A federal appeals court has blocked the release from prison of a man from Linn who was convicted of murdering his mother in 1996. Attorney General Jay Nixon had asked the entire Appeals Court to overturn an individual federal judge’s order that would have released Dale Helmig on bond. Federal magistrate David Noce had overturned Helmig’s conviction in September but had required him to stay in prison while the appeal of that ruling worked its way throught he courts. On Monday, however, he had ruled Helmig could be released on $100,000 bond. Helmig remains at the prison in Cameron.