They would have to find out. But how did such an infection occur in the first place? There are no volunteers for this cemetery. Its not unusual, the doctor said. A Death in White Bear Lake er en sann krimbok av journalisten Barry Siegel, utgitt i 1990, som forteller om drapet p Dennis Jurgens. I thought the burn accident was a weird story when she told it, but again, there just was not that level of awareness, things didnt get referred. The hearing would prove to be a curious affair. HH at the best online prices at eBay! Lois was mean to DennisCam Brass and Donna Neely and the othersCam Brass and Donna Neely and the others understood that much.
They had checked on him throughout the night. Continuing with this request will add an alert to the cemetery page and any new volunteers will have the opportunity to fulfill your request. I didnt look after that; I couldnt, she said. Sadly, the mother-son reunion was not meant to be; Jerry's child had died just before his fourth birthday. After The Murder. This was a murder. . Dan Jurgens on how The Death of Superman has "withstood that test of time" By Grant DeArmitt published 27 July 2022 The creator best known for The Death of Superman explains its impact 30.
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. A family friend, Barbara Venney, saw the bruises through the flowers.
Their flight, coupled with the lingering suspicions surrounding Dennis' death, resulted in the termination of Lois and Harold Jurgens' parental rights.
Paul Lindholm, the assistant county attorney, considered it. DEATH OF SUPERMAN 30TH ANNIVERARY SPECIAL- 1:100 JURGENS & BREEDING FOIL VARIANT. 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. Blankets covered him to the waist. He was frequently starved, to rid him of "sloppy fat," as Lois called it (she also called him "Sloppy Fat" as a nickname).
He could be a battered child, Votel said he reasoned, and still his death could have been caused by a fall, an accident. According to Rekdahls written log, that was the sum of what Peterson said to her. Opens in a new window or tab. He was an outgoing child, as happy and adjusted as could be expected under the circumstances. from United States.
The rows of neatly kept houses, the modern police station and the shopping strips all reflect a level of modest comfort rather than affluence. The coroner noted in his report that Dennis had almost zero subcutaneous fat, at the level of a person who had died of starvation. There he had been loved and well cared for by an experienced foster mother. It is fair to say that this finding raised considerable questions. Other than that, nothing remarkable.. They also caught crappies and smallmouth bass and northern pike, but the sunfish were the best.
Active children that bruise easily . Over the course of several visits to the Jurgens home, Rekdahl saw the matter differently. Walter Moore, a co-worker of Harold Jurgens, also came to the funeral. Dennis and Robert Jurgens, 1965. In 1987, Jurgens was convicted of third-degree murder of Dennis. Rekdahl expressed some concern. He was frequently starved, to rid him of "sloppy fat," as Lois called it (she also called him "Sloppy Fat" as a nickname). On the other hand, she realized the improbability of being offered another Catholic baby in the near future. Rekdahl thought that Lois speech betrayed a bit of cynicism.
At the urging of authorities, Jerry placed Dennis for adoption after being told that he would receive good care.[1]. Donohue was not inclined to relax such controls. Please ensure you have given Find a Grave permission to access your location in your browser settings. The case is described in detail in Barry Siegel's true-crime novel, A Death in White Bear Lake. In winter, they got the north wind, so the lake froze too rough for ice skating. He felt that Lois mental breakdown was not extremely serious and that she had completely recovered. From a newspaper notice of his death she had learned that the boys body bore multiple injuries and bruises. 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. There was also a great deal of suspicion surrounding Jerome Zerwas, the brother of Lois Jurgens, who was a police lieutenant in the city of White Bear Lake, Minnesota. The psychiatrist also observed that Lois had an obsession about order and cleanliness. His intensely angry adoptive mother, Lois Jurgens, know for her short, volatile temper, murdered him. The welfare department case work was very limited. In early December, 1963, Rekdahl paid her last postplacement visit to the Jurgenses. Lois E. Jurgens, 82, passed away on Friday, September 7, 2012 at Lakeland Health Care Center Elkhorn, WI. 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. 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. The boy was obviously dead. Korolchuk would never get the chance to answer such questions. 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. 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. And it was not my position to do anything other than to pronounce him dead.. The first came now. On the stand, the Jurgenses had refused to answer questions about Dennis. This story changed a lot about the Superman line of booksincluding introducing iconic '90s heroes like Superboy and Steeland DC Comics writ large. 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. The only part of him that I saw was his chest and his face. The sponsor of a memorial may add an additional. ``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. Do I think this happened just here, just this one? The just announced 80-page Death of Superman 30 th Anniversary Special will find Superman, his friends and his family revisiting his death, while dealing with a destructive new threat known as Doombreaker. Whod listen? Try again later. Weve updated the security on the site. To the casual observer, the Jurgens seemed to be a normal, church-going family with a perfectly maintained house and yard. There is a problem with your email/password. Many years later, he explained why: I was quite certain it was a homicide, quite certain, Gingold said recently in an interview. . She did not want this to influence their decision, but in all truthfulness, that was the reality. Lois and Harold Jurgens lived in a comfortable, meticulously maintained three-bedroom house with a big, fenced backyard on a large corner lot on Gardenette Drive. 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. I was advised that the information was being obtained, that there was an ongoing investigation, Votel said recently. There was testimony from other officers that he impeded the investigation into the child's death. She was sentenced to a maximum of 25 years in prison and was paroled in 1995. Translation on Find a Grave is an ongoing project. . The investigation, trial, and conviction are considered landmarks in the history of child abuse law. We have set your language to That doctor (Peterson) also presented problems--he was a typical doctor, couldnt believe his patient was killed.. 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. At the hearing a month later, Peterson was asked whether he saw anything unusual as he viewed the body in the crib. 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. Nor had his arrival two hours before. There was enough evidence to sustain child abuse and neglect charges. She is buried at the Union Cemetery, in Maplewood, Ramsey County, Minnesota. On Feb. 11, 1964, the commissioner of public welfare, as legal guardian for Dennis, consented to his formal adoption by Harold and Lois Jurgens. 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. 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. To view a photo in more detail or edit captions for photos you added, click the photo to open the photo viewer. 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. After seeing newspaper reports about the death, she was convinced that he had been beaten to death and demanded the case be re-opened. Matt McMillan, White Bear Lake true crime page-turner turns 30, White Bear Press Club, June 17, 2020. . Make sure that the file is a photo. . The foster mother thinks him a little wild one, but she means this appreciatively and derives pleasure from his antics. Then there were the neighbors and relatives who had seen incidents and evidence of abuse.
