Brantner accepts plea deal in 1990 murder case

FOND DU LAC COUNTY, Wis. (CBS 58) – A Kenosha man charged with murdering a woman nearly three decades ago will avoid a second trial. 

A Fond du Lac County judge accepted Dennis Branther’s Alford plea in the 1990 slaying of Berit Back.

An Alford plea is when a person agrees there is enough evidence to persuade a judge or jury to convict but the defendant maintains his or her innocence.

Brantner agreed to plead guilty to a charge of 2nd degree reckless homicide in exchange for a 10-year sentence.

He is accused of killing 18-year-old Berit Beck in 1990. Beck disappeared while traveling from Sturtevant to Appleton.

Her body was found in a ditch outside Waupun. Branter’s first trial for Beck’s murder ended in a hung jury.