Opening statements heard in trial of Dennis Brantner, accused of killing Berit Beck



FOND DU LA COUNTY -- Opening statements were heard on Tuesday, June 14th in the trial of 62-year-old Dennis Brantner. He is the man accused of killing Berit Beck in Fond du Lac County nearly two decades ago.

Back on July 17, 1990, Beck made a stop at a store on her way from Sturtevant to Appleton for work. She was never seen alive again.

Beck's van was found two days later in Fond du Lac. Her body was found six weeks later in a Waupun ditch. Then two years ago, testing found Brantner's fingerprint DNA on Beck's vehicle.

Berit Beck



"Draw the conclusion from the evidence -- what the facts prove beyond a reasonable doubt, he killed Berit Beck," said Dennis Krueger, Assistant Fond du Lac District Attorney.

"You'll hear no evidence of any  connection between the two. They never crossed paths. Never in the same area. Total strangers," said the defense attorney.

The defense says there is other DNA evidence in the van not linked to Brantner.

The trial is expected to be quite lengthy.