Trial in 1990 homicide case ends with no verdict

By: Associated Press//June 29, 2016//

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Fond du Lac County Assistant District Attorney Dennis Kreuger reacts as word comes from the jury in Dennis Brantner's murder trial that they can not come up with a decision of guilty or not guilty, Wednesday June 29, 2016, Fond du Lac, Wis. Brantner is accused of killing Berit Beck in 1990. (Doug Raflik/The Reporter via AP) — Fond du Lac County Assistant District Attorney Dennis Kreuger reacts on Wednesday as word comes from the jury in Dennis Brantner’s murder trial that they can not come up with a decision of guilty or not guilty. Brantner was accused of killing Berit Beck in 1990. (Doug Raflik/The Reporter via AP)

FOND DU LAC, Wis. (AP) — The murder trial of a man accused of killing an 18-year-old Wisconsin woman in 1990 has ended with no verdict.

Judge Gary Sharpe discharged the jury Wednesday after it was unable to reach a verdict.

Afterward, Fond du Lac County District Attorney Eric Toney said prosecutors are “keeping all of the options open right now” but would not elaborate.

Sixty-two-year-old Dennis Brantner was charged with first-degree murder in the death of Berit Beck. Beck was traveling from her home in Sturtevant to Appleton for a work seminar when she disappeared. Her van was found a few days later, and her body was later found in a ditch in Fond du Lac County.

Authorities who re-examined the cold case say they matched fingerprints on evidence recovered from Beck’s van to Brantner.

Brantner will be sentenced July 10 on unrelated drug charges.

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