He would later learn much more, would attend seminars and organize a county task force on the problem, but it cannot be said that Gingold knew nothing in 1965 about the battered-child syndrome.
Murder of Dennis Jurgens - After The Murder Lois Jurgens - en-academic.com There is no evidence we are dealing with any people here who have any demon-like motives. #dennisjurgens #jerrysherwood #truecrime Jerry Puckett's mother abandoned her when she was three, she was raised by her father and abused by two stepmothers.. And a Dr. Peterson called at 10:09 a.m. to report a DOA--dead on arrival--at 2148 Gardenette Drive. Do you have a camera in the car, he asked VanderWyst. He was born on September 29, 1941 in rural Adams, and was later baptized and confirmed at Zion Lutheran Church of rural Pickrell. Barry Siegels chilling true crime book, A Death in White Bear Lake, chronicles the chilling case of a family from a picturesque town in Minnesota, and the cover up of a horrific crime that lasted for 20 years. No, Lois said, sounding definite. Are you sure that you want to delete this memorial? Certain neighbors and family members knew there were problems with Lois' treatment of Dennis but did nothing to prevent it. She was the adoptive mother of six children in the 1960s and 1970s, and brutally abused them all, killing one of them, 3-year-old Dennis Jurgens, in 1965. Even so, doctors do not usually see third-degree burns in an area that isnt covered by clothing. I looked down.
Woman Who Killed Adopted Son Released After Eight Years in Prison They covered the legs, the arms, the hands, the head, the shoulders, the back of the head, the buttocks, the small of the back, the middle of the back, the back of the left leg. No one here is being punitive, Gingold told the Jurgenses and their attorney from the bench.
It was awful.
Lois, who abused Dennis constantly, escalated to new levels of rage as the flood waters filled her basement. She is buried at the Union Cemetery, in Maplewood, Ramsey County, Minnesota . They were informed they would not be allowed to foster or adopt any additional children. En dd i White Bear Lake - A Death in White Bear Lake He is able to turn himself over and is extremely strong, almost ready to stand by himself. Jurgens would make his debut as a comic book writer with Sun Devils he began scripting from Conway's plots with #8 and fully took over the writing duties on the title with #10. Korolchuk wondered: Why wasnt a doctor called to the home in the day before Dennis died, when he must have been extremely and obviously ill? Her brother, Jerome Zerwas, was the police lieutenant of the town of White Bear Lake, Minnesota, where she lived at the time. There are no volunteers for this cemetery. Notification of death or terminal illness, Office of Revisor of Statues . There was an error deleting this problem. Her attorney Doug Thomson (left) follows, and Harold Jurgens is behind him. Lois Jurgens headed to trial. HH at the best online prices at eBay! Saint Paul, Ramsey County, Minnesota, USA. Rekdahl thought that Lois speech betrayed a bit of cynicism. Lois Jurgens - Wikipedia I didnt look after that; I couldnt, she said. Within months of Dennis' arrival, he was rushed to the hospital with first and second-degree burns on his genitalia, which were reported and accepted as accidental. I felt we actually checked out the concerns quite carefully.. He would testify that he had been suspicious enough to call the welfare department. Murder of Dennis Jurgens - Infogalactic: the planetary knowledge core After seeing newspaper reports about the death, she was convinced that he had been beaten to death and demanded the case be re-opened. The only witness to Lois's final abuse of Dennis was Robert, who was 5 years old at the time. Lois Jean (Jones) Jurgens Obituary (2022) | Arvada, Colorado Dennis Craig Jurgens (December 6, 1961 - April 11, 1965) was an American 3-year-old boy who was murdered in White Bear Lake, Minnesota in April 1965. Sherwood became suspicious and persuaded authorities to investigate. The trial of Lois Jurgens for the murder of 3-year-old Dennis made national headlines and was the top news story of the state of Minnesota in 1987. 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. You are only allowed to leave one flower per day for any given memorial.
