Spirit Lake, Iowa — The first defendant to enter a plea in the case of a December murder in Lake Park has pled Not Guilty.
24-year-old Justice Berntson entered a written plea of Not Guilty Monday to a charge of 1st Degree Murder for the death of Lake Park resident Angel Bastman last December. Bastman’s body was found in the basement of her home December 22, 2020.
Online court records indicate that Berntson is scheduled for a Pretrial Conference on September 7th, with his trial set to begin September 21st in Dickinson County District Court in Spirit Lake. If convicted, Berntson would face a mandatory sentence of Life in Prison, without parole.
The other person charged in the case, 26-year-old Allison Decker, has yet to enter a plea to the charges. Decker is scheduled to be arraigned September 7th, according to online court records.
Both Berntson and Decker remain in the Dickinson County Jail on a $1,000,000 bond each.
