Dennis Brantner sentenced to 10 years in 1990 strangulation of Berit Beck

FOND DU LAC, Wis. -- (WITI) -- A Fond du Lac County judge has sentenced a man charged with killing a young woman nearly three decades ago to the maximum 10 years in prison.

Eighteen-year-old Berit Beck was strangled while traveling from Sturtevant to Appleton in July 1990 on a work-related trip.

Sixty-four-year-old Dennis Brantner earlier entered an Alford plea to second-degree reckless homicide after an initial trial ended with a mistrial. Brantner agreed there was enough evidence for a conviction, but he maintained his innocence.

The courtroom was packed Thursday when the victim's father, Dave Beck, broke down when he recalled some of his daughter's last words before her trip — that "all the people up north are good people." Berit's mother, Diane Beck, said she wished she had gone with Berit on her trip.

Brantner's first trial ended with a hung jury and a mistrial. Prosecutors later said they planned to re-try Brantner, who's in prison in a separate drug case.