They had seen Lois yank Dennis violently by the ears. Nor had his arrival two hours before. Ep 50-52 A Death in White Bear Lake by Barry Siegel- Sources, Photos And a Dr. Peterson called at 10:09 a.m. to report a DOA--dead on arrival--at 2148 Gardenette Drive. in the third degree and sent to prison. Two or three couples signed written statements. Clayton Robinson Jr., a former prosecutor in the case, said Jurgens should not have been released yet. Are you sure that you want to remove this flower? View Obituary & Service Information But how did such an infection occur in the first place? Lois jurgens, 93, of arvada, colorado, formerly of malvern and glenwood, iowa, passed away june 13, 2022. lois jean jurgens, the daughter of lawrence a. and marjorie v. (johnson) jones, was born on may 26, 1929 in malvern, iowa. Peritonitis is a horribly painful illness involving shock, collapse of the blood vessel system, high fever and breathing difficulties. called, 'A Child Lost One might get a first impression that Lois was cold and indifferent, but to Rekdahl, this seemed a defense for insecurities. Lois Jurgens had a reputation amongst her extended family and neighbors as an intense, angry woman with a short and volatile temper, but Dennis' arrival in her home provoked sadistic rages that targeted Dennis as he aged from one to three-and-a-half years of age. Lois Jurgens served eight years of her sentence and had a quiet life as a widow in Stillwater, Minnesota. Published by Bantam Books, 1990.
| Though the specific cause of that fatal blow is not known, it is known that it was Lois who had given it to Dennis. She wanted assurances. None of us knew about child abuse. No one here is being punitive, Gingold told the Jurgenses and their attorney from the bench. There was also the matter of community attitudes. English For memorials with more than one photo, additional photos will appear here or on the photos tab. Though there was an investigation, society and law enforcement of the mid-1960s did not accept the concept that a child in a middle-class home could be the target of abuse. Eventually Lois Jurgens was arraigned, and her identity released by the media. He had read the early articles that by then had been published. What was to be the core of the case against Lois Jurgens 22 years later essentially came out then, albeit in a less detailed, more muted fashion.
Dr. Her features were still attractive, although the years had added a certain hardness and fleshiness. Lois Jean (Jones) Jurgens Obituary We are sad to announce that on June 13, 2022 we had to say goodbye to Lois Jean (Jones) Jurgens of Arvada, Colorado. In the 1960s, the term child abuse had not yet been coined[citation needed][2] and no one, not even medical professionals and teachers, was required to report suspicions. Please check your email and click on the link to activate your account. The case is described in detail in Barry Siegel's true-crime novel, A Death in White Bear Lake. Dennis nose was blood-red--VanderWyst thought it looked as if you just wiped it once more youd probably take the rest of the skin away. She had talked about this with the whole family, but not with the authorities. Jurgens was the only fatal victim of Lois Jurgens, his adoptive mother and a prolific child abuser, who abused a total of six adopted children from 1960 to 1975. #dennisjurgens #jerrysherwood #truecrime Jerry Puckett's mother abandoned her when she was three, she was raised by her father and abused by two stepmothers.. They would have to find out. Quickly see who the memorial is for and when they lived and died and where they are buried. Lois had had a history of mental illnesses including depression and psychosis and was originally deemed . Toddler murdered by abusive adoptive mother - Horror History .net No, she explained. This had required at least two hospitalizations at the Mayo Clinic and at a small psychiatric hospital called Crestview, where she had received electrical shock treatments. Learn more about merges. Adopted just after his first birthday, Dennis suffered years of abuse at the hands of his adoptive mother, Lois Jurgens. There was a bluish mark on the right side of the head that started at the temple and extended to behind the right ear. In addition, Lois took to tying Dennis' limbs to the bedposts to keep him in bed, and tied him to the toilet to force a bowel movement. Lois obsessed about Dennis' weight, which according to medical records was appropriate for a child of his age and build at the point of his adoption. 