Kenyon man charged with conspiracy to commit murder

A Kenyon man was charged Wednesday in Rice County District Court with conspiracy to commit premeditated first-degree murder.

Jesse Allen Helgeson, 26, is being held in Rice County Jail.

According to a court complaint filed May 16, Helgeson asked an acquaintance over text message to kill Helgeson’s ex-girlfriend’s new boyfriend.

Helgeson told the acquaintance that he wanted the man to be “not breathin again soon,” the complaint says.

After receiving the text messages, the acquaintance showed them to the Kenyon Police Department.

On May 10, Goodhue County Sheriff’s deputies recorded a phone conversation between Helgeson and the acquaintance. The acquaintance asked Helgeson if he wanted to back out of the deal.

“I’m completely 150,000 percent … this is not a game … I need this done,” Helgeson said, according to the complaint. Payment was to be a used golf cart and an ATV.

An undercover police officer then posed as the acquaintance, and continued working out the details of the deal with Helgeson. A meeting was set up for May 14 at the Big Steer, a truck stop near Northfield, in order for Helgeson to pay the undercover officer.

After Helgeson arrived, officers arrested him. He had brought a child with him to the meeting; the child was placed in protective custody, the complaint said.

Helgeson later told officers that he was meeting the undercover officer because he was going to sell him a four-wheeler and golf cart.

Helgeson also faces charges in Mower County for second-degree and third-degree assault. The victim in that case is the same man that Helgeson allegedly wanted killed, the complaint says.

Helgeson will make his first court appearance May 30.

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