lois jurgens' death

We came very close to trying to do something. She knew that Lois came from a large, poor, Catholic family of 16 children, a family that at times survived on welfare. There are a lot of dead babies in the ground who were killed.. 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. He feared finding himself alone. They would have to find out. 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). 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. 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. They had checked on him throughout the night. . Meanwhile, Dennis was getting whirlpool baths every day. Please check your email and click on the link to activate your account. Petersons house sat precisely on the site of the old Wildwood Amusement Park. She is buried at the Union Cemetery, in Maplewood, Ramsey County, Minnesota. Verify and try again. Most simply remain hidden. Villains also abound, but they remain less noticed. Lois considered herself a devout Catholic and believed she was doing "God's work" by making Dennis "perfect" in her eyes. 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. 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. It was not his job to do anything other than pronounce the boy dead. Paul Lindholm, the assistant county attorney, considered it. Those looking back now, those who unraveled the case, tend to shrug and shake their heads when Votels name comes up. Notes References A Death in White Bear Lakeby Barry Siegel. A piano and bass fiddle occupied the living room. Officially forbidden to adopt children owing to Lois' history of mental illness, the couple managed to adopt a baby named Robert privately. Her brother, Jerome Zerwas, was the police lieutenant of the town of White Bear Lake, Minnesota, where she lived at the time.

 

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. At the funeral home, Lois Jurgens brother, Lloyd Zerwas, came to pay his respects. 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. cemeteries found within miles of your location will be saved to your photo volunteer list. He wanted others to go first. . I was not trained in mental illness. Gladys and Dorothy talked frequently to each other about what they had seen, not unaware that theyd recommended the Jurgenses to the welfare department caseworker. . Please enter your email address and we will send you an email with a reset password code. Read more about this topic: Murder Of Dennis Jurgens, But Ive heard mankind abuse thee;And perhaps its rather strange,But I thought that I would choose theeFor encomium, as a change.Charles Stuart Calverley (18311884), Mily: You must remember me! 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. Share this memorial using social media sites or email. Fittingly for a major anniversary like . Rekdahl thought Lois Jurgens, then almost 37, to be a rather attractive woman, although she was short and a trifle on the chubby side. From the patio off his living room and the balcony off his bedroom, he could look across the lake to Manitou Island, and beyond, to the town of White Bear. Although Lois was not charged with Dennis's murder, the death caused sufficient suspicion for the authorities to remove Robert from the home; he was placed with various relatives and one foster family for a period of just over five years, during which the Jurgens spent a great deal of effort and money attempting to regain custody. She had talked about this with the whole family, but not with the authorities. 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. Forever' w/ the Thanks for your help! He pulled the file on the ancient case and began leafing through the yellowing pages. Dennis' birth mother, Jerry Sherwood.

We wanted to tell someone, she said. And a Dr. Peterson called at 10:09 a.m. to report a DOA--dead on arrival--at 2148 Gardenette Drive. Then there were the neighbors and relatives who had seen incidents and evidence of abuse. Dennis died that evening of Peritonitis due to a perforation of his small bowel. 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. Last week, Judge David Marsden sentenced. 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.

 

To this end, she forced religious training on her young sons; reports had young Robert flawlessly reciting the Rosary at 2. Her brother, Jerome Zerwas, was the police lieutenant of the town of White . Though autopsy photos showed Dennis body was covered in bruises at the time of his death, the coroner never declared it an accidentor rather, what it really was: murder.

The victim

He knew Peterson as a man always willing to help others, as a doctor very much for his patients. We did not have enough evidence of any kind to deny them. Jurgens and Weeks joined CBR to discuss launching Lois & Clark 2 and spoilers for its first installment. 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. The trial of Lois Jurgens for the murder of 3-year-old Dennis made national . I was willing to wait. Votel was still waiting about two years later, when he retired from office. If the doc cant figure this out, hed say, well. 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. We didnt believe it was possible in nice, middle-class suburban families.. He knew that parents otherwise free of major symptoms of psychotic illness could abuse children. As the new adopted children were older, there were many first-hand histories (recounted to the media during the 1987 trial of Lois Jurgens) describing the severe abuse they suffered at their adoptive mother's hands. She knew the agencys policy was not to place children with couples who were over 40, an age they were approaching.

