lois jurgens' death
He was shaken. Lois Jurgens was at home alone with the children much of the weekend of Dennis' death. There was testimony from other officers that he impeded the investigation into the child's death. She died aged 87 on May 7, 2013. Lois Jurgens reaction to Dennis during the visit was less than enthusiastic. Even so, doctors do not usually see third-degree burns in an area that isnt covered by clothing. He had one great friend, his world's Lois, but she died and now he sees another version of her still alive and pregnant. 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).
Lois Germaine Josephine Zerwas Jurgens (August 12, 1925 May 7, 2013) was an American convicted murderer responsible for one of the most unusual child murder cases in history in Minnesota. Several relatives now told the investigators they would not sign statements. They wanted an infant under a year old, and they wanted a Catholic child. The two also teased what's in store for readers . Dr. She died aged 87 on May 7, 2013. This woman was no crank. 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. Lois Jurgens released after serving eight years, The Winona Daily News, June, 7, 1995. Please enter your email address and we will send you an email with a reset password code. . Placement with the paternal grandparents ended due to a house fire that occurred at a time when Robert was hospitalized with pneumonia, and his grandmother burned to death. He could be a battered child, Votel said he reasoned, and still his death could have been caused by a fall, an accident. She said she had set Dennis in the sink to wash him after he had wet his diaper, then had gone into another room to get a clean diaper. Three-year-old Dennis Craig (Puckett) Jurgens was tortured to death in the wee hours of April 11th, 1965.

Lois Jurgens, 93, of Arvada, Colorado, formerly of Malvern and Glenwood, Iowa, passed away June 13, 2022. 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. But this death didnt look as though it was from natural causes. Quickly see who the memorial is for and when they lived and died and where they are buried. My God, he thought, looking at the body. When he wet his pants, she said, she put a clothespin on his penis. They had cited the Fifth Amendment protection against self-incrimination. The coroner noted there was evidence of adult, human bite marks on his penis and scarring all over his scrotum; he was also found to be wearing two diapers and a pair of rubber pants at the age of three and one-half years. This case was a drop of water in the river.. She is buried at the Union Cemetery, in Maplewood, Ramsey County, Minnesota. At the funeral, a crown of roses rested on Dennis head. 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. It began one month after Dennis death and continued for two days, May 10 and 11, 1965. She also describes him as a clown, always laughing at himself or other people when they are around.

Lois considered herself a devout Catholic and believed she was doing "God's work" by making Dennis "perfect" in her eyes. Other than that, nothing remarkable.. In the 1960s, the term child abuse had not yet been coined and no one, not even medical professionals and teachers, was required to report suspicions. On Feb. 11, 1964, the commissioner of public welfare, as legal guardian for Dennis, consented to his formal adoption by Harold and Lois Jurgens. There appeared to be a number of discrepancies in the Jurgenses story, he noted. April 11, 1965. Top Rated Seller. To him, that was close to frightening. It was not his job to do anything other than pronounce the boy dead. When the White Bear Lake police called her a year ago, she knew immediately whom they were talking about. We didnt believe it was possible in nice, middle-class suburban families.. For a time, that appeared to be the end of the story. 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. The next day, Dennis brother, Robert, was picked up and taken to a local hospital, on order of Juvenile Court Judge Archie Gingold. the prosecution saw Lois Jurgens
Notes [ edit] ^ "ANGELIZD's Place - Child Abuse Pages - Dennis Craig Jurgens". Most simply remain hidden. 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. They had been able to discuss Lois weaknesses, even her past mental depression, without Lois becoming too nervous or upset or defensive. 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. 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. ?Tadeusz: I never remember pretty women. 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.

It was full of redwood and log railings, and the lawn and trees ran almost to the waters edge, a good hundred feet of lake frontage in all. Rekdahl found him friendly and talkative--perhaps too much so, for he often strayed widely from the subject at hand. Her brother, Jerome Zerwas, was the police lieutenant of the town of White . This flower has been reported and will not be visible while under review. Share this memorial using social media sites or email. The defense attorney was still thinking about a criminal prosecution--even if no one else was. This account has been disabled. Innhold. VanderWyst was not close social friends with the Jurgenses, but he knew them well enough to greet them on the street. 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. She was born February 25, 1927 to Leslie and Margaret Stowell in Cass County IL. When she was 17 and living in a juvenile home, she said, she gave birth to a boy, Dennis, who was quickly taken from her and eventually adopted by a family named Jurgens who lived in White Bear Lake. If you have questions, please contact [emailprotected]. It is essentially unconceivable to me, without a protruding object above the floor, that he could have been injured in this way, Woodburn said. It was as if the authorities had found a way to try Lois Jurgens for Dennis death without calling it a murder. Which memorial do you think is a duplicate of Lois Jurgens (134346102)? Harold and Lois Jurgensa middle-class, churchgoing couple who had been unable to have children of their ownhad adopted Sherwoods son, Dennis, in 1962. 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. A Mrs. Charles reported a car blocking a driveway at 823 5th St. A Mrs. Krugger reported that children were damming the street at Elm and Ebba (there had been heavy rain the night before).