Dr. Peterson said he saw nothing unusual in Dennis life or death. VanderWyst and Korolchuk had brought in the file themselves and lobbied for prosecution. Retrieved 12 February 2015. You do consider social attitudes. The investigation, trial, and Clothing retains the heat. When the wind was up, Peterson would take out his sixteen-foot sailboat and glide toward Manitou Island and the town of White Bear. In 1987, testifying 22 years later, Peterson was questioned again about the bruises. Search above to list available cemeteries. He very strongly favored the Jurgenses getting another child. We would like to have done something, but it was none of our business. There was a problem getting your location. She died aged 87 on May 7, 2013. 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 Jurgens reaction to Dennis during the visit was less than enthusiastic. Leave a sympathy message to the family in the guestbook on this memorial page of Lois Jean (Jones) Jurgens to show support. During his short life, Dennis . Try again. Prosecutors contended little Dennis died after numerous beatings and abuse, which including making the child eat food covered with horseradish and tying him spread-eagle in his crib. Thank you for supporting our partners, who make it possible for The Lineup to continue publishing the terrifying stories you love. Thank you for fulfilling this photo request. . harold e bageant obituary visitation funeral information. . Lois A. Jurgens (92) of Petersburg passed away September 25, 2019.
She was predeceased by : her parents, Leslie Stowell and Margaret Stowell. This memorial has been copied to your clipboard. Clayton Robinson Jr., a former prosecutor in the case, said Jurgens should not have been released yet. He could never forget how Lois Jurgens looked at those photos stoically, showing no emotion. 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 . Petersons house sat precisely on the site of the old Wildwood Amusement Park. Rekdahl found him friendly and talkative--perhaps too much so, for he often strayed widely from the subject at hand. Share this memorial using social media sites or email. That will make you swallow, Lois had said. To use this feature, use a newer browser.
The victim
She is buried at the Union Cemetery, in Maplewood, Ramsey County, Minnesota.
``If she had been convicted of this in 1965 she probably would have done about three years, Thomson said. The threat of a criminal prosecution is way by the boards now. https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/134346102/lois-germaine_josephine-jurgens. Vachss uttalte at boken ikke forklarer begrunnelsen for at Harold er passiv, mens den har tilstrekkelig informasjon om Lois Jurgens. There were many fateful moments in Dennis brief life, moments in which his destiny could have been changed. Votel went through living hell, one local judge said. Though the specific cause of that fatal blow is not known, it is known that it was Lois who had given it to Dennis. 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. For memorials with more than one photo, additional photos will appear here or on the photos tab. Lois' remedy for the toddler wetting his diaper too frequently was to place a spring-action clothespin upon the end of his penis. She thought they had a lovely home. Lois Jurgens served eight years of her sentence and had a quiet life as a widow in Stillwater, Minnesota. She had talked about this with the whole family, but not with the authorities. By all accounts, Lois was obsessed with abusing Dennis, and she wanted the world to know he was a "bad child," and made no apologies about the inappropriate way she was disciplining him. They just buried the body in St.. Building a general history of abusive conduct would not be sufficient. The specter of homicide hovered, but would not land in this hearing room in 1965. How could a kid fall down the steps and die? 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. The psychiatrist thought it fortunate that Lois Jurgens could not get pregnant because a child would only compound and complicate her emotional disturbances. Dan Jurgens, one of the chief minds at DC who spearheaded the Man of Steel's death and rebirth in the '90s, took to Twitter to share an unused design of Electric Superman -- sometimes called . In spite of extensive physical evidence pointing towards severe . We thought it would be no use.. The county had filed a custody petition, alleging neglect. At the funeral, a crown of roses rested on Dennis head. angelizdsplace.com/. 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. Many years later, Dr. Peterson would tell a grand jury that he had harbored suspicions about the burns, and also about several bruises that nurses noticed on Dennis while he was in the hospital for a full month.
It began one month after Dennis death and continued for two days, May 10 and 11, 1965. 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. 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. 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. 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.
He attended Olney Rural Elementary School and graduated from Filley High School in 1959.
