News 08.29.16
29 August 2016 News
A former girlfriend of an over the road trucker from Kenosha charged in a cold case murder in Fond du lac County says she has new evidence that would support a retrial. Dennis Brantner is charged with first degree murder in the 1990 death of Berit Beck. Terri McMullen Koscinski told detectives during an interview last month that she and Brantner lived together for about a year, and he strangled her hard enough to leave bruises around her neck during a breakup in 1998. The Racine woman says she lied to detectives back in 2014 when she told them that she and Brantner never dated because she feared what he might do if he found out she talked to police. Brantner is charged with first degree murder in Beck’s death. Fond du Lac Judge Gary Sharpe declared a mistrial earlier this summer after jurors were unable to reach a unanimous verdict. All but one juror thought Brantner was guilty. Last week defense attorney Craig Powell asked the court to issue an acquittal and bar the prosecution from retrying Brantner. A hearing on Sept. 6 before Sharpe could determine if the case is retried.
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A Fond du Lac woman is critically injured in a car versus tree crash in Fond du Lac. Rescue personnel were called to the scene at 7th Street and Park Avenue Friday for a reported one vehicle rollover. A preliminary investigation indicates the driver of the pickup swerved to avoid a squirrel, lost control, striking a tree and rolling over. The female driver was flown by Flight for Life helicopter to ThedaCare Medical Center in Neenah.
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Two people are injured in a house fire in Fond du Lac. Crews responded to a home on East Second Street at two Saturday morning where they were met with heavy fire. Two people were taken to the hospital for smoke inhalation. Fond du Lac fire chief, Peter O’leary says they were treated and released. The fire caused damage to the home and contents. Chief O’leary says it appears a mattress started on fire due to careless use of smoking materials. The Red Cross is helping the three people who live in the home.
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A federal appeals court refuses to reconsider a pair of rulings affecting Wisconsin’s voter ID law, meaning no more changes to the requirement are likely before the November election. The 7th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals on Friday unanimously declined to have a full panel of judges hear appeals of two recent rulings affecting the voter ID requirement and a host of other election-related laws. The U.S. Supreme Court would have to intervene for any changes to happen before the Nov. 8 election. The appeals court’s upholding the earlier rulings means that Wisconsin voters will have to show an acceptable ID to vote, but those having trouble getting it can get a temporary ID from the Division of Motor Vehicles.
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The attorney for a Wisconsin inmate featured in the hit Netflix documentary series “Making a Murderer” files a motion seeking permission to perform extensive scientific tests on evidence she believes will show he’s innocent. Prosecutors believe Steven Avery killed Teresa Halbach in his family’s Manitowoc County salvage yard in 2005. A jury convicted him in 2007 and he was sentenced to life. Avery insists the authorities framed him. His attorney, Kathleen Zellner, filed the motion for testing Friday. She told reporters outside the courthouse that she wants to date blood and DNA found at the scene to see if it was planted. She says the results will show Avery isn’t guilty and someone else killed Halbach. She says no one who is guilty would ever agree to such testing.
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Researchers have found elevated numbers of tumors in fish in the Milwaukee, Menomonee and Kinnickinnic rivers, suggesting that more cleanup efforts are needed to remove contaminants from the three Wisconsin waterways. The study led by the U.S. Geological Survey found elevated skin and liver tumors in white suckers. It also found that some male white suckers sampled for the study had testicular tumors. The finding was a surprise as those tumors had not often been found in other research projects involving polluted rivers targeted for cleanups. The study, published in the Journal of Fish Diseases, says exact cause of the tumors isn’t known. But previous research has suggested that exposure to certain chemicals called polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons can cause liver tumors in fish.
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