The county had filed a custody petition, alleging neglect. 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. She thought Dennis was sloppy fat. This particularly surprised Rekdahl. He found bruises running the length of the body--50 to 100 of them, he would say later, the exact number hard to judge because many were overlapped. Ivey's Lois Jurgens is a woman so proud and righteous, her sense of morality . It just made me sick. There was a bluish mark on the right side of the head that started at the temple and extended to behind the right ear. But how did such an infection occur in the first place? . Donohue was not inclined to relax such controls. Petersburg, ILLois A. Jurgens (92) of Petersburg passed away September 25, 2019.

. Lois Jurgens | Detailed Pedia Many years later, asked in court how this placement was approved, Rekdahl--by then a psychotherapist and psychiatric social worker in Napa, Calif., remarried and using the name Gerane Wharton-Park--said: We finally had really no exacting reasons why we could turn this family down. Murderpedia has thousands of hours of work behind it. As it happened, Peterson at the time was deputy coroner in Ramsey County. Whod listen? As he read, he stiffened in his chair. 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. Due to this frequent starvation, Dennis gained only three pounds in a 2+12-year period as he aged from one year old to 3+12 years old. The case is described in detail in Barry Siegel's true-crime novel, A Death in White Bear Lake. He couldnt comprehend anyone torturing a kid, Peterson would explain many years later. To perforate a bowel, the doctors agreed, there had to be severe, concentrated trauma applied to the abdomen--the sort of injury that could be expected in a high-speed automobile accident. In her effort to make Dennis "right" in her eyes, Lois embarked on a series of sadistic and corporal punishments: Angered at Dennis for rejecting certain foods, she responded by placing horseradish on the food and then force-fed it to him. Lois Jurgens (at left) appeared with her attorney Doug Thomson in Ramsey County Courthouse Monday May 4, 1987. [citation needed], Dennis Jurgens was born Dennis Craig Puckett in Sauk Centre, Minnesota. We will review the memorials and decide if they should be merged. However, he was in failing health and his autopsy results did not indicate poisoning. But this death didnt look as though it was from natural causes. The official cause of death was peritonitis due to perforation of the small bowel wich even 1965 was treatable if he'd been brought to the hospital . She was predeceased by : her parents, Leslie Stowell and Margaret Stowell. No prosecution was taken at that time. Jurgens, now 69, was convicted of third-degree murder in 1987 in what at the time was the oldest homicide to go to trial in Minnesota. . Learn more about managing a memorial . No one proposed handing the investigation to some other body--to, say, the county sheriffs office. . D'Angelo Puts Her Heart Into Nbc'S 'A Child Lost Forever'

 

Lois Jurgens was the infamous subject of one of the most unusual child murder cases in history in Minnesota.She was the adoptive mother of six children in the 1960s and 1970s, and brutally abused them all, killing one of them, three-year-old Dennis Jurgens, in 1965.. Jurgens was one of sixteen children. My God, he thought, looking at the body. The welfare department case work was very limited. I thought you might like to see a memorial for Lois Germaine Josephine Zerwas Jurgens I found on Findagrave.com. Vachss uttalte at boken ikke forklarer begrunnelsen for at Harold er passiv, mens den har tilstrekkelig informasjon om Lois Jurgens. Lois Jurgens served eight years of her sentence and had a quiet life as a widow in Stillwater, Minnesota. How in the heck could that happen? The testimony from Dr. Woodburn, the pathologist who did the autopsy on Dennis, was unequivocal. Ep 50-52 A Death in White Bear Lake by Barry Siegel- Sources, Photos They had only two requests.

