On March 9, 1996, Dale Helmig was convicted of the first-degree murder of his mother, Norma Helmig, and sentenced to life without the possibility of parole.

Three main areas within the investigation of Norma Helmig's death and the trial of Dale Helmig raise the question, Was Justice Denied?

• Did investigators fail to investigate other — possibly stronger — suspects than Dale Helmig?
• Did Dale Helmig's lawyer, Chris Jordan, provide ineffective counsel — due either to a conflict of interest or incompetence?
• Was Dale Helmig tried in an unfairly politicized venue?

The following discussion is based both on information uncovered by WAS JUSTICE DENIED? investigators Jeralyn Merritt and Charlie Stone and on Dale Helmig's motion for the overturning of his conviction by the Missouri Supreme Court, a document titled Movant's Proposed Findings of Fact and Conclusions of Law, Dale L. Helmig, Movant, vs. State of Missouri, Respondent, Circuit Court of Gasconade County, Twentieth Judicial Circuit.

Did investigators, namely Osage County Sheriff Carl Fowler, forego investigation of other potential suspects who had possibly greater opportunity, motive or inclination to kill Norma Helmig than did Dale Helmig?

• Dale's opportunity to cross the bridge was limited

From early March until into the fall of 1993, record rainfall caused an unprecedented number of highway and bridge closures in Central Missouri, where the Osage River and the Missouri River converge. On July 1, Missouri's governor declared a state of emergency in the area. The National Guard was called in for flood duty. Photographs of the Missouri River Bridge taken on July 29 or 30 show the extent of flood damage. In short, Norma Helmig's death occurred during what was literally Missouri's flood of the century.

• His behavior suggests Dale Helmig was not contemplating murder

Dale can be placed at his hotel at 10:30 p.m. on July 29, the night of the murder. The testimony of witnesses establish that he would have had difficulty getting to his mother's house to kill her that night because bridges were closed sporadically due to flooding. Though Dale could have conceivably made it to his mother's house during a momentary lull in flooding, several pieces of evidence suggest he was probably not planning homicide that night.

1) Dale bought toiletries at the Fulton Wal-Mart and asked the clerk for a date, suggesting that he intended to spend that night in Fulton.

2) At the same Wal-Mart, Dale ran into an old friend, Mary Neal, who said he asked her to recommend a motel. Though it's true that Dale could have discovered the bridge was open after this conversation, one could argue that the Neal encounter indicates his intent to stay put that night. Furthermore, it is unlikely that Dale would risk another bridge closure, one that would trap him before he could return to the motel.

• Ted Helmig was an obvious suspect

1) Norma Helmig had reported to Sheriff Fowler her concerns for her own safety during her separation from Ted Helmig. He personally served a restraining order against Ted on April 17, 1993, three months before Norma's death. According to Ted Helmig himself, Sheriff Fowler told him after questioning him, "You ought to be my number one suspect, but you're not."

2) Rich Helmig, who was not called as a witness during the trial, testified at a hearing afterward that on several occasions during her marriage to Ted, in the year or two prior to her death, Norma had sought refuge at his house when Ted had become physically abusive.

3) Ted had drinks in the same lounge as Norma (seated on the opposite ends of the bar, they did not speak to each other) earlier on the night she died, while she was in the company of another man at the American Legion bar in Jefferson City. He left the bar before Norma and has no witnesses to his activities afterward.

4) In addition to the fact that Ted had a documented history of physical abusiveness toward Norma, had illegally sold some of their marital assets and had no alibi, their divorce was imminent at the time of her death. Once it had gone through, Ted would have received nothing — his sons Rich and Dale would have split the estate. From that perspective, Norma's death was extremely timely for Ted Helmig.

• Teresa Helmig (Dale's ex-wife) was a possible suspect

Rich Helmig testified after the trial that he told Sheriff Fowler about Norma's request, several weeks before her death, that he get her a gun for protection. According to Rich's testimony, Norma said that Dale's ex-wife, Teresa, had threatened her. Teresa was unhappy that Dale, with Norma's help, had finally been able to secure visitation rights with their children. As Fowler focused exclusively on Dale as a suspect and found no evidence to link Teresa to the crime, she was never investigated or asked to give a statement.

Did Dale Helmig's lawyer, Chris Jordan, provide ineffective counsel — due either to a conflict of interest or incompetence?

Conflict of Interest

Chris Jordan represented Dale Helmig during his original murder trial, and throughout his appeal to the Missouri Court of Appeals, which affirmed his conviction on July 22, 1997.

Jordan's fees were paid by Dale's father, Ted Helmig, who had used Jordan's services to settle Norma's estate. Obviously, Jordan was aware of what Ted Helmig had gained from Norma's death but would likely be disinclined to investigate Ted as a suspect when the man was paying his bills. Jordan says his representation was proper because the circumstances were understood and agreed to by both of his clients.

