The family of a young woman murdered more than three decades ago is asking Wisconsin's attorney general to condemn a campaign ad they say depicts the crime against their daughter.
Berit Beck was 18 when she was abducted and murdered in July 1990. Her body was later found in a ditch near Waupun. Her mother, Diane Beck, said the ad, paid for by a committee sponsored by the Democratic Attorneys General Association, makes the family feel they are going through it all over again, and the family wants it removed from the airwaves and the internet.
The race for attorney general pits incumbent Democrat Josh Kaul against Republican Fond du Lac County District Attorney Eric Toney. Kaul defeated Toney in 2022 by just over 1 percent. The Becks worked with Toney on the resolution of Berit Beck's case, which ended with the man responsible sentenced to 10 years in prison after a trial that resulted in a hung jury, nearly 30 years after her death.
Kaul released a statement saying his heart goes out to anyone who has endured such a tragedy and that the views of crime victims and their families should be taken seriously and prioritized, but he stopped short of calling for the association to stop running the ad. Toney, in his own statement, criticized Kaul and his allies over the ad.
A Lawrence University political science professor, Jerald Podair, said the family has reason to be upset but may have little recourse, pointing to First Amendment protections for political advertising. It is unclear whether the association will remove the ad.