 

Stanley Wiatros was one of them. Murder Shelf Book Club Podcast | a podcast by murdershelfbookclub Use the links under See more to quickly search for other people with the same last name in the same cemetery, city, county, etc. Lois, who abused Dennis constantly, escalated to new levels of rage as the flood waters filled her basement. Maybe we can get more evidence from there. They owned a 1963 Chevrolet pickup and a 1960 Falcon station wagon. He could never forget how Lois Jurgens looked at those photos stoically, showing no emotion. From the bench, he said he hoped that they could find something to explain the mistreatment of Dennis. Lois Jurgens Obituary (1930 - 2012) - Elkhorn, Wi, IA - the Des Moines 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. The lawyers danced around the matter, leaving much unspoken. Lets not build up some fiction that now we have done everything we should do.. Harold Jurgens, an electrical foreman, made $10,000 in 1962, and this placed his family a cut above many of their friends and neighbors. . Murder of Dennis Jurgens - After The Murder Some had seen or heard Dennis being beaten. The first came now. I want photos of this, he thought. Two or three couples signed written statements. Of course, there was that one bad accident involving third-degree burns to Dennis penis and scrotum. For a time, that appeared to be the end of the story. Please try again later. It began one month after Dennis death and continued for two days, May 10 and 11, 1965. Family members immediately begin whispering "she killed him" , referring to his adoptive moth In fact, they remain strangely forgotten. Several relatives now told the investigators they would not sign statements. She died aged 87 on May 7, 2013. The house at 2148 South Gardenette Drive, White Bear Lake, where the Jurgenses lived from 1957 to 1967. Donna Mae, about 5 feet away, watched in horror as Lois force-fed that vomit to him, made him eat it. All photos appear on this tab and here you can update the sort order of photos on memorials you manage. Rekdahl decided to call on the Jurgenses. 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. My clients have rights, he said. There were, to begin with, the same photos of Dennis battered body on the coroners table. She died aged 87 on May 7, 2013. Robert would remain in county custody for the time being. C $186.13. 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. harold e bageant obituary visitation funeral information. Innhold. 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. Thirty years after the original Death of Superman storyline, the iconic tale's writer Dan Jurgens has confirmed which alternate Superman villains almost killed the hero. Donna Mae Zerwas, Lois sister-in-law, had seen all that and more. . But how did such an infection occur in the first place? The Jurgens' adoption of Robert seemed successful in the eyes of authorities, who began to consider the possibility that they might adopt more children through official channels. Certain neighbors and family members knew there were problems with Lois' treatment of Dennis but did nothing to prevent it. She is buried at the Union Cemetery, in Maplewood, Ramsey County, Minnesota . And it was not my position to do anything other than to pronounce him dead.. He was an outgoing child, as happy and adjusted as could be expected under the circumstances. Peter Korolchuk yielded a good deal of information. 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. I was young then, just out of college, the social worker said recently in an interview. How a Group of Desperate Comics Creators Hatched Doomsday - Vulture Do Not Sell or Share My Personal Information, Desperate mountain residents trapped by snow beg for help; We are coming, sheriff says, Hidden, illegal casinos are booming in L.A., with organized crime reaping big profits, Look up: The 32 most spectacular ceilings in Los Angeles, This fabled orchid breeder loves to chat just not about Trader Joes orchids, Elliott: Kings use their heads over hearts in trading Jonathan Quick, 19 cafes that make L.A. a world-class coffee destination, Newsom, IRS give Californians until October to file tax returns, 12 reasons why Sycamore Avenue is L.A.s coolest new hangout, Best coffee city in the world?

