After 28 Years, Berit Beck Killer Pleads Guilty: Court

RACINE COUNTY, WI — Twenty-eight years after 18-year-old Berit Beck disappeared and was later discovered deceased in a ditch, her accused killer has pled to her murder, according to court documents Friday.

Dennis Brantner has pled guilty to second-degree reckless homicide in the 1990 death of Beck.

Beck drove from her Sturtevant home on July 17, 1990, for a three-day job training in Appleton. On her way, she stopped at the Forest Mall in Fond du Lac, but when she returned to her van, authorities say she was abducted.

Authorities reported that her gray 1987 GMC van was found across from where the abduction happened. Beck was missing.

About a month later on August 22, Beck's body was found along Brown Road in a ditch in Waupun. Her killer remained a mystery after a lengthy investigation.

Over the years, the Beck murder case went cold, until prosecutors caught a break in 2014.

In Feb. 2014, authorities reported that several fingerprints were discovered in Beck's van. They matched those of Dennis J. Brantner of Kenosha. Fingerprints found in a database linked the prints found in the van with those of Brantner.

During a new investigation, authorities in Fond du Lac reported finding more fingerprints inside Beck's van. In March of 2015, Brantner was arrested and charged with second-degree reckless homicide.

According to a Journal Times report, Brantner was tried in 2016, but a mistrial was declared after the jury could not reach a verdict. A judge in Fond du Lac County ruled that there was enough evidence to conduct a retrial.

Brantner is scheduled to have his sentencing hearing on March 1.

In this photo provided by the Fond du Lac County Sheriff's Department is Dennis Brantner, 61, of Kenosha. Brantner is charged with one count of first-degree murder in the death of 18-year-old Berit Beck who was killed in July 1990 while she was on her way from Sturtevant to a work seminar in Appleton. (AP Photo/Fond du Lac County Sheriff's Department)