1 Bakgrunn; 2 Innhold; . It began one month after Dennis death and continued for two days, May 10 and 11, 1965. All photos appear on this tab and here you can update the sort order of photos on memorials you manage. Becoming a Find a Grave member is fast, easy and FREE. He is extremely alert. Dennis Craig Jurgens was an American 3-year-old boy who was murdered in White Bear Lake, Minnesota in April 1965. To the casual observer, the Jurgens' seemed to be a normal, church-going family with a perfectly maintained house and yard. She thought they had a lovely home. Initial placement was with a licensed, unrelated foster family, but Robert was then moved to his paternal grandparents at his parents' request. After seeing newspaper reports about the death, she was convinced that he had been beaten to death and demanded the case be re-opened. ). So Robert, on a temporary but semiannually renewed basis, remained in county custody, living in foster homes. contact How could a kid fall down the steps and die? He had one great friend, his world's Lois, but she died and now he sees another version of her still alive and pregnant. Harold (Harry) Jurgens, 76 of Filley passed away at Gold Crest Retirement Center in Adams on January 7, 2018. In talking to the county attorney and the chief of police, we had gone as far as we could and we were told that was it, wed have to terminate the investigation.. When the White Bear Lake police called her a year ago, she knew immediately whom they were talking about. Homicide was not the issue at the hearing. There was testimony from other officers that he impeded the investigation into the child's death. Several relatives now told the investigators they would not sign statements. Are you adding a grave photo that will fulfill this request? Share this memorial using social media sites or email. Rekdahl thought Lois Jurgens, then almost 37, to be a rather attractive woman, although she was short and a trifle on the chubby side. White Bear Lake, a picturesque American town where kids freely ride bikes, play two-square and parents throw neighborhood BBQsand where 3 year old Dennis Jurgens died on Palm Sunday 1965. If hes notified there would be fifty people at her house, and she didnt want that many people around. Her secret was revealed after Sherwood began searching for the son she gave up for adoption and learned in 1983 that he had died of a bowel injury. It did not occur to him to question Robert. Dennis was lying face up in his crib, his stiffened arms raised eight inches off the bed. Murder of Dennis Jurgens - Wikipedia The coroner noted in his report that Dennis had almost zero subcutaneous fat, at the level of a person who had died of starvation. The boy would be gasping and choking for breath until she would fear that he would drown. Even so, doctors do not usually see third-degree burns in an area that isnt covered by clothing. Aside from the incident when Dennis was hospitalized with burns on his genitals, there were many other incidents of abuse which fell under the category of sexual sadism. Such stories are not rare. There was also talk years earlier of her having started the fire at her in-laws' home which killed her mother-in-law, with whom she never got along. Its kind of hard to believe., ``How can you take a babys life like that and beat it for two years and then walk free? she said. Add to your scrapbook. As the new adopted children were older, there were many first-hand histories (recounted to the media during the 1987 trial of Lois Jurgens) describing the severe abuse they suffered at their adoptive mother's hands. Stanley Wiatros was one of them. Failed to delete memorial. Judge calls murder of child 'barbaric' - UPI Archives However, he was in failing health and his autopsy results did not indicate poisoning. Instead the judge agonized, repeatedly expressing from the bench his sense of conflict and uncertainty. Lt. Clarence (Buzz) Harvey at first did not know what to make of the blonde 42-year-old woman who appeared at the front desk of this towns solitary police station on the morning of Sept. 18, 1986. Dennis lay in the ground at St. Marys Cemetery, no name given to his death. I also want to get Early Bird Books newsletter featuring book deals, recommendations, and giveaways. Harold Jurgens suggested that perhaps they should not go forward with the adoption of Dennis, but Lois refused out of concern that it would discourage the authorities from allowing them to adopt further children. . he told the grand jury last year. Lois had talked to them all about her toilet training methods. ``If she had been convicted of this in 1965 she probably would have done about three years, Thomson said. . Dan Jurgens and Lee Weeks Break Down Young Jon Kent's Return in Lois The electric streetcar with overhead power lines, running as a spur off the main railroad tracks along Highway 61, would stop just three doors down. The Jurgenses had wanted a younger child and Dennis was almost a year old. DC artist Dan Jurgens shares an image of an unused Electric Blue Superman design from 1996, reminiscing about what might have been. Nonetheless, when Harold Jurgens called three days later and asked when they could get their boy, Rekdahl and the Scott County officials allowed the Jurgenses to take Dennis for a preplacement visit. Lois Jurgens served only eight years of her sentence, released early for good behavior, and lived a secluded life in Stillwater, Minnesota, until her death in 2013. She saw Harold, then 40, as a tall, rather swarthy man of German and Norwegian extraction, with dark brown hair and eyes. The hearing would prove to be a curious affair. In spite of extensive physical evidence pointing towards severe abuse, the medical examiner did not classify the death under any of the standard classifications of accident, suicide or murder; he simply marked it "deferred".