For that reason, Dennis, a week after his birth, was baptized a Catholic. In spite of extensive physical evidence pointing towards severe . Murder of Dennis Craig Jurgens | Mystery & Crime Amino Dennis was adopted by the Jurgens, of White Bear Lake, Minnesota, a suburb of Saint Paul: Harold Robert Jurgens, a former bandleader turned electrician, and Lois Germaine Josephine Zerwas Jurgens, a homemaker. A Death in White Bear Lake er en sann krimbok av journalisten Barry Siegel, utgitt i 1990, som forteller om drapet p Dennis Jurgens. They also caught crappies and smallmouth bass and northern pike, but the sunfish were the best. Walter Moore, a co-worker of Harold Jurgens, also came to the funeral. Initial placement was with a licensed, unrelated foster family, but Robert was then moved to his paternal grandparents at his parents' request. They would have to find out. Lois Jurgens (August 12, 1925 March 7, 2013) | World Biographical Your new password must contain one or more uppercase and lowercase letters, and one or more numbers or special characters. There was no possibility that Dennis had died from a blow to the head, and scarce chance that he had died from a fall on the flat basement floor. Lois thought that would be a good idea. Martin fritz obituary. After all, Dorothy Engfer more than once had seen Lois smack Dennis so hard the blood flowed from his nose, and Gladys DeMars had watched Dennis over two summers wither from a husky, jolly baby to a wan little boy covered with bruises and black eyes and split lips. This story changed a lot about the Superman line of booksincluding introducing iconic '90s heroes like Superboy and Steeland DC Comics writ large. It would have been difficult at the time to prove that Lois Jurgens had committed murder.

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. Free shipping for many products! 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. The autopsy report mentioned bruises head to toe. Those in the station familiar with the downtown strip joints in nearby St. Paul might have recognized Jerry Ann Sherwood from her earlier tenure at Alarys Club Bar.

This was the situation that Gerane Rekdahl, a Ramsey County welfare case worker, found when she visited the Jurgens home on March 1, 1962. Lois attended cosmetology school in Des Moines, Iowa. The perforation, he judged, had occurred one to two days before the childs death. ). Do I think this happened just here, just this one? One day, Zerwas walked into the squad room and found the two officers investigating Dennis death. Forever' w/ the Clothing retains the heat.

On the other hand, he could not bring himself to embrace the notion that Lois Jurgens was a murderer.

 

Officially forbidden to adopt children owing to Lois' history of mental illness, the couple managed to adopt a baby named Robert privately. April 11, 1965. "There was obviously going to be trouble, and he didnt want to get involved.". You can second-guess yourself until you get an ulcer, Lindholm said recently. Throughout the years of frequent abuse, it has been reported that while Harold Jurgens made little effort to curb his wife's abuse of young Dennis, he personally never mistreated the boy. Donna Marlene had seen other things. contact 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. She was sentenced to a maximum of 25 years in prison and was paroled in 1995. The Jurgenses are not being attacked anywhere along the line. 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. In the early 1980s, Dennis' birth mother, Jerry Sherwood, looked for Dennis, only to find out he had died in 1965.

I have never seen anything like that done..   No animated GIFs, photos with additional graphics (borders, embellishments. Family members linked to this person will appear here. She committed one of the most unusual child murder cases in history in Minnesota. The first few days of the police investigation by VanderWyst and Sgt.  

 

