The 18-year-old disappeared on July 17 while traveling from her home in Sturtevant, near Racine, to Appleton. Then it sent a note to the court in the afternoon saying, “We can not agree to guilty or not guilty”.
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A Fond du Lac County jury will resume deliberations Tuesday morning in the case against a man accused of killing a Wisconsin teenager 26 years ago. Her van was found in a parking lot near a Fond du Lac mall, and weeks later, her decomposed body was found in a grassy ditch outside Waupun. At one point during deliberations Tuesday they sent the judge a note saying, “We cannot agree to guilty or not guilty”.
Authorities who re-examined the cold case said they matched fingerprints on evidence recovered from Beck’s van to Brantner.
The jury kept the court busy on Tuesday by requesting evidence, photos, and revisiting audio and video recordings of Brantner being interrogated by detectives in February 2014.
District Attorney Eric Toney was okay with that, but defense attorney Craig Powell objected saying they had already sent a note saying they couldn’t agree.
The prosecutor argued that the jury didn’t indicate it was impossible to reach a decision – and that the jury should continue deliberating until a deadlock persists. When people tire, their emotions get more raw, he said.
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“I am reluctant to do nothing at this point and not give them a last opportunity or another opportunity to reach some resolution”, Judge Gary Sharpe said.