  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. It would have been difficult at the time to prove that Lois Jurgens had committed murder. Oops, something didn't work. This site uses cookies to improve user experience. Dr. After seeing newspaper reports about the death, she was convinced that he had been beaten to death and demanded the case be re-opened. 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. But how did such an infection occur in the first place? 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. He wrote deferred in the box where he was to specify the manner of death, and put the certificate aside. The volume of business coming down the pipeline doesnt allow for regrets. 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.

Flowers added to the memorial appear on the bottom of the memorial or here on the Flowers tab. Family members linked to this person will appear here. In 1987, testifying 22 years later, Peterson was questioned again about the bruises. They felt sad, and also naggingly disturbed. He is extremely alert. In 1987, Jurgens was convicted of third-degree murder of Dennis. . Instead the judge agonized, repeatedly expressing from the bench his sense of conflict and uncertainty.

If hes notified there would be fifty people at her house, and she didnt want that many people around. In talking to the county attorney and the chief of police, we had gone as far as we could and we were told that was it, wed have to terminate the investigation.. And it was not my position to do anything other than to pronounce him dead.. In 1965, it was a private general practitioner, Dr. Thomas Votel, who handled the coroners duties on a part-time basis for $6,300 a year. 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. The chief one involved the nature of the malady that killed Dennis. If you throw up, you are going to eat it. Do you have a camera in the car, he asked VanderWyst. Though the name of the adoptive family was not given, many suspected that the story was about Lois Jurgens. Now VanderWyst was looking at him, asking a question: What was the cause of death?. The defense picked the doctor, and set parameters on what questions he could ask. The investigation, trial, and They covered the face, the head, the arms. They beat my baby to death, Sherwood told Buzz Harvey. Lois attended cosmetology school in Des Moines, Iowa. Your Scrapbook is currently empty. Family members immediately begin whispering "she killed him" , referring to his adoptive moth 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. She wanted assurances. Its so expensive.My friend, after twenty thousand years murder is still a business thats mainly in the hands of amateurs.Orson Welles (19151985), Its almost as if they were saying, You live your life, and well live ours.Richard Fielding, and Lee Sholem. Lois had grown up in an impoverished family of sixteen siblings and used her marriage to the middle-class Harold Jurgens as a means to improve her social standing. +C $33.27 shipping estimate. The word homicide remained unspoken. Harold and Lois Jurgens, a middle-class, churchgoing couple in picturesque White Bear Lake, Minnesota, had adopted Dennis and five other foster children. The coroner noted in his report that Dennis had almost zero subcutaneous fat, at the level of a person who had died of starvation. Star Tribune photo by Donald Black. 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. 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. the Murderpedia project stay alive. 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. There was no community pressure back then. 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. To keep creating Two hours before, sitting in his waterside home on the southeast shore of White Bear Lake, Sunday morning had seemed so promising. She was 61 when she went to prison and served eight years before being paroled.. A condition of neglect did exist. She grew up and attended school in Malvern, graduating in 1947. Dr. Peterson said he saw nothing unusual in Dennis life or death. You couldnt get action from the prosecutor and police. When he arrived at the Jurgens home, though, hed realized all that was pointless. They just werent going to get any damaging information from him. It is essentially unconceivable to me, without a protruding object above the floor, that he could have been injured in this way, Woodburn said. Translation on Find a Grave is an ongoing project. The suspicious death of Dennis Jurgens wasnt properly investigated for 20 years. from United States. He attended Olney Rural Elementary School and graduated from Filley High School in 1959. 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. Votel went through living hell, one local judge said. No prosecution was taken at that time. In spite of extensive physical evidence pointing towards severe . Are you adding a grave photo that will fulfill this request? I also want to get Early Bird Books newsletter featuring book deals, recommendations, and giveaways. View Obituary & Service Information 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. A parade of neighbors and relatives called to the stand by the Jurgenses attorney, Edward Donohue, all denied seeing any evidence of abuse. 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. This was a murder. Homicide was not the issue at the hearing. Lois had a question: Would Father Riser write a letter in support of their present effort to adopt another child, a third child? 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 did a lot more than she should have.. Resend Activation Email. 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. Peritonitis is a horribly painful illness involving shock, collapse of the blood vessel system, high fever and breathing difficulties. Eventually Lois Jurgens was arraigned, and her identity released by the media. They had seen Lois pull Dennis ears so hard that blood flowed. She was right. Failed to delete memorial. Rekdahl decided to call on the Jurgenses. and this case