Harold told relatives he was going to be out of town the weekend of April 10 and 11, 1965. Korolchuk would never get the chance to answer such questions. When Dennis messed his bed, she said, she forced the boy to eat his feces. 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. The St. Paul Pioneer Press ran a cover story about the investigation on Sunday, October 12, 1986. She wanted assurances. That will make you swallow, Lois had said. It had always troubled her, more than any she handled before or since. She was sentenced to a maximum of 25 years in prison and was paroled in 1995. 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 was shaken. I did my best.. ``She did a lot more than she should have.. Paul Lindholm, the assistant county attorney, considered it. You dont know what to think, Donna Marlene said. 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. She saw Harold, then 40, as a tall, rather swarthy man of German and Norwegian extraction, with dark brown hair and eyes. Buy It Now. You may occasionally receive promotional content from the Los Angeles Times. A Death in White Bear Lake: The Child Abuse Case That Led to Murder Lois Jurgens was convicted in May 1987 of murder (by abuse) in the death 22 years earlier of her adopted son, Dennis. The next day, Rekdahl phoned the Jurgenses family physician, Dr. Roy Peterson, who was treating Dennis. Homicide was not the issue at the hearing. At this time there are a number of persons yet to be contacted who supposedly have information and are relatives of the family, Korolchuk wrote on Thursday, April 15, four days after the death.
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. . Rekdahl did know that Lois had a history of psychiatric problems involving a nervous breakdown in the early 1950s. . he told the grand jury last year. At the hearing a month later, Peterson was asked whether he saw anything unusual as he viewed the body in the crib. They attempted to mind their own business and feared retribution from Lois, who was not above threatening the lives of her family members. She was 61 when she went to prison and served eight years before being paroled.. Years later, the attorney representing Roberts interests at the 1965 custody hearing would still remember those photos. She knew the agencys policy was not to place children with couples who were over 40, an age they were approaching. I also want to get Early Bird Books newsletter featuring book deals, recommendations, and giveaways. Which memorial do you think is a duplicate of Lois Jurgens (134346102)? [2] She is buried at the Union Cemetery, in Maplewood, Ramsey County, Minnesota . Are you sure that you want to delete this memorial? . Harold Jurgens had converted a breezeway off the kitchen into a large, open family, dining and cooking area. Eventually Lois Jurgens was arraigned, and her identity released by the media. She also describes him as a clown, always laughing at himself or other people when they are around. On bare skin, the heat just flashes off. Nbc Night at the Movies a Child Lost Forever - Variety 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.The trial of Lois Jurgens for the murder of 3-year-old Dennis made national . Then he began to look terrible--his face so old, like a little old man. How could the hot water splashing down on the baby have burned only his penis and scrotum? Unused Superman Art Reveals a Rejected Electric Costume Design . It was highly unlikely that a fall on a flat surface could have caused this. In the early 1980s, Jerry Sherwood went looking for the newborn son she gave up for adoption 20 years prior. 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. Sherwood also told D'Angelo that Dana Ivey's interpretation of Lois Jurgens is eerily accurate. 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. Rekdahl expressed some concern. Then there was the coroners report. . Robert fit in well at the Jurgens household, as he learned from a young age not to get in his mother's way or cause an undue mess that would likely send Lois Jurgens into a rage. A Death in White Bear Lake: Notorious crime in city history marks 50 However, he was in failing health and his autopsy results did not indicate poisoning.

As the laws were then interpreted, he believed that he would have to link a specific action taken by Lois Jurgens to the precise cause of death. remarkable Beverly D'Angelo as Jerry Sherwood
Harold Jurgens, an electrical foreman, made $10,000 in 1962, and this placed his family a cut above many of their friends and neighbors. The boy would be gasping and choking for breath until she would fear that he would drown.

Toddler murdered by abusive adoptive mother - Horror History .net Sorry! Lois Jean Jurgens, the daughter of Lawrence A. and Marjorie V. (Johnson) Jones, was born on May 26, 1929 in Malvern, Iowa. VanderWyst climbed into his patrol car and backed down the Jurgens driveway at 11:48 A.M. VanderWysts departure did not go unnoticed. . We have many 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. You need a Find a Grave account to continue. Jerry took her case to the White Bear Lake police department and then to the local media.

cemeteries found within miles of your location will be saved to your photo volunteer list. Failed to remove flower. Lois Germaine Josephine Zerwas Jurgens (1925-2013) - Find a Grave On January 13, 2000, she was initially suspected of poisoning her husband, Harold. 'Convergence' makes Superman a super-dad - USA TODAY GREAT NEWS! What to make of Dennis Jurgens death now was passed into the hands of the Ramsey County coroner. It looked to her as if the roses were placed there to cover up the dark blue markings. They were independent of each other. About: Lois Jurgens DEATH OF SUPERMAN 30TH ANNIVERARY SPECIAL- 1:100 JURGENS & BREEDING FOIL VARIANT. That doctor (Peterson) also presented problems--he was a typical doctor, couldnt believe his patient was killed..