#dennisjurgens #jerrysherwood #truecrime Jerry Puckett's mother abandoned her when she was three, she was raised by her father and abused by two stepmothers.. As he read, he stiffened in his chair. A Death in White Bear Lake: The Child Abuse Case That Led to Murder I thought you might like to see a memorial for Lois Germaine Josephine Zerwas Jurgens I found on Findagrave.com. A Death in White Bear Lake: The True Chronicle of an All-American Town She is buried at the Union Cemetery, in Maplewood, Ramsey County, Minnesota . Harvey had been a rookie cop here in 1965, but Sherwoods story triggered no memories. After seeing newspaper reports about the death, she was convinced that he had been beaten to death and demanded the case be re-opened. [2] She is buried at the Union Cemetery, in Maplewood, Ramsey County, Minnesota . Murderpedia has thousands of hours of work behind it. She died aged 87 on May 7, 2013. Ivan and Gladys Demars, neighbors who had served as references when Dennis was adopted, over the fence had seen the boy with bruises, black eyes, split lips. The cause of death was peritonitis, but the autopsy photos showed him covered in bruises with an anguished expression on his face and the coroner had not determined a mode of death, accident, natural causes, or homicide. Save to an Ancestry Tree, a virtual cemetery, your clipboard for pasting or Print. We have many 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 Jurgens. DENNIS JURGENS WAS ONLY 3-YEARS-0LD WHEN HIS LIFE ENDED AT THE CRUEL HANDS OF HIS MOTHER LOIS JURGENS AND SHE WOULD HAVE GOT AWAY WITH IT, BUT HIS BIOLOGICAL MOTHER JERRY SHERWOOD STARTED. And her release from the states prison for women in Shakopee only angered the biological mother whose search for her child led to the discovery of the crime. Lois Jurgens headed to trial. Though the name of the adoptive family was not given, many suspected that the story was about Lois Jurgens. Which memorial do you think is a duplicate of Lois Jurgens (134346102)? Aside from the incident when Dennis was hospitalized with burns on his genitals, there were many other incidents of abuse that fell under the category of sexual sadism. 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. Notification of death or terminal illness, Office of Revisor of Statues . In summer, Peterson caught little sunfish off his dock or from his motorboatthey had the loveliest taste, the fillet just the size of a half dollar, two good bites each. I was willing to wait. Votel was still waiting about two years later, when he retired from office. The victim Ben Herman Oil,
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Articles L Lois Jurgens released after serving eight years, The Winona Daily News, June, 7, 1995. Lois Jurgens was disappointed about Dennis age. 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. Peritonitis is a horribly painful illness involving shock, collapse of the blood vessel system, high fever and breathing difficulties. Youve got to worry about tomorrow. If you have questions, please contact [emailprotected]. And a Dr. Peterson called at 10:09 a.m. to report a DOA--dead on arrival--at 2148 Gardenette Drive. When he wouldnt have a bowel movement, she said, she pulled the feces from his rectum with her hands. White Bear Lake, Minnesota. No prosecution was taken at that time. Lois A. Jurgens (92) of Petersburg passed away September 25, 2019. Dennis had been a beautiful baby, Gladys Demars said. The perforation, he judged, had occurred one to two days before the childs death. You have chosen this person to be their own family member. She was born February 25, 1927 to Leslie and Margaret Stowell in Cass County IL. Lois had talked to them all about her toilet training methods. +C $33.27 shipping estimate. Donna Mae Zerwas, Lois sister-in-law, had seen all that and more. 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. Dennis was now fully accepted and loved in the family, she decided. Dennis had fallen and hit his head on the wet basement floor the day before, the Jurgenses said, and he also had been suffering from a bad cold. There was obviously going to be trouble, and he didnt want to get involved. Still, she had never forgotten the case. Family and friends are welcome to leave their condolences on this memorial page and share them with the family. 
