Lester Holt

Maybe we won't on March 17th.

But it sounds like we're getting closer.

Well, next, we have a big update in the trial of Dale Warner, the Michigan farmer accused of killing his wife Dee in 2021 and hiding her body in a fertilizer tank.

He pleaded not guilty to charges of murder and tampering with evidence.

Mario, we've been covering this trial for weeks now.

What's the latest?

Well, we finally have a verdict, Lester, but it was not without some fireworks in the days leading up to that verdict.

In the closing arguments last week, prosecutors painted a portrait for the jury of the couple's broken marriage and what Dale had to lose if Dee divorced him.

Then, Lester, prosecutors methodically laid out a timeline of Dale's movements at the time of the murder and afterwards.

They said that the timestamps on surveillance cameras...

and from car apps proved that he used the farm equipment to move Dee's body to the farm spray barn and then spent two hours in that barn to cut open the fertilizer tank and then put her body in.

How did the defense respond?

The defense emphasized that there was really no physical evidence connecting Dale to Dee's murder.

Their key points, they said the prosecution couldn't prove when and where Dee died based on the testimony of the medical examiner, Dr. Patrick Cho.

The jury got the case last Friday, but it sounds like there was some drama during the deliberations.

Indeed.

One of the jurors didn't show up to court on the second day of deliberations because of a medical issue.

Then the judge tried to call in three alternate jurors, but things got wackier from there, Lester.

It turned out they had all discussed the case with other people already, and two of them had seen media reports about the case.

Thankfully, on Tuesday, the original juror returned and deliberations got underway again.