Milwaukee homicide suspect accused of trying to hire a hitman to kill key witness

A Milwaukee man, who was charged in a fatal shooting in 2020, is now being accused of attempting to solicit someone to kill a key witness.

The witness was the victim's father, who identified the suspect to police. 

Prosecutors allege that Brent J. Dale, 23, tried to mail personal information about the father to an unknown recipient in Milwaukee, according to the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel.

The information came with a handwritten note identifying him as the only witness in the case and that “he has to go,” according to the criminal complaint and reported by the Journal Sentinel.

Investigators found fingerprints matching Dale’s on the letter, according to the report.

In early May, investigators also intercepted a phone call, placed by someone using a personal identification number for Dale, attempting to confirm the correct Milwaukee address to mail the letter.

Dale is currently incarcerated at the Waupun Correctional Institution after violating probation conditions from an unrelated court case in 2020, six months before the fatal shooting.

Austin Collins-Strichlin, 23, was killed on Sept. 10, 2020, outside a gas station in an Old North Milwaukee neighborhood.

Surveillance video shows Collins-Strichlin arriving at the gas station in a car with his father, according to a criminal complaint obtained by the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel.

Shortly afterward, cameras caught Collins-Strichlin getting punched and kicked by five or six men. One of them can be seen pointing a gun at him and firing, the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reported.

Dale is the alleged shooter, and he was apprehended by police within minutes when the father provided a description, according to the complaint. He identified Dale again when police presented him with a photo lineup of suspects.

When officers arrested Dale, they found a handgun in a backpack that appeared to match the five spent casings police found in the gas station’s parking lot, according to the complaint and reported by the Journal Sentinel

Dale was charged with first-degree reckless homicide and pleaded not guilty, according to online court records obtained by the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel.

Dale has now been charged with attempted solicitation of first-degree intentional homicide.