1) Jordan never presented the jury with the fact that Ted Helmig was the only person to benefit financially from Norma's death. He received around $19,000 and was the beneficiary of a $5000 life insurance policy. He inherited her share of the house to which they had joint ownership and no longer had to pay half his income in monthly support. Jordan had firsthand knowledge of Norma's estate and Ted's position in it and failed to present any of that information in defense of his client, Dale.

Inadequate defense

• Failure to present witnesses who could have strengthened Dale's defense

1) Jordan failed to call a single witness to testify to Dale's good relationship with Norma. Ted Helmig, Rich Helmig and Rich's ex-girlfriend Lisa Baysinger were all willing witnesses.

2) Jordan never called the two women Dale encountered in the Fulton Wal-Mart, both of whom were willing and able to testify and could have helped provide Dale an alibi, a defense of which Jordan never presented.

3) Chris Jordan did not present the testimony of the owner of the campground directly adjacent to the Osage River Bridge, the bridge from which, according to the prosecution, Dale dumped Norma's body into the river. The campground owner stated that volunteer sandbaggers were working around-the-clock to hold back floodwaters. Further, she stated that because it was one of the only bridges open, the Osage River Bridge was quite full of traffic on July 28 and 29, and would have made the prospect of Dale dumping a body from it more improbable.

4) Jordan failed to call Tina Ridenhour as a witness, though the prosecution did not provide him with a copy of their interview with her. She had stayed with Norma several weeks before Norma's death when the campground she'd been in was flooded. Ridenhour testified that Dale called his mother's house at least 10 times that night to make sure she was safe from the rising waters and the strangers she'd taken under her roof. Ridenhour also testified that Norma was carrying a gun and that she explained she had a husband who was abusive and "liked to smack people around."

5) Chris Jordan could have refuted the state's claim that Dale had guilty knowledge by showing that several family members in addition to Dale assumed Norma was wearing a nightgown at the time of her death and were sure that Norma had met with foul play when they discovered her missing.

6) Norma's sister, Dorothy Bauer, said in post-trial testimony that she immediately realized that Norma was missing in her nightgown. Dorothy's cousin, Velda Party , swore an affidavit saying that when Dorothy saw Norma's clothes on the bed, she said, 'Wherever Norma is, she must be in her nightgown and barefoot because these are her shoes and the clothes she always wears.' Velda testified that the entire family was sure something was terribly wrong with Norma's absence because she had been so excited to see her grandchildren that weekend, she would not have left town. Though both Dorothy and Velda testified at the trial, Jordan did not elicit this crucial information from them, which would have overturned the state's strongest point — that Dale had "guilty knowledge" of Norma's disappearance.

7) The testimony of Deputy Paul Backues, who was the first officer on the scene and reported that Dorothy talked to him extensively about the reasons why Norma's disappearance was suspicious, could also have helped dismissed the "guilty knowledge" charge against Dale. Though Backues testified at the trial, Jordan failed to bring this information out.

8) Though Dale's belief that Norma's keys would surely be in her purse (which was confirmed six months later when the purse was found) was deemed "guilty knowledge" by the prosecution (using Dorothy and Alex Bauer's testimony that Norma only wore her keys from a belt loop), both Ted and Rich Helmig would have testified that Norma always put her keys in her purse. They were never asked to testify.

Was Dale Helmig tried in an unfairly politicized venue and did the case's appointed judge step down in questionable circumstances just days before the trial began?

1) Though Dale's attorney, Chris Jordan, asked for a change of venue to avoid both the publicity surrounding the trial and the election campaign of Special Prosecutor Kenny Hulshof, who was running for Congress on a "tough on crime platform" while prosecuting the Helmig case, the trial was transferred to another county within Hulshof's district.

2) Hulshof was interviewed about the trial in the courthouse, within earshot of jury members, who congregated there for coffee and donuts. As a rule, a jury is sequestered and asked not to read about the case or expose themselves to news reports so that the case might be judged only on what is said in the courtroom.

Judge John Brackman was replaced by Judge Jack Edwards about ten days before the start of Dale Helmig's trial, after Judge Voss, the then-prosecutor, and two other attorneys visited Judge Brackman. According to an affidavit given by Judge Voss, he wanted Judge Brackman to step down out of concern for his health and fear that he might have prejudged the case. According to Judge Voss, Judge Brackman had openly stated prior to Dale Helmig's trial that "the state's case was insufficient, and that he might 'toss the case out.'"

Chris Jordan, Dale's defense lawyer, was not present at the meeting in which Judge Brackman was asked to step down.