Please enter your email address and we will send you an email with a reset password code. The afflicted look and act very sick for a matter of hours, sometimes days. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate, or jump to a slide with the slide dots. Sadly, the mother-son reunion was not meant to be; Jerry's child had died just before his fourth birthday. Zerwas wouldnt let the rest of his family view the body. The two also teased what's in store for readers . Lois obsessed about Dennis' weight, which according to medical records was appropriate for a child of his age and build at the point of his adoption. So it was that Dennis Jurgens death resulted not in a murder prosecution but, rather, in a juvenile court hearing over custody of his brother, Robert. ``You have to understand this child is only 3 1/2 years old and virtually every day Lois Jurgens had him he was a victim of some kind of physical or mental abuse, and I dont think eight years was quite enough to compensate society for the act she committed, Robinson said. That was not binding on the prosecutor, but the defense attorney would zero in on this. Try again. He had served as a reference when they adopted Robert. In the minute she was gone, she said, he turned on the hot water. Youve got to worry about tomorrow. Votel went through living hell, one local judge said. The policemen were led to understand that an attorney representing the Jurgenses had visited them and threatened them with civil lawsuits if they spoke out. Lois Jurgens, One of The Most Terrible Moms in America! They owned a 1963 Chevrolet pickup and a 1960 Falcon station wagon. You dont know what to think, Donna Marlene said. Saint Paul, Ramsey County, Minnesota, USA. Deferred, Votel had written. Well, I do, he replied. Lois Jurgens - en-academic.com Jurgens was the only fatal victim of Lois Jurgens, his adoptive mother and a prolific child abuser, who abused a total of six adopted children from 1950 to 1970. Although Lois was not charged with Dennis's murder, the death caused sufficient suspicion for the authorities to remove Robert from the home; he was placed with various relatives and one foster family for a period of just over five years, during which the Jurgens spent a great deal of effort and money attempting to regain custody. Of course, there was that one bad accident involving third-degree burns to Dennis penis and scrotum. Resend Activation Email, Please check the I'm not a robot checkbox, If you want to be a Photo Volunteer you must enter a ZIP Code or select your location on the map. My deputy reassured me from time to time. Harold was infertile and the Jurgenses desperately wanted to adopt another child. Gladys and Dorothy talked frequently to each other about what they had seen, not unaware that theyd recommended the Jurgenses to the welfare department caseworker. DEATH OF SUPERMAN 30TH ANNIVERARY SPECIAL- 1:100 JURGENS & BREEDING FOIL VARIANT. Free shipping for many products! Jerry Puckett was a Protestant by background, but at the time Dennis was born she was intending to take instruction in the Roman Catholic faith. Continuing with this request will add an alert to the cemetery page and any new volunteers will have the opportunity to fulfill your request. C $186.13. "There are certainly problems," says Jurgens, one of the main architects of . No one proposed handing the investigation to some other body--to, say, the county sheriffs office. The way Lindholm figured it, instead of prosecuting Lois Jurgens for murder, lets move to take Robert away. . As it happened, Peterson at the time was deputy coroner in Ramsey County. He assured that it was going on, that this would be his responsibility to get the information, bring it back to me so I could complete the certificate. Robert would remain in county custody for the time being. Harold and Lois Jurgens, a middle-class, churchgoing couple in picturesque White Bear Lake, Minnesota, had adopted Dennis and five other foster children. She was sentenced to a maximum of 25 years in prison and was paroled in 1995. Donohue was not inclined to relax such controls. No, nothing struck me, the doctor replied, except for these bruises. Problems arose within the police department as well. She was sentenced to a maximum of 25 years in prison and was paroled in 1995. I felt we actually checked out the concerns quite carefully.. She was diagnosed as having mixed psychoneurosis and also unable to conceive a child with Harold. Lois JURGENS - Murderpedia, the encyclopedia of murderers An email has been sent to the