Ex Wife Testifies Of Suspect Testifies In FDL Homicide Trial

DNA evidence, an ex-wife, and a talkative juror were all items of interest in the eighth day of a Fond du Lac County homicide trial. Bart Naugle a DNA analyst from the State Crime Lab told the court he tested about 30 different items from Berit Beck’s van, but got little to no DNA that would be helpful in the case against Dennis Brantner. Judy McLeod, one of Brantner’s ex-wives, also testified. She said she met him while she was bartending at a bar near the Wisconsin-Illinois border. It was the late 1980s and Brantner was a trucker. She was interested in him and asked if he was married, he was separated at the time and said no. They got married, but later it was invalidated after she found out he was still married. The two would later be remarried, but that ended in 1994 when she found him hiding in her vehicle with a knife. Deputy District Attorney Dennis Krueger also informed Judge Gary Sharpe that they had learned that one of the male jurors had apparently talked to someone at his workplace about the strength of the evidence in the case. Krueger said they were still looking into that.    

In the photo defense attorney Craig Powell questions DNA analyst Bart Naugle.