Town file
Fond du Lac, Wisconsin
Fond du Lac, Wisconsin (Fond du Lac County, Wisconsin) is the town in one episode of Small Town Murder, the comedy true-crime podcast: episode 686, "Serial Killer Motives" (27 March 2026). In the summer of 1990 Barrett Lynn Beck, an eighteen-year-old from Sturtevant in Racine County, Wisconsin, was starting a new job as a secretary at Bolt Construction in Appleton.
- Town
- Fond du Lac
- County
- Fond du Lac County
- State
- Wisconsin
- Country
- USA
- Episodes
- 686
- Approximate location
- 43.772, -88.440
Episode 686 / 27 March 2026 / 74 min / express
Serial Killer Motives
"We are going to Wisconsin today, we're going to Fond du Lac, Wisconsin, in southeastern Wisconsin, in Fond du Lac County" about 0:03:06
The case: Murder of Barrett Beck (July 1990). Read the case file.
The figures, as told in 2026
- Population
- 44,412
- Median household income
- $56,561
- Median home value
- $176,200
History, in brief
- Fond du Lac is French for bottom of the lake, named for its location at the south end of Lake Winnebago. about 0:06:06
- In 1836 a man tried to make Fond du Lac the capital of Wisconsin; Madison was picked instead. about 0:06:35
- From June to August 1944 the Fond du Lac County fairgrounds held a prisoner of war camp with 300 German POWs, who worked on pea farms and in canneries that summer. about 0:06:45
- Don Gorski, from Fond du Lac, is the Guinness record holder for the most Big Macs eaten and appeared in the Super Size Me documentary. about 0:07:12
The reviews read out
5 stars
"A very good town where people know everyone and there is not a lot of crime compared to other places."about 0:08:01
3 stars
"Lived there all his life with a love-hate relationship; being in the middle means everything is within ten minutes, but the community is not the greatest with lots of violence and crime."about 0:08:36
2 stars
"Heard about crimes but never experienced much; was followed by a car while walking the dog at night, once saw a man sitting in his car with a knife, the lighting at night is awful and crime and heroin use are rising."about 0:09:05
1 star
"The worst place he has ever lived, the armpit of Wisconsin and a dump, and he is shocked by the good reviews."about 0:09:53
Nearest Small Town Murder towns
- Grafton, Wisconsin40 miles
- Columbus, Wisconsin42 miles
- Oconomowoc, Wisconsin46 miles
- Pewaukee, Wisconsin50 miles
- Windsor, Wisconsin56 miles
- Jefferson, Wisconsin56 miles
Everything here is as told in the episode, on the date it went out; figures and places may have changed since. Endings are covered: open an episode and use the spoiler switch to read them.