A Death in White Bear Lake is a true crime book by journalist Barry Siegel, published in 1990, which recounts the murder of Dennis Jurgens. Are you adding a grave photo that will fulfill this request? Paul Lindholm, the assistant county attorney, considered it. She believed that Lois Jurgens was accepting and embracing Dennis, and he seemed healthy and adjusted. She thought they had a lovely home. Peterson, a slender 6-footer, was a respected local doctor, a University of Minnesota medical graduate who had served in the Marines before opening a private practice in White Bear Lake in 1951. How could a kid fall down the steps and die? We will review the memorials and decide if they should be merged. VanderWyst didnt push the matter. You consider how well you can sell this to 12 people in the jury box. It just made me sick. 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." 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. "There are certainly problems," says Jurgens, one of the main architects of . He very strongly favored the Jurgenses getting another child. 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. Jurgens and Weeks joined CBR to discuss launching Lois & Clark 2 and spoilers for its first installment. 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. She grew up and attended school in Malvern, graduating in 1947. Brand New. On April 26, Korolchuk drafted an analysis of the information they had gathered. By continuing to browse, you accept the use of cookies and other technologies. 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. And it was not my position to do anything other than to pronounce him dead.. Dennis lay in the ground at St. Marys Cemetery, no name given to his death. Four days after he drafted this analysis, on April 30, he and VanderWyst were pulled off the case. Now the town is most frequently described as middle class. Lois Jurgens at the time that she had custody of Dennis. He is extremely alert. 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. in the third degree and sent to prison. The investigation, trial, and conviction are considered landmarks in the history of child abuse law. She thought Dennis was sloppy fat. This particularly surprised Rekdahl. Her mother having long ago disappeared, Jerry Puckett had bounced among assorted relatives and county homes for girls.
Many years later, he explained why: I was quite certain it was a homicide, quite certain, Gingold said recently in an interview. DEATH OF SUPERMAN 30TH ANNIVERARY SPECIAL- 1:100 JURGENS & BREEDING FOIL VARIANT. Initial placement was with a licensed, unrelated foster family, but Robert was then moved to his paternal grandparents at his parents' request. When he wouldnt have a bowel movement, she said, she pulled the feces from his rectum with her hands.

 

To this end, she forced religious training on her young sons; reports had young Robert flawlessly reciting the Rosary at two. Father Riser told her he definitely would. While visiting one Thanksgiving, she saw Lois force-feed Dennis, in a highchair, by shoving a fork full of food into his mouth. roger w. tufte sr. was born on march 22, 1945 in lakota, nd the son of clarence and esther (johnson. The next day, Rekdahl phoned the Jurgenses family physician, Dr. Roy Peterson, who was treating Dennis. At the hearing a month later, Peterson was asked whether he saw anything unusual as he viewed the body in the crib. 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. plans and enthusiasm She was 61 when she went to prison and served eight years before being paroled.. 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. 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. After Dennis' death, an older adopted son, Robert, was removed from the Jurgens home. Is it quite customary to see a little boy with so many bruises, he was asked. When Harold Jurgens called 10 days later to say they wanted to keep Dennis, the two agencies allowed that as well. 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. Tragically, just a few years after the adoption, Dennis died from peritonitis. Rekdahl did know that Lois had a history of psychiatric problems involving a nervous breakdown in the early 1950s. I think my son is dying, Harold Jurgens had told the doctor on the phone that morning. Certain neighbors and family members knew there were problems with Lois' treatment of Dennis but did nothing to prevent it. Sherwood eventually located Dennis's death certificate; because the death was categorized as "deferred", the case was still technically open. They attempted to mind their own business and feared retribution from Lois, who was not above threatening the lives of her family members. Soon the word spread from house to housethered been a death, the younger Jurgens boy had died. Buy It Now. ``I prayed for eight years that shed die in there. The Jurgenses had wanted a younger child and Dennis was almost a year old. There is no evidence we are dealing with any people here who have any demon-like motives. Pitera stared at the body. Dennis was now fully accepted and loved in the family, she decided. harold e bageant obituary visitation funeral information. He felt that she needed psychiatric help very badly and, without it, might become psychotic. You may occasionally receive promotional content from the Los Angeles Times. .

 

He does not sound very well behaved, she said. It was just inconceivable to Woodburn that Dennis had been so injured by slipping and falling on a basement floor. He was born on September 29, 1941 in rural Adams, and was later baptized and confirmed at Zion Lutheran Church of rural Pickrell. I didnt look after that; I couldnt, she said. The St. Paul Pioneer Press ran a cover story about the investigation on Sunday, October 12, 1986. This was a murder. This relationship is not possible based on lifespan dates. . Want more true crime books? Because they were Catholic and there were very few Catholic babies on the register, it was likely that they would have to wait quite a long time, she explained.