According to sworn testimony by both Korolchuk and VanderWyst before a grand jury last year, Zerwas at the time warned the investigating officers that he would do everything in his power to keep his sisters name clear. People were not then inclined to believe that middle-class families in suburban homes killed their children. A vivid portrait of an all-American town that harbored a killer, A Death in White Bear Lake is also the absorbing story of two detectives who refused to give up until they had the killer cold. 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. Please reset your password. Matt McMillan, White Bear Lake true crime page-turner turns 30, White Bear Press Club, June 17, 2020. The first few days of the police investigation by VanderWyst and Sgt. Their flight, coupled with the lingering suspicions surrounding Dennis' death, resulted in the termination of Lois and Harold Jurgens' parental rights. I didnt examine him further.. And it was not my position to do anything other than to pronounce him dead.. I had doubts, and I didnt like Lois, but I felt I couldnt react personally like that, she said. A piano and bass fiddle occupied the living room. Lois Jurgens Obituary - Visitation & Funeral Information Harold Jurgens died in 2000; at the time of his death, there was suspicion that Lois had poisoned him, but this was investigated and ruled out. Tragically, just a few years after the adoption, Dennis died from peritonitis. To view a photo in more detail or edit captions for photos you added, click the photo to open the photo viewer.
They had just buried the body, and that was all. The suspicious death of Dennis Jurgens wasnt properly investigated for 20 years. . There is a lot to be known about the science of this whole darn subject, he said. The psychiatrist also observed that Lois had an obsession about order and cleanliness. Lois Jurgens served eight years of her sentence and had a quiet life as a widow in Stillwater, Minnesota. They saw the hearse sitting in the Jurgenses driveway, and a big blue convertible, and the police car parked awkwardly, askew, as if the officer had been in a hurry. . Lois Jurgens at the time that she had custody of Dennis. Lois Jurgens was convicted in May 1987 of murder (by abuse) in the death 22 years earlier of her adopted son, Dennis. Family members linked to this person will appear here. Learn how and when to remove this template message, "Child Abuse and Neglect in the Home | Center for Problem-Oriented Policing", "A woman was convicted Friday of third-degree murder in", Child Murder: The town that lived in silence, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Murder_of_Dennis_Jurgens&oldid=1138138523, This page was last edited on 8 February 2023, at 06:11. He doesnt look like a tiny little kid, he thought. According to Rekdahls written log, that was the sum of what Peterson said to her. 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. Dennis was lying face up in his crib, his stiffened arms raised eight inches off the bed. The coroner noted in his report that Dennis had almost zero subcutaneous fat, at the level of a person who had died of starvation. Clayton Robinson Jr., a former prosecutor in the case, said Jurgens should not have been released yet. 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). Child Murder : The Town That Lived in Silence - Los Angeles Times Instead the judge agonized, repeatedly expressing from the bench his sense of conflict and uncertainty. Dennis had thrown up then. Lois Jurgens served eight years of her sentence and had a quiet life as a widow in Stillwater, Minnesota. There was a time when White Bear Lake was an exclusive watering hole for people from Chicago as well as the Twin Cities. With Lois's mental health deteriorating, a hearing explores the question, should Lois and Harold Jurgens keep custody of their 5 year old adopted son, Robert after the death of this brother, Dennis. Lois' remedy for the toddler wetting his diaper too frequently was to place a spring-action clothespin upon the end of his penis. . The boy was dead by the time the doctor arrived at 9:35. The boy would be gasping and choking for breath until she would fear that he would drown. Testimony from neighbors and family members told of young Dennis showing up to public events wearing sunglasses at the age of two to hide his frequent black eyes. It was not his job to do anything other than pronounce the boy dead. Though the name of the adoptive family was not given, many suspected that the story was about Lois Jurgens. But this death didnt look as though it was from natural causes. 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. Harold and Lois Jurgensa middle-class, churchgoing couple who had been unable to have children of their ownhad adopted Sherwoods son, Dennis, in 1962. He eats well. She saw Harold, then 40, as a tall, rather swarthy man of German and Norwegian extraction, with dark brown hair and eyes. There were, to begin with, the same photos of Dennis battered body on the coroners table. This, coupled with the lack of a statute of limitations for a murder charge, could lead the way to a prosecution of Lois Jurgens. Nine months earlier, on Dec. 6, 1961, Dennis Craig Puckett, 8 1/2 pounds, had been born at St. Michaels Hospital in Sauk Centre, in nearby Scott County. He pulled the file on the ancient case and began leafing through the yellowing pages. To this end, she forced religious training on her young sons; reports had young Robert flawlessly reciting the Rosary at 2. 