Judge OKs man's release in patricide case
Dec. 21—BLACK RIVER FALLS — A Jackson County man who has served 5 1/2 years of a lifetime commitment to a mental institution for killing his father is soon to be released.
Monroe County Judge Mark L. Goodman ordered Tuesday morning that Lars E. Helgeson, 29, be given conditional release from Mendota Mental Health Institute, which is located in Madison.
The state Department of Health Services now has two months — unless extra time is needed — to create a plan with conditions for Helgeson's release.
Goodman's decision came after Helgeson petitioned for release in July and was re-evaluated by a psychiatrist who found that he no longer poses a significant risk of harm to himself or others.
Helgeson was arrested and charged in 2013 for the shooting death of his father, Brian Helgeson, 57. According to court records, on either Sept. 16 or 17, 2013, Lars Helgeson shot his father four times with a pistol, including twice in the forehead. Then the son burned and buried the body in an ATV track on the family's property.
Police were notified a week later of the elder Helgeson's disappearance and that his son had been acting suspiciously and confrontational around him. Lars Helgeson was arrested on Sept. 25, 2013, and admitted to investigators that he'd shot and killed his father, according to court records. Police search dogs located the remains of Brian Helgeson, which were then unearthed and positively identified.
The following court case then took years to reach its conclusion with much of that time spent debating the defendant's mental illness. Lars Helgeson has a learning disability and reportedly suffered from schizophrenia that was not treated when he lived with his parents in rural Hixton, according to Leader-Telegram archives.
Ultimately then-District Attorney Gerald Fox and Lars Helgeson's defense attorneys jointly recommended the defendant be found not guilty by mental disease or defect, which Judge Goodman agreed with during a June 2017 plea hearing. The judge then ordered lifetime commitment for Lars Helgeson, but that did not prevent the defendant from petitioning for release.
Current Jackson County District Attorney Emily Hynek issued a statement Wednesday objecting to Lars Helgeson's release.
Hynek noted that over two days in court she questioned psychiatrist Craig Schoenecker's findings supporting the release. During those court hearings, Hynek also offered additional testimony on the crimes to provide further support to her opposition of Lars Helgeson being released from the mental health institute.
"Nonetheless, Judge Goodman found that a careful balancing of society's interests against the defendant's interest in autonomy weighed in favor of autonomy for the defendant," Hynek wrote.