person who requested the photo informing them that you have fulfilled their request, There is an open photo request for this memorial. He has no teeth yet, but they are coming. Search above to list available cemeteries. What had happened--and how--and why? They were informed they would not be allowed to foster or adopt any additional children. Harold Jurgens had converted a breezeway off the kitchen into a large, open family, dining and cooking area. J. was a little nervous today and I felt was probably upset for fear of what we would think of such a thing happening to Dennis, she wrote in her log. Together they went into Dennis room to inspect the body. In 1987, testifying 22 years later, Peterson was questioned again about the bruises. She was born February 25, 1927 to Leslie and Margaret Stowell in Cass County IL. Rekdahl found her judgment confirmed by the Jurgenses priest. The night Dennis died, Robert was riding his trike in the basement, and all the sudden he heard Dennis screaming. When you judge a case, you dont do so in a vacuum, Lindholm would explain years later in an interview. From the death certificate she had learned that the coroner never ruled whether the death was an accident, a homicide or the result of natural causes. The house at 2148 South Gardenette Drive, White Bear Lake, where the Jurgenses lived from 1957 to 1967. The specter of homicide hovered, but would not land in this hearing room in 1965. There were at least a dozen bruises on the face alone, some large and others small. Robert lived with other relatives, ultimately settling for two years with a distant cousin before he returned home. Clothing retains the heat. She died aged 87 on May 7, 2013. Lois considered herself a devout Catholic and believed she was doing "God's work" by making Dennis "perfect" in her eyes. And it was not my position to do anything other than to pronounce him dead.. The policeman did not, so they carried the body to the coroners van. He was an outgoing child, as happy and adjusted as could be expected under the circumstances. Thank you very much in advance. You see, Gingold said, I didnt have to go that far. They had been able to discuss Lois weaknesses, even her past mental depression, without Lois becoming too nervous or upset or defensive. She had a pathological need for control over her environment and obsessively cleaned and tended to her home and garden, desperate to appear the picture of the perfect housewife. There is some suspicion that Lois Jurgens herself set the fire, given that it occurred while Robert was hospitalized, and that Lois had been known to threaten burning down the homes of several neighbors and family members who had spoken to authorities. Due to this frequent starvation, Dennis gained only three pounds in a two and a half-year period as he aged from one year old to three and a half years old. Lois Jurgens, 62, of Stillwater, chewed gum impassively as the jury announced its verdict, finding her guilty of third-degree murder in the 1965 death of her adopted son, Dennis. In fact, they remain strangely forgotten. There was a television movie broadcast in 1992 on NBC entitled A Child Lost Forever that told the story from the perspective of Jerry Sherwood (played by Beverly D'Angelo). Those looking back now, those who unraveled the case, tend to shrug and shake their heads when Votels name comes up. On bare skin, the heat just flashes off. Woodburn could find no subcutaneous fat at all, something everyone normally has in varying degrees. Verify and try again. The chief one involved the nature of the malady that killed Dennis. This woman was no crank. Along with the aforementioned evidence of starvation and the scarring and bite-marks on his genitalia, the coroner discovered multiple lacerations and multiple generations of bruises covering most of his body. Man held is death of retarded foster child, Minneapolis Star, May 21, 1971. Her attorney Doug Thomson (left) follows, and Harold Jurgens is behind him. Thank you for fulfilling this photo request. In the early 1980s, Dennis' birth mother, Jerry Sherwood, looked for Dennis, only to find out he had died in 1965. When they cleared land for his basement, theyd found old rolls of amusement park ticketsthree rides for a nickel. There was a television movie broadcast in 1992 on NBC en*led A Child Lost Forever that told the story from the perspective of Jerry Sherwood (played by Beverly D'Angelo). The threat of a criminal prosecution is way by the boards now. That will require a juvenile hearing on neglect. Woman Tortures Adoptive