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. Dennis was now fully accepted and loved in the family, she decided. Lois Germaine Josephine Zerwas Jurgens (1925-2013) - Find a Grave It looked to her as if the roses were placed there to cover up the dark blue markings. of Lois Jurgens are considered landmarks in the history of He does not sound very well behaved, she said. 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. They also caught crappies and smallmouth bass and northern pike, but the sunfish were the best. We have many This woman was no crank. I remember very clearly the pathologist coming in and saying it had to be a blow, not a fall, but I think the prosecutor felt he couldnt prove it, and I was on the same wavelength as the prosecutor. Sign up for The Lineup's newsletter and get terrifying tales delivered straight to your inbox. . The term is relative. Harold (Harry) Jurgens Obituary - Tribute Archive Searching him out, she discovers he died at 3 1/2, though the death certificate does not show what killed him. VanderWyst, visiting him after the autopsy the night of Dennis death, told the family physician what Woodburn had found. 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. If Votel had called it a homicide, at least that prospect would have been removed. She thought they had a lovely home. How could a little boy not scream out in pain as soon as he was burned? They beat my baby to death, Sherwood told Buzz Harvey. 1 Bakgrunn; 2 Innhold; . 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". Dennis and Robert Jurgens, 1965. The investigation, trial, and She also describes him as a clown, always laughing at himself or other people when they are around. Two husbands and four children later, Sherwood had gone searching for her firstborn, only to learn that he had died years before, in 1965, at age 3. While he waited for the coroners investigator to arrive, he asked Lois Jurgens if there was anything he could do--such as take Robert to his own home, to be cared for by his wife. The situation had made him uncomfortable, so uncomfortable that he hadnt pulled down the blankets or examined the body further. All photos appear on this tab and here you can update the sort order of photos on memorials you manage. Doug Thomson, who defended Jurgens, said his client did not get out early. I want photos of this, he thought. There he had been loved and well cared for by an experienced foster mother. No one proposed handing the investigation to some other body--to, say, the county sheriffs office. You dont know what to think, Donna Marlene said. 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. Statements in the police logs were riddled with discrepancies. He was an outgoing child, as happy and adjusted as could be expected under the circumstances. Please enter your email address and we will send you an email with a reset password code. No prosecution was taken at that time. This sort of thing happened back then.. . Lois Jurgens.
``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. Lois and Harold Jurgens lived in a comfortable . Dennis lay in the ground at St. Marys Cemetery, no name given to his death. The process of adopting Dennis was completed. She wanted assurances. One day, Zerwas walked into the squad room and found the two officers investigating Dennis death. No animated GIFs, photos with additional graphics (borders, embellishments. I was young then, just out of college, the social worker said recently in an interview.
The coroner noted in his report that Dennis had almost zero subcutaneous fat, at the level of a person who had died of starvation. They had cited the Fifth Amendment protection against self-incrimination. 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. 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. Murder of Dennis Jurgens - Abuse at The Hands of Lois Jurgens In the decade preceding the adoption of Dennis, Lois Jurgens had suffered bouts of depression and psychosis, including an extended stay at a psychiatric institution where electroconvulsive therapy was administered. conviction
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. Previously sponsored memorials or famous memorials will not have this option. Failed to delete memorial. Blankets covered him to the waist. They were of varying colors--black and blue, yellowish green, reddish--which meant that some were fresh, some old. 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. There was a deep, ulcerous lesion at the base of the penis and dark bruises on the tip. Dennis Craig Jurgens (December 6, 1961 - April 11, 1965) was an American 3-year-old boy who was murdered in White Bear Lake, Minnesota in April 1965. There was also the matter of community attitudes. Product details Publisher : Ballantine Books (November 28, 2000) Language : English Paperback : 560 pages ISBN-10 : 0345487176 Together they went into Dennis room to inspect the body. A Death in White Bear Lake: The True Chronicle of an All-American Town The lawyers danced around the matter, leaving much unspoken. Published Jan 18, 2023. You need a Find a Grave account to continue. Donna Marlene had seen other things. Jurgens was one of 16 children. 