Kansas City, Mo. ? The federal judge who threw out Dale Helmig’s 1996 first-degree murder conviction for killing his mother has agreed to release the Osage County man from prison pending a state appeal.

With the Dec. 1 decision by U.S. Magistrate Judge David Noce of St. Louis, Helmig could leave the Crossroads Correctional Center in Cameron as early as today, said Rich Helmig, his brother.

“It’s just incredible,” Rich Helmig said. “We’ve been waiting for this for so long.”

Dale Helmig, 49, was sentenced to life in prison without parole for the 1993 death of his mother, Norma, whose body was found in the Osage River tied to a concrete block near her home.

Helmig and his current attorneys claim his initial trial was tainted by an incomplete police investigation, an inept defense lawyer and a prosecutor – current Rep. Kenny Hulshof, a Republican who represents Missouri’s Ninth Congressional District – looking to score political points in an election battle for Congress.

Hulshof, appointed to Helmig’s case as a special prosecutor, has rejected any link between the trial and his tough-on-crime platform during a 1996 campaign for Congress. He won that election after losing two years earlier when his opponent highlighted a case in which he charged that a procedural error by Hulshof allowed a man on trial for murder to go free.

Questionable evidence

On Sept. 26, Noce reversed Helmig’s conviction, agreeing with a defense attorney’s contention that a Missouri highway map provided to jurors during their deliberations could have adversely influenced their finding of guilt.

The highway map, which had not previously been introduced as evidence during trial, contradicted aerial photos and topographical maps jurors had seen earlier as they considered whether Helmig had enough time to drive from a Fulton hotel to his mother’s home, dump her body in the Osage River and then return to Fulton the next morning.

Norma Helmig was killed in the midst of the summer 1993 floods that caused the Missouri River to spill over the U.S. 54 bridge near Jefferson City. The bridge was closed for much of the night.

‘Model prisoner’

After the state Attorney General’s Office appealed Noce’s ruling, Helmig’s attorneys asked the judge to release their client until the appeal process is resolved.

The judge agreed, calling Helmig “a model prisoner” with no conduct violations.

“There is a small risk that petitioner will endanger the community, if released,” Noce said in his ruling.

Noce set a $100,000 secured bond, meaning Helmig’s family can pay a bail bond agent $10,000 to ensure he shows up in court if necessary. Rich Helmig said he plans to meet his brother outside the gates of the prison, which is north of Kansas City, today.

In response, state prosecutors on Friday asked Noce to impose 11 restrictions on Helmig during his temporary freedom, including house arrest and electronic monitoring while he lives with his brother; random drug tests and a prohibition on alcohol consumption; and a ban on contacting any witnesses from his initial trial as well as any family members other than his brother.

Helmig’s lead attorney is Sean O’Brien of Kansas City, whose advocacy led to the July 2003 release of death row inmate Joseph Amrine after 17 years in prison for a murder he didn’t commit.

In a motion filed Friday after the state’s request, O’Brien asked the federal judge to reject the request for house arrest so that Helmig can find a job. O’Brien could not be reached for comment Sunday.

Retrial likely

Helmig’s case has drawn attention from legal activists and student documentary filmmakers at Illinois State University. The film’s producer is John McHale, an Illinois State professor who helped free Amrine with a similar film he made while a graduate student at the University of Missouri-Columbia.

Even if the state’s appeal of Noce’s ruling is rejected by the 8th Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals in St. Louis, Helmig will likely face a retrial.

Osage County prosecutor Amanda Grellner, who was not in office during the first trial, has said she will put him on trial for Norma Helmig’s death.