Lois Jurgens had not one good thing to say about Dennis. 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. It was highly unlikely that a fall on a flat surface could have caused this. 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. There was a bluish mark on the right side of the head that started at the temple and extended to behind the right ear. Include gps location with grave photos where possible. Lois Lane (Phyllis Coates). 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. Get up to speed with our Essential California newsletter, sent six days a week. There was a large, swollen scrape on the forehead. Please try again later. But this death didnt look as though it was from natural causes. This relationship is not possible based on lifespan dates. Harold and Lois Jurgens, on the advice of their attorney, no longer would make themselves available for questioning. undefined Notes ^ http://www.angelizdsplace.com/ http://www.angelizdsplace.com/child43.htm.
You consider how well you can sell this to 12 people in the jury box. Tragically, just a few years after the adoption, Dennis died from peritonitis. In 1992 A made-for-TV movie was made based on both Jerry's story and this case called, ' A Child Lost Forever ' w/ the remarkable Beverly D'Angelo as Jerry Sherwood and Judith Ivey as Lois Jurgens. There was obviously going to be trouble, and he didnt want to get involved. That will make you swallow, Lois had 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. She died aged 87 on May 7, 2013. HH at the best online prices at eBay! 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. 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 . 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. 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. 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. At that time, the battered-child syndrome was just beginning to be recognized. When he wet his pants, she said, she put a clothespin on his penis. . No, she explained. Dennis and Robert Jurgens, 1965. No animated GIFs, photos with additional graphics (borders, embellishments. 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 hearing would prove to be a curious affair. 1 Bakgrunn; 2 Innhold; . The specter of homicide hovered, but would not land in this hearing room in 1965. 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. Judge Archie Gingold, in his findings at the close of the hearing, ruled that Dennis had been subjected to many incidences of cruel and severe abuse. 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. No prosecution was taken at that time. It was as if the authorities had found a way to try Lois Jurgens for Dennis death without calling it a murder. It was just inconceivable to Woodburn that Dennis had been so injured by slipping and falling on a basement floor. Did the doctor remember his thoughts on why this child died, his inner feelings that day? The welfare department case work was very limited. This flower has been reported and will not be visible while under review. During his short life, Dennis . We would like to have done something, but it was none of our business. They beat my baby to death. It began one month after Dennis death and continued for two days, May 10 and 11, 1965. This drove Lois further into madness, as she felt she needed children to complete the "perfect picture" of her life. 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. There is 1 volunteer for this cemetery. There were at least a dozen bruises on the face alone, some large and others small. PAUL When 3-year-old Dennis Craig Jurgens died on April 11, 1965, there were so many bruises on his body that the coroner said he stopped counting them. Petersburg, ILLois A. Jurgens (92) of Petersburg passed away September 25, 2019. They were informed they would not be allowed to foster or adopt any additional children. Lois Jurgens, know for her short, volatile temper, murdered him. Its not unusual, the doctor said. Beatings and displays of Lois' explosive temper were daily events; especially bad days could include her slamming a child's forehead into a nail protruding from a wall, forcing a child to stand barefoot in snow, and shoving a used sanitary napkin in a child's face. It did not occur to him to question Robert. Dennis was now fully accepted and loved in the family, she decided. and Judith Ivey as 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 is no evidence we are dealing with any people here who have any demon-like motives. She would be a poor candidate for adopting a child at this time, the psychiatrist in 1955 had advised St. Pauls Bureau of Catholic Charities, where the Jurgenses for years had vainly sought children.

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