Fond du Lac County prosecutors will get another opportunity to retry a 63-year-old Kenosha man for the 1990 murder of Berit Beck. Judge Robert Wirtz on Monday denied a motion to dismiss a 1st degree murder charge against Dennis Brantner. The judge ruled there was sufficient evidence for a jury to listen to the facts and hear the case again. The judge also granted the state’s motion for a retrial.
District Attorney Eric Toney says a status conference has been scheduled for February 20th because Brantner’s lawyer Craig Powell has withdrawn from the case.
Last June a jury was unable to reach a unanimous verdict in a murder trial and they were dismissed. Judge Gary Sharpe recused himself after that and the case was reassigned to Judge Wirtz. Brantner is currently serving time for a drug conviction the result of a search at the Fond du Lac County Jail when he was booked for the 18-year-old Sturtevant woman’s murder.
KFIZ