The former stepmother of a Nevada House of Representatives candidate says she will “raise her brutally murdered teenage daughter” after the boy and her boyfriend admitted to slaughtering the girl’s father nearly three years ago. requested that he withdraw from the election campaign. .
Republican Elizabeth Helgelian, 41, was described by Christine Halseth as “the worst Congressional candidate ever” in a scathing op-ed published last week. nevada grove.
In the article, Halseth said that Helgelian’s past was “more scandal-plagued and disturbing than any advertisement could convey: extramarital affairs, lies, abandonment of voters, and the brutal murder of a teenage daughter.” It was filled with the past that raised him.”
Christine Halseth, the mother of Helgelian’s ex-husband Daniel Halseth, was stabbed 70 times to death in April 2021 by her 16-year-old daughter Sierra and her boyfriend Aaron Guerrero.
The couple each pleaded guilty to nine charges, including murder and arson, and were sentenced to life in prison in October 2022, with the possibility of parole after 22 years.
Prior to the sentencing, Sierra Halseth claimed that her father sexually and physically abused her, a claim that Helgelian supported.
“My daughter was abused by her father,” Helgelian told the Globe after the interview. He announced his candidacy for the House of Representatives in May last year.. “That’s true. That doesn’t excuse all of her actions. She was a minor at the time, but now she’s responsible as an adult. She’s now facing the consequences like an adult.” Masu.”
Christine Halseth countered in an op-ed last week, claiming that Sierra “persuaded Daniel Halseth to return to Nevada from Texas in 2020, alleging that he suffered emotional and physical abuse at the hands of his mother.” insisted. [Helgelian]”
Responding to the girl’s claims of abuse at the hands of her father, Christine Halseth said on the day the lovers were sentenced that Guerrero’s lawyers had revealed that over an 18-month investigation, “Sierra never mentioned any abuse at the hands of her father.” He claimed that he had told him that there was no such person and that he had all the evidence. Daniel showed himself to be a caring and loving father. ”
Christine also pointed out that Elizabeth “had primary custody of her children for many years, but was clearly neglecting her role as a mother.”
Helgelian and Daniel Halseth divorced in 2012. “Because her son discovered that she had been cheating on him serially while in Carson City.” [as a state senator] During that time, he remained at home in Las Vegas as the breadwinner, taking care of their three young children,” Christine wrote, adding: Then-Senator John Ensign resigned after his affair became public. ”
Helgelian was elected to the state Senate in 2010. Retired in February 2012, she said at the time that she was “simply unable to provide” the level of service to which her constituents were entitled. Her resignation followed complaints from her fellow lawmakers and conservative activists that she had missed important meetings and missed phone calls.
“Elizabeth could not find the time to carry out her duties, but she managed to do it. poses nearly nude for Maxim magazine “It has only been three months since she resigned from Congress in embarrassment,” Kristin Halseth pointed out pointedly.
The editorial does not mention that Daniel Halseth was arrested in October 2011 on charges of “open and grossly lewd conduct” (commonly defined as inappropriate touching).
When Halseth confronted his wife, accusing her of infidelity, he pulled down her pants, “touched her genitals” and demanded he “have sex with her,” according to a police report at the time. According to the Daily Beast.
“What does he have that I don’t have? Does he have a big penis? I’m your husband. I just want to know what I’m up against.” Halseth is said to have screamed.
Daniel Halseth pleaded guilty to two misdemeanor counts of coercion and assault and received a six-month suspended sentence for those charges. The Las Vegas Review-Journal reported at the time.
Elizabeth later remarried Tiger Helgelien, and the couple returned to Nevada in 2018 after spending time in Alaska. That same year, she ran for state Senate, but she lost in the Republican primary.
This term, Helgelian is challenging Democratic Rep. Susie Lee in Nevada’s 3rd Congressional District, which is widely seen as a key race that will determine who will hold a seat in the U.S. House starting in 2025. ing.
Helgelian’s main rival in the June 11 Republican primary is former state Treasurer Dan Schwartz.
“Elizabeth was raised to be a murderer, but now she wants to be a member of parliament,” Halseth concluded.
“We cannot in good conscience allow Elizabeth Helgelian to represent honest and decent Americans in Congress.”
Helgelian’s campaign did not immediately respond to the newspaper’s request for comment.
