Now a search warrant on file in Fond du Lac County discloses that Brantner’s fingerprints were found on several items recovered from Beck’s van: a Burger King cup, a Boldt (Beck’s employer) Employee Manual, and Jolen Bleach Kit. The bleach kit was one of the items Beck had purchased at Fond du Lac’s Forest Mall Walgreen’s store the day she disappeared...
The evidence was not new. It had been recovered from Beck’s van and submitted to the Crime Lab in 1990. When investigators asked the Crime Lab to retest evidence late last year, the fingerprint match with Brantner was made.
The search warrant documents included statements from an expert in serial and sexual homicides, saying that offenders in those cases often collect mementos, like photographs and newspaper clippings, or keep items taken from their victims.
Kenosha Circuit Judge Chad Kerkman allowed the search warrant to stand, saying characteristics of what (Brantner) has done in the past can be consistent with a sexual homicide or even a serial homicide.
Kerkman also noted that it would be believable that if Brantner was a sexual or serial murderer, he would keep these mementos at his place of residence, wherever that place of residence is.
The sheriff's office and the Fond du Lac County district attorney's office will hold a news conference Monday to discuss the case against Brantner, who became a suspect almost a year ago after evidence from Beck's van connected him to the killing... "This is the first time we had tangible physical evidence to put someone in the interior of that van."
Wisconsin court records show that Brantner was divorced in March 1995 and convicted of violating a domestic abuse restraining order and habitual criminality the following September. Other documents show Brantner was charged with kidnapping and assaulting his estranged wife in Illinois in 1994 and was sentenced to three years in prison after being convicted of lesser charges...
Those documents portrayed Brantner as an "angry, vindictive man" who received a dishonorable discharge from the military and who once warned his wife, "Think of O.J.," referring to the O.J. Simpson murder case.
1990 cold case murder a "bold stranger abduction"
http://www.cbsnews.com/news/1990-cold-case-murder-a-bold-stranger-abduction/
When asked about whether he dumped Beck's body, Brantner allegedly said he didn't know because he couldn't remember. He allegedly said that if he helped dump the body he was "so f---ing sorry," became emotional and left the interview room.
Citing court records and search warrants, a review by the Gannett Wisconsin Media Investigative Team found the investigation into the killing of Berit Beck of Sturtevant was "plagued by long lapses, missteps and flawed theories."
A 61-year-old Kenosha man has entered a not guilty plea to first-degree murder charges in a case from 1990.
Dennis Brantner was identified as a primary suspect last year, 24 years after Berit Beck was killed.
It hurt to have all those opportunities taken away from her for no reason, said Diane Beck, who marked the anniversary Thursday by putting flowers on her daughters grave with her husband, David, their son Ben, and his three sons, Kaleb, Kyle, and Nathan, who never got to meet their aunt.
Diane Beck said when they go to her daughters grave, We know she is not there. Her remains are there but her soul is no longer there.
Still she said they go there to talk to her, to vent and, to let her know how much we love and miss her.