One of the key reasons 62-year-old Dennis Brantner is standing trial for the
murder of Berit Beck was the fingerprint evidence found in the Beck van.
Monday one of the witnesses called was Steven Harrington who worked as
a fingerprint analyst for the State Crime Lab. He retired in 2006, but worked
on the Beck case when evidence was submitted in August of 1990. He
says he submitted unidentified fingerprints and palm prints to a database in
2003 hoping for a hit. Harrington says technology now allows fingerprints to
be digitally compared to federal and state databases something not quite
possible before he retired.
In fact five previously unidentified prints taken from the Beck van were
identified as Brantner’s by the crime lab in February of 2014. Brantner was
fingerprinted at the County Jail in March of 2015 and two more prints were
identified. The prints were found on a Burger King cup, employee manual,
bleach kit, cellophane cigarette wrapper, and inside the middle door
window of the van. The trial continues today in Fond du Lac County court.