Convict Defended By America's Most Wanted, Accuses Hulshof of Prosecutorial Misconduct

Dale Helmig, convicted and sentenced in 1996 to life in prison without parole for the murder of his mother, filed a petition yesterday to the Missouri Supreme Court seeking a DNA test and new trial.

Kenny Hulshof

Last week Helmig was featured on the nationally televised program America's Most Wanted. The show that usually attempts to bring criminals to justice, devoted much of its broadcast to questioning the case against Helmig and the conduct of the prosecutor (who became a six-term U.S. Congressman) Kenny Hulshof. 

America's Most Wanted reported that Hulshof and co-prosecutor Robert Schollmeyer "skillfully presented a torrent of innuendo, hearsay, and facts turned upside-down" and even elicited testimony from a state trooper that directly contradicted the trooper's written report.

Helmig's petition is the second time this year that Hulshof -- the Republican candidate for governor last November -- has been accused of withholding evidence and knowingly presenting false testimony and evidence during his time as a prosecutor.

In February inmate Joshua Kezer was freed from prison when a judge determined that Hulshof had withheld key evidence from defense attorneys and embellished details in his closing arguments in Kezer's murder trial. 

Hulshof, now a corporate attorney in Kansas City, declined to comment to America's Most Wanted, and was unable for interviews yesterday when Helmig filed his petition.

View interviews with Helmig from America's Most Wanted, after the jump.