"What you saw is all very interesting, but we have a suspect and it just doesn't fit."
- Investigator to witness David Zoromski


Penny Brummer was a lesbian.  Sarah Gonstead was straight.  Glenda Johnson, Brummer's ex-lover and Gonstead's best friend, wasn't sure what she was.

Gonstead disappeared in the early morning of March 15, 1994 in Madison, Wisconsin, after she and Brummer had been out drinking.  Sarah was later found dead.

Police had many leads, but immediately zeroed in on a single suspect, Penny Brummer.

In October 1994, with no physical evidence, no witnesses to the crime and no murder weapon, a jury convicted Brummer of first-degree murder in the death of Sarah Gonstead.  Brummer, 24 at the time, will not be eligible for parole until she's 75.

But did Brummer do it?  Or was she herself a victim of over-zealous prosecutors, tunnel-vision investigators, contradictory forensic scientists and a prejudiced judge?

Sheila and Doug Berry provide provocative answers to these questions in this riveting journey through a wilderness of errors.

Along the way they take you to a twilight zone where evidence is ignored or manipulated, innocence is disbelieved and justice is denied to both Penny Brummer and Sarah Gonstead.


Who Killed Sarah?

An appeal for Penny Brummer
Was Madison woman wrongly convicted in 1994 Madison murder case?

Available from all fine book stores, Barnes and Noble Online and

Click HERE to learn more about the murder of Sarah Gonstead and the prosecution of Penny Brummer.


Public Eye Publications
Public Eye Publications
Truth in Justice