NEWS

Jury deadlocked in Beck murder trial

Sharon Roznik
USA TODAY NETWORK-Wisconsin

FOND DU LAC - A jury became deadlocked Tuesday afternoon in the trial of the man accused in the 1990 killing of Berit Beck.

The case went to the jury Monday afternoon, but no verdict was reached before the jury opted to break for the day shortly after 5 p.m. Jurors reconvened at 8:30 a.m. Tuesday, but sent a message during the afternoon to Fond du Lac County Judge Gary Sharpe that they were unable to reach a verdict. Sharpe will determine whether deliberations will continue or if a mistrial will be declared.

A packed courtroom heard closing arguments Monday morning as the 11-day trial of Dennis Brantner draws to a close.

Brantner is charged in the killing of the 18-year-old Sturtevant woman on July 17, 1990.

The teen's family sat in silence as Fond du Lac County District Attorney Eric Toney described the evidence and the steps that led to Beck's death. A photo of a happy, smiling Beck was projected on a large screen as Toney told the jury how the young murder victim "has missed 26 birthdays her family will never celebrate that were stolen by Dennis Brantner in July 1990."

RELATED: Berit Beck case

Dennis Brantner listens to closing arguments Monday in Fond du Lac County Court, where he is standing trial for the 1990 murder of Berit Beck.

Minutes later, the screen showed the grisly crime scene, including the teen's skull, wrapped with a red gag. Her remains had been found in a ditch 20 miles from her van. A farmer stumbled upon her decomposed body.

Beck left home on July 17, 1990 and headed to Appleton to attend a work-related seminar. She stopped at a Fond du Lac mall, but she never completed her trip, her van later found in the mall parking lot.

Her body was discovered about six weeks later in a rural area in western Fond du Lac County.

The case remained a mystery for more than two decades. But Brantner was arrested 25 years after the slaying after authorities said they had tangible physical evidence that placed him in Beck's van.

Brantner told investigators that he cannot remember what happened on that day in 1990.

"His (Brantner's) own words tell you he murdered Berit Beck," Toney told the jury during closing statements. "He says, 'If I did, I did, I don't  know, I'm so (expletive) sorry.'"

Defense attorney Craig Powell, meanwhile, reminded jurors that the state has the burden to prove Brantner killed the teen.

"How would you react if detectives showed up at your door, showed you pictures of a decomposed body and accused you of doing it?" Powell asked the jury.

"What is Mr. Brantner supposed to do when they tell him you have to prove this or that from 25 years ago?"

Highlights from Monday's proceedings:

»The state focused on Brantner's nine fingerprints found on five different items in the van, along with cigarette ashes. They were determined to be left in the van by a left-handed smoker, which Brantner was. His fingerprints were found on a cellophane cigarette case wrapper.

»Brantner once worked at Roberts Trucking, about 10 miles north of where Beck's body was found. Toney emphasized how Brantner told detectives he didn't know the area.

»Not a single piece of evidence proves that Brantner was in control of the van, Powell said.

"So what?" Powell said of Brantner's fingerprints found in Beck's van. "It doesn't prove he murdered her."

Reach Sharon Roznik at sroznik@fdlreporter.com or 920-907-7936; on Twitter: @sharonroznik