a 61 year old wisconsin man has been arrested in connection with the nearly 25 year old murder of a sturtevant woman whose body was found in a ditch weeks after she disappeared dennis j brantner was arrested in berit beck's killing after he made an appearance on an unrelated charge in kenosha county he's now been charged with first degree homicide the 18 year old beck was killed in july 1990 after she stopped in fond du lac while traveling her body was found about six weeks later in a ditch in rural fond du lac county break: police have arrested a suspect in a wisconsin murder nearly 25 years on berit beck (right) was 18 in july 1990 when she vanished, only to be found strangled in a ditch over a month later now, local trucker dennis brantner, 61, (left) has been arrested for the crime  authorities said last year they had evidence that pointed brantner and named him as a suspect a court document says his fingerprints were on items in beck's van 'this has always been a no win situation no matter how it works out,' fond du lac county sheriff mick fink told the fond du lac reporter 'we will go forward we talked with the becks and they have been notified' beck was heading to a work seminar in appleton, wisconsin when she vanished it is believed she stopped at a walgreens during her journey, which is the last place she was seen alive according to a complaint obtained by the fond du lac reporter, 'no physical evidence directly links  (anyone) other than dennis j brantner to the gmc van berit beck was last seen driving' police say brantner's fingerprints were found march 11 on a cigarette cellophane that was inside beck's van when he was interviewed by police last year, he said he had no idea how they got there however, he reportedly asked police 'why would i do anything like that in the first place?' before police told him she was a murder victim physical evidence: brantner was first named as a suspect in 2014 but told police he had nothing to do with the cold case murder however, fond du lac police say they've since connected him, and only him, to the van beck was driving when she vanished using fingerprints  he soon became emotional, however 'i don't remember anything i don't wanna,' brantner told police '(if) i did i didif i did i don't know' though he was not in custody at the time of beck's disappearance, brantner was arrested on an unrelated matter two weeks later on august 6 1990 and has a criminal record going back to the 1970s and, in 1994, he was arrested for kidnapping and beating his estranged second wife brantner was unknown to beck's family prior to police naming him as a suspect in 2014 meanwhile, they have asked for privacy in the matter 'we are encouraged and relieved for this day to have arrived for berit and our family we request that our privacy be respected as this process unfolds,' the family said through a police press release speaking at a press conference last year, sheriff fink was hopeful about the developments 'this is the best physical evidence that we've had in this case,' he said 'it was the first time that i thought we had tangible, physical evidence to intimately put someone in the interior of that van' emotional: in this july 21, 1990 file photo david beck waits for word from his missing daughter, berit beck it would soon come in the form of her decaying body found in a ditch in rural fond du lac county  desperate search: this 1990 photo shows people gathered during the search for berit beck, who was found dead on august 6, 1990 
dennis brantner friday morning fond du lac county wisconsin kenosha berit beck nearly 25 years ago brantner spring of 2014 last week
dennis brantner was arrested friday morning by police in fond du lac county, wisconsin on first degree murder charges  the kenosha man allegedly strangled and suffocated local teen berit beck nearly 25 years ago  brantner was named as a suspect in spring of 2014 police say new physical evidence points to him and no one else  he was arrested for the murder last week after being booked on unrelated charges 