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." There was testimony from other officers that he impeded the investigation into the child's death. None.. 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. This case was a drop of water in the river.. remarkable Beverly D'Angelo as Jerry Sherwood
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. This, coupled with the lack of a statute of limitations for a murder charge, could lead the way to a prosecution of Lois Jurgens. Arnold L Jurgens Obituary Visitation Funeral Information Her attorney Doug Thomson (left) follows, and Harold Jurgens is behind him. ``May God strike her dead, thats what I have to say to Lois Jurgens, Jerry Sherwood said. The two also teased what's in store for readers . . Now VanderWyst was looking at him, asking a question: What was the cause of death?. 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. Peter Korolchuk yielded a good deal of information. VanderWyst climbed into his patrol car and backed down the Jurgens driveway at 11:48 A.M. VanderWysts departure did not go unnoticed. Lois Germaine Josephine Zerwas Jurgens (August 12, 1925 May 7, 2013) was an American convicted murderer[1] responsible for one of the most unusual child murder cases in history in Minnesota. Lois Jurgens served eight years of her sentence and had a quiet life as a widow in Stillwater, Minnesota. . 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. 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 .mw-parser-output .frac{white-space:nowrap}.mw-parser-output .frac .num,.mw-parser-output .frac .den{font-size:80%;line-height:0;vertical-align:super}.mw-parser-output .frac .den{vertical-align:sub}.mw-parser-output .sr-only{border:0;clip:rect(0,0,0,0);height:1px;margin:-1px;overflow:hidden;padding:0;position:absolute;width:1px}3+12 years of age. 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). Years later, Peterson would say much the same to the police who were reopening the case, but he did not do so in 1965. Retrieved 12 February 2015. . This is a carousel with slides. As Peterson followed Wildwood Avenue west along the lakes shore toward Gardenette Park, hed rehearsed in his mind the resuscitation techniques he knew from the rescue squad. 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. It would have been difficult at the time to prove that Lois Jurgens had committed murder. Child Murder : The Town That Lived in Silence - Los Angeles Times Superman Writer Confirms Which Villains Almost Killed the - ScreenRant Dennis Craig Jurgens - Wikipedia Article | Pound Pup Legacy I think my son is dying, Harold Jurgens had told the doctor on the phone that morning. In the early 1980s, Dennis' birth mother, Jerry Sherwood, looked for Dennis, only to find out he had died in 1965. He had read the early articles that by then had been published. Though the specific cause of that fatal blow is not known, it is known that it was Lois who had given it to Dennis. 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. My deputy reassured me from time to 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. They were informed they would not be allowed to foster or adopt any additional children. If hes notified there would be fifty people at her house, and she didnt want that many people around. Try again later. Votel could not take the first step. 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. He is extremely alert. In the minute she was gone, she said, he turned on the hot water. It is one of a few crimes that FBI agent Kenneth Lanning argues can legitimately be described as "ritual abuse". Ivey's Lois Jurgens is a woman so proud and righteous, her sense of morality . 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. But neither the judge nor anyone else was willing to face the implications of such findings. 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. I can recall seeing some, but its not very clear. They would not know for two weeks whether Dennis would need skin grafts, he had told Rekdahl. Use the links under See more to quickly search for other people with the same last name in the same cemetery, city, county, etc. . he told the grand jury last year. 
One might get a first impression that Lois was cold and indifferent, but to Rekdahl, this seemed a defense for insecurities. . The specter of homicide hovered, but would not land in this hearing room in 1965. Their investments and savings totaled $2,200. The same day that she spoke to the priest--Aug. 30, 1962--Rekdahl informed the Jurgenses that they were going to be approved for a second adoption. . They felt sad, and also naggingly disturbed. The psychiatrist thought it fortunate that Lois Jurgens could not get pregnant because a child would only compound and complicate her emotional disturbances. This was the situation that Gerane Rekdahl, a Ramsey County welfare case worker, found when she visited the Jurgens home on March 1, 1962. Rekdahl thought Lois Jurgens, then almost 37, to be a rather attractive woman, although she was short and a trifle on the chubby side. For memorials with more than one photo, additional photos will appear here or on the photos tab. Lois Jurgens was convicted in May 1987 of murder (by abuse) in the death 22 years earlier of her adopted son, Dennis. Include gps location with grave photos where possible. Dennis Craig Jurgens was an American 3-year-old boy who was murdered in White Bear Lake, Minnesota in April 1965. Lois Jurgens | Photos | Murderpedia, the encyclopedia of murderers Thirty years later, writer and artist Dan Jurgens is revisiting the storyline that gripped the world. He would testify that he had been suspicious enough to call the welfare department. ``There is no justice. It began one month after Dennis death and continued for two days, May 10 and 11, 1965. Years later, Dr. Lynn Solem, the present director of the burn center at St. Paul-Ramsey Hospital, would explain that though this type of burn is now regarded as a sign of child abuse, in 1963 it would have been accepted as accidental. The chief one involved the nature of the malady that killed Dennis. View Obituary & Service Information A few wondered how the Jurgenses had ever been allowed to adopt children. 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. When it froze, hed hang lights on the seven surrounding elm trees, put out snow sculptures of bears and seals tinted with food coloring, and invite all the neighborhood kids to join his own two children in skating and hockey games. 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. She was a good dozen years younger than the Jurgenses. She is buried at the Union Cemetery, in Maplewood, Ramsey County, Minnesota. DEATH OF SUPERMAN 30TH ANNIVERARY SPECIAL- 1:100 JURGENS & BREEDING FOIL VARIANT. The St. Paul Pioneer Press ran a cover story about the investigation on Sunday, October 12, 1986. She always proclaimed her innocence. . 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. Lois Jurgens - en-academic.com My Mother Almost Killed Me. No one cared or stopped her. | by Karen Lois Jurgens Obituary (1927 - 2019) | Petersburg, Illinois 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. Well, I do, he replied. He wrote deferred in the box where he was to specify the manner of death, and put the certificate aside. 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. Lois was born on March 4, 1930, in Iowa the daughter of the late Axel and Lena. 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.
