Published Jan 18, 2023. A jury deliberated about five hours Friday before finding Lois Jurgens, 61, of Stillwater, Minn., guilty of third-degree murder, or an unintentional killing.
Novel and Adaptations: Barry Siegel's true-crime novel A Death in White Bear Lake recounts the story via extensive research and oral history. Dennis was lying face up in his crib, his stiffened arms raised eight inches off the bed.
Child Murder : The Town That Lived in Silence - Los Angeles Times 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. The prosecutor had a different attitude back then, Votel said recently. 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. Camille Brass knew the blue convertible belonged to Dr. Peterson. Include gps location with grave photos where possible. The night Dennis died, Robert was riding his trike in the basement, and all the sudden he heard Dennis screaming.
Murder of Dennis Jurgens - Wikipedia At the funeral home, Lois Jurgens brother, Lloyd Zerwas, came to pay his respects.
White Bear Lake true crime page-turner turns 30 He could be a battered child, Votel said he reasoned, and still his death could have been caused by a fall, an accident.
Dan Jurgens on how The Death of Superman has "withstood - gamesradar On bare skin, the heat just flashes off. 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. Save to an Ancestry Tree, a virtual cemetery, your clipboard for pasting or Print. updates Her features were still attractive, although the years had added a certain hardness and fleshiness. Their investments and savings totaled $2,200. angelizdsplace.com/. The autopsy report mentioned bruises head to toe.
The Lineup's Most Disturbing True Crime Bestsellers The investigation, trial, and conviction are considered landmarks in the history of child abuse law. 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.
To this end, she forced religious training on her young sons; reports had young Robert flawlessly reciting the Rosary at two. Please complete the captcha to let us know you are a real person. 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. The question of Dennis Jurgens death next fell to the Ramsey County attorneys office. 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. We thought it would be no use.. From the bench, he said he hoped that they could find something to explain the mistreatment of Dennis. She was right. No, Lois said, sounding definite. They carried assorted life insurance polices worth $10,000. Though the specific cause of that fatal blow is not known, it is known that it was Lois who had given it to Dennis. The welfare department case work was very limited. To all appearances, they were a normal midwestern family, but Jerry suspected that something sinister had happened in the Jurgens household. Sherwood became suspicious and persuaded authorities to investigate. Walter Moore, a co-worker of Harold Jurgens, also came to the funeral. She is buried at the Union Cemetery, in Maplewood, Ramsey County, Minnesota. View Obituary & Service Information 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. 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. One might get a first impression that Lois was cold and indifferent, but to Rekdahl, this seemed a defense for insecurities. +C $33.27 shipping estimate. 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. 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. We will review the memorials and decide if they should be merged.
A Death in White Bear Lake: Notorious crime in city history marks 50 Though the name of the adoptive family was not given, many suspected that the story was about Lois Jurgens. In 1987, Jurgens was convicted of third-degree murder of Dennis. Thirty years later, writer and artist Dan Jurgens is revisiting the storyline that gripped the world. 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. 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 . He had one great friend, his world's Lois, but she died and now he sees another version of her still alive and pregnant. . After seeing newspaper reports about the death, she was convinced that he had been beaten to death and demanded the case be re-opened.
According to Rekdahls written log, that was the sum of what Peterson said to her. The investigation, trial, and When Dennis cried, Lois would force his head under the cold water faucet at the kitchen sink. Other than that, nothing remarkable.. Do I think this happened just here, just this one? There was a large, swollen scrape on the forehead. On January 13, 2000, she was initially suspected of poisoning her husband, Harold. Two hours before, sitting in his waterside home on the southeast shore of White Bear Lake, Sunday morning had seemed so promising. The author's ability to set the scene of a tranquil. He had lived in this home since 1953, and it gave him much pleasure.
Retired now for several years, he suffers from angina and does not go out much, but he recalls the 1965 hearing. They had checked on him throughout the night. The hearing would prove to be a curious affair.
Toddler murdered by abusive adoptive mother - Horror History