody ever saw d Warner
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alive again. The next morning, D's phone went straight to voicemail.
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Her hummer was parked at the office, no response to texts,
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no activity on her credit cards or bank accounts. Nothing.
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D Warner, fifty two years old, vanished. Dale told investigators
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d was upset Saturday night, but eventually calmed down and
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fell asleep on the living room couch. He left the
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house around six am Sunday while she was still sleeping,
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said she was gone when he got back. Prosecutors say
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every statement Dale gave about that morning was inconsistent. Dee's
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children wanted to call police. Dale didn't. The kids got
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together and reported her missing anyway. Then the investigation unraveled
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Dale Warner's secret life. Prosecutors revealed Dale had been stalking
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his wife. Used a mobile phone app to track the
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location of her vehicle more than two thousand times between
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January twenty twenty and April twenty twenty one. Two thousand times,
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had someone clone her phone to monitor her movements, installed
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cameras in the home, asked a farm worker to buy
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a GPS tracker to place on one of her cars.
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That's not a husband worried about his wife. That's a
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man keeping tabs on his target. When retired Lenwy County
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detective Kevin Greca arrived at the property with a search
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warrant days later, Dale wasn't there, but surveillance cameras on
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the farm captured what happened next. Dale's son, Jarn, called
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him and said cadavered dogs were coming to search the property.
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Surveillance video showed Dale racing to the Munger Road property,
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climbing into a front end loader moving an anhydrous ammonia
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tank to the spray barn. Prosecutors played drone footage for
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the jury Dale moving the tank, the same tank where
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D's body would eventually be found. Police later learned Dale
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had searched on an iPad for how to dispose of
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a ten thousand gallon propane tank similar to an anhydros tank.
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The man was googling how to get rid of the
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evidence while investigators closed in Google search history as forever folks.
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The tank was eventually located in a storage building on
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Warner family Land in Tipton, several miles from the couple's home.
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A sealed anhydrous ammonia tank welded shut a tag on
236
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it reading do not use. August twenty twenty four, authorities
237
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cut it open, put a camera inside. First there was
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the tarp, and in the tarp was a body d Warner,
239
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still in her pajamas, duct tape covering her face and neck, strangled,