lois jurgens' death
What to make of Dennis Jurgens death now was passed into the hands of the Ramsey County coroner. Lois' remedy for the toddler wetting his diaper too frequently was to place a spring-action clothespin upon the end of his penis. Strange, he thought, that she hadnt called her brother, the police lieutenant. Together they went into Dennis room to inspect the body. On bare skin, the heat just flashes off. To view a photo in more detail or edit captions for photos you added, click the photo to open the photo viewer. According to reports from family members who eventually testified at the murder trial, Dennis turned purple from being force-fed the bitter and spicy horseradish and also having his oxygen supply cut off when Jurgens covered his mouth and nose. Saint Paul, Ramsey County, Minnesota, USA. Zerwas wouldnt let the rest of his family view the body. She believed that Lois had opened up a great deal and tried to be as truthful as possible. He doesnt look like a tiny little kid, he thought. Then he began to look terrible--his face so old, like a little old man. Ep 50-52 A Death in White Bear Lake by Barry Siegel- Sources, Photos There are a lot of dead babies in the ground who were killed.. But in 1962, before the developers and high-speed roads came, this was more truly a small town, inbred and insular, with a population just reaching 15,000. Are you sure that you want to remove this flower? 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. The defense picked the doctor, and set parameters on what questions he could ask. Lois Jurgens had not one good thing to say about Dennis. She was 61 when she went to prison and served eight years before being paroled.. I have never seen anything like that done.. 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. According to reports from family members who eventually testified at the murder trial, Dennis turned purple from being force-fed the bitter and spicy horseradish and also having his oxygen supply cut off when Jurgens covered his mouth and nose. Lois Jurgens (at left) appeared with her attorney Doug Thomson in Ramsey County Courthouse Monday May 4, 1987. 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. Continuing with this request will add an alert to the cemetery page and any new volunteers will have the opportunity to fulfill your request. Lois Jurgens at the time that she had custody of Dennis. She died aged 87 on May 7, 2013. VanderWyst was not close social friends with the Jurgenses, but he knew them well enough to greet them on the street. The sponsor of a memorial may add an additional. 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. Such stories are not rare. When Harold Jurgens called 10 days later to say they wanted to keep Dennis, the two agencies allowed that as well. They attempted to mind their own business and feared retribution from Lois, who was not above threatening the lives of her family members. Notes [ edit] ^ "ANGELIZD's Place - Child Abuse Pages - Dennis Craig Jurgens". On January 13, 2000, she was initially suspected of poisoning her husband, Harold. She knew that Lois had finished only the eighth grade. 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. 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. She thought Dennis was sloppy fat. This particularly surprised Rekdahl. The mother was an unmarried 17-year-old, Jerry Ann Puckett, an attractive blonde of Danish-German extraction. 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. A system error has occurred. Lois considered herself a devout Catholic and believed she was doing "God's work" by making Dennis "perfect" in her eyes. The term is relative. . We didnt believe it was possible in nice, middle-class suburban families.. Only 5% to 10% of the bruises on Dennis could have been caused by such a fall. Murder of Dennis Jurgens - Wikiwand When Dennis Jurgens died at the age of 3 in 1965, authorities here never ruled whether his death was an accident, a homicide or the result of natural causes. I didnt examine him further.. They are good people. 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. She thought the postplacement period had been quite successful.
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. the Murderpedia project stay alive. At first Bob Brass thought the squad car was Loiss brothers, but then they saw VanderWyst in the driveway. Donohue was not inclined to relax such controls. A piano and bass fiddle occupied the living room. Get up to speed with our Essential California newsletter, sent six days a week. This is a story about respectable men and women of the middle class--doctors, lawyers, priests, social workers, policemen, neighbors and relatives--whose behavior, taken as a whole, led not to that milieus promised decency and justice but to a moral outrage, dark and hard to understand. Star Tribune photo by Donald Black. Martin fritz obituary. Harold Jurgens had converted a breezeway off the kitchen into a large, open family, dining and cooking area. Pitera would take photos later that day. Sorry! Then there was the coroners report. roger w. tufte sr. was born on march 22, 1945 in lakota, nd the son of clarence and esther (johnson. 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. One day, Zerwas walked into the squad room and found the two officers investigating Dennis death. The only part of him that I saw was his chest and his face. contact No, Lois said, sounding definite. Oops, we were unable to send the email. 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. DENNIS JURGENS: MURDERED BY AN EVIL WOMAN - YouTube Tragically, just a few years after the adoption, Dennis died from peritonitis. He naps both in the forenoon and the afternoon. To add a flower, click the Leave a Flower button. Dr. Peterson said he saw nothing unusual in Dennis life or death. 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. . That this was much more a question for doctors than for the police did not sway Votel. It was harder to believe that Dennis had been awake and talking normally an hour and a half before he died. Please reset your password. She was right. .