A suspect in the cold case homicide of Berit Beck has been charged with her murder. Dennis Brantner made his initial Fond du lac Court appearance Monday afternoon on a charge of first degree murder. Bail was set at $1 million cash. Brantner was arrested Friday at his home in Kenosha. Fond du Lac County Sheriff Mick Fink says Brantner’s fingerprints were found on several items in Beck’s van. The 18 year old Beck was murdered in July 1990 after stopping at the Fond du Lac Forest Mall while on her way from Sturdevant to a work seminar in Appleton. According to a criminal complaint Beck was killed, likely by strangulation. Defense attorney Craig Powell says Brantner is innocent. Powell calls the fingerprint evidence in the case weak. Sheriff Mick Fink says its been difficult for investigators over the past 25 years. “Its hard to let these things go. I guess just that someone can walk out of a mall on a bright sunny morning, 11:03am when that happened, and poof! I have watched the detectives struggle through the years with this,” Fink said. Assistant District Attorney Dennis Krueger has worked other cold cases during his career, including the case of a man convicted in the murder of dancer from The Other Place strip club in Fond du Lac. Krueger says while this case has its challenges because its been 25 years, he is confident the state has the evidence to proceed.