Son To Death Lois Jurgens (40) was variously described as both short-tempered and vindictive by her neighbours and others who encountered her in the town of White Bear Lake, Minnesota, and it was well known that she experienced bouts of severe depression and psychosis. The question of Dennis Jurgens death next fell to the Ramsey County attorneys office. You consider how well you can sell this to 12 people in the jury box. Thank you for supporting our partners, who make it possible for The Lineup to continue publishing the terrifying stories you love. Lois considered herself a devout Catholic and believed she was doing "God's work" by making Dennis "perfect" in her eyes. The sponsor of a memorial may add an additional. As he viewed the body, he thought: This boy has been murdered. Dennis Craig Jurgens - Wikipedia Article | Pound Pup Legacy Family members immediately begin whispering "she killed him" , referring to his adoptive moth . Lois Jurgens appeared with her attorney Doug Thomson in Ramsey County The official cause of death was Peritonitis due to perforation of the small bowel. Many years later, at his mother's trial, by then 27-year-old Robert recounted the events of that evening, testifying that his mother had beaten Dennis extensively and had thrown him down the stairs. Please try again later. The boys mouth was getting full, he wasnt swallowing, so Lois put horseradish on the fork. At first, that seemed to be the conclusion that the official inquiry would also reach. Lois E. Jurgens, 82, passed away on Friday, September 7, 2012 at Lakeland Health Care Center Elkhorn, WI. One of Lois Jurgens responses was to call Father Riser, the priest who had so warmly recommended them to the county welfare worker. Almost immediately, Lois felt a severe, obsessive dislike of the child, who was a normal, rambunctious, and spirited toddlerunlike Robert, who in Lois' eyes, was the "good son." Lois Jurgens, the sadistic baby torturer and killer! - Amino VanderWyst, visiting him after the autopsy the night of Dennis death, told the family physician what Woodburn had found. He would wait until the police investigation could resolve the matter. A woman was convicted Friday of third-degree murder in She died aged 87 on May 7, 2013. Dr. Peterson said he saw nothing unusual in Dennis life or death. She did not want this to influence their decision, but in all truthfulness, that was the reality. There is a problem with your email/password. Lois Jurgens - Wikipedia In 1965, Votel said, he thought this was certainly a battered-child case, but the reports indicated that the child had fallen down some stairs. To add a flower, click the Leave a Flower button. memorial page for Lois Germaine Josephine Zerwas Jurgens (12 Aug 1925-7 May 2013), Find a Grave Memorial ID 134346102, citing Union Cemetery, Maplewood, Ramsey County . Ive been doing this job too long. That was all Gingold had to concern himself with. They had checked on him throughout the night. About: Lois Jurgens Harold's testimony in 1965 showed he was in Wisconsin from the evening of Friday, April 9, until 9 or 9:30 p.m. on Saturday, April 10. To view a photo in more detail or edit captions for photos you added, click the photo to open the photo viewer. Lois Jurgens had a reputation amongst her extended family and neighbors as an intense, angry woman with a short and volatile temper, but Dennis' arrival in her home provoked sadistic rages that targeted Dennis as he aged from one to three-and-a-half years of age. By the second week, the investigation began to encounter obstacles. This treatment, along with the exertion as he struggled, sickened Dennis to the point of vomiting, which further enraged Jurgens, who then forced him to eat his vomit. Dennis Craig Jurgens, 3.  Drag images here or select from your computer for Lois Germaine Josephine Zerwas Jurgens memorial. This month is the 30th anniversary of the release of "A Death in White Bear Lake," a book by then-Los Angeles Times reporter Barry Siegel. Year should not be greater than current year. On the night of his death, Lois was in an extremely bad mood due to flooding which was filling up the basement with water. By all accounts, Lois was obsessed with abusing Dennis, and she wanted the world to know he was a "bad child"; she made no apologies about the inappropriate way she was disciplining him.  We have set your language to In 1951, some 14 years before Dennis's death, a psychiatrist at the Mayo Clinic entered this assessment in her file: "It is .
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