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. Please try again later. [citation needed], Dennis Jurgens was born Dennis Craig Puckett in Sauk Centre, Minnesota. Rekdahl did not know that a psychiatrist at the Mayo Clinic had diagnosed Lois Jurgens as having a longstanding psychoneurosis dating to her childhood--a childhood spent in a tension-filled home with an alcoholic, abusive father. Lois Jurgens appeared with her attorney Doug Thomson in Ramsey County Lois JURGENS - Murderpedia, the encyclopedia of murderers Dan Jurgens Returns to Death of Superman | DC . Learn how and when to remove this template message, "ANGELIZD's Place - Child Abuse Pages - Dennis Craig Jurgens", https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Lois_Jurgens&oldid=1133446799, Articles lacking in-text citations from December 2022, Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License 3.0, This page was last edited on 13 January 2023, at 21:13. They wanted to do something, but felt it was none of their business. 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. There was a problem getting your location. 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. That was not binding on the prosecutor, but the defense attorney would zero in on this. The official cause of death was Peritonitis due to perforation of the small bowel. During the early morning hours of April 11, 1965, Dennis Jurgens died at the hands of Lois Jurgens. We are a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for us to earn fees by linking to Amazon.com and affiliated sites. Robert was returned to the Jurgens home and, going through new channels, the couple was eventually able to adopt four school-aged siblings from Kentucky.
It did not occur to him to question Robert. The roller coaster had been just to the west of his lot, the water slide just to the east, and the dance pavilion exactly where his house now stood, the old foundation still there below his lawn and patio. I also want to get Early Bird Books newsletter featuring book deals, recommendations, and giveaways. Petersburg, ILLois A. Jurgens (92) of Petersburg passed away September 25, 2019. In the early 1980s, Dennis' birth mother, Jerry Sherwood, looked for Dennis, only to find out he had died in 1965. Resend Activation Email. Lois also was not pleased to learn how active Dennis was. Mornings there were wonderful, but the dusk was the doctors favorite time, for the sun set each evening over the water and trees, falling behind Manitou Island, leaving behind a fiery orange sky. Harvey had been a rookie cop here in 1965, but Sherwoods story triggered no memories. Dennis Craig Jurgens, 3.
The volume of business coming down the pipeline doesnt allow for regrets. Rekdahl was a little concerned, since the accident actually had happened seven days before the phone call, but her main inclination was to soothe Lois Jurgens. How could the hot water splashing down on the baby have burned only his penis and scrotum? Please complete the captcha to let us know you are a real person. The official records say 1,200 children died of abuse in 1986, but many experts believe the figure would reach 5,000 if closer attention were paid to some deaths attributed to accident or blamed on sudden infant death syndrome. Dennis had been a beautiful baby, Gladys Demars said. Lois Jurgens served eight years of her sentence and had a quiet life as a widow in Stillwater, Minnesota. A Death in White Bear Lake: The Child Abuse Case That Led to Murder When Harold Jurgens called 10 days later to say they wanted to keep Dennis, the two agencies allowed that as well. You do consider social attitudes. Sherwood also told D'Angelo that Dana Ivey's interpretation of Lois Jurgens is eerily accurate. There was something wrong here. You see, Gingold said, I didnt have to go that far. Votel went through living hell, one local judge said. When patrolman Robert VanderWyst arrived at the Jurgens home soon after, he found the doctor, the Jurgenses and 5-year-old Robert in the living room. SHAKOPEE, Minn. (AP) _ A mother who beat her adopted son to death and then covered up the crime for two decades was released from prison today after serving eight years. But, at a hearing just one month after Dennis death, Peterson, when asked if there was anything unusual about the burn accident, said: No, not in particular.. . I can recall seeing some, but its not very clear. About: Lois Jurgens Sadly, the mother-son reunion was not meant to be; Jerry's child had died just before his fourth birthday. | If you notice a problem with the translation, please send a message to [emailprotected] and include a link to the page and details about the problem. A woman was convicted Friday of third-degree murder in Votel could not take the first step. In 2005, playwright Brian Vinero wrote a theatre piece, The Jurgens File, which was developed at New York City's 78th Street Theatre Lab; it told the story from the perspective of the community. He felt that Lois mental breakdown was not extremely serious and that she had completely recovered. That was all Gingold had to concern himself with.