A Fond du Lac County jury is deciding whether a 62-year-old Kenosha man is responsible for killing Berit Beck in the summer of 1990. The jury sat through more than three hours of closing arguments this morning. Defense attorney Craig Powell said no one can put Brantner in Fond du Lac at the time of Berit Beck’s murder. He also easily dismissed two incidences Brantner had with ex-wives. Brantner told police in an interview that a man paid for drinks and a meal and gave him a ride in a van. District Attorney Eric Toney asked the jury to rely on the physical evidence and testimony that was provided.
Toney also said the theory of a master criminal that set Brantner up made no sense.
Toney offered his own theory of Dennis Brantner stumbling across Beck as she was changing her cloths in her van and strangling her with a section of pantyhose she had purchased at a Walgreen’s Store in Fond du Lac. There are ten women and two men on the jury.
The jury broke for the night around 5:15 Monday afternoon and will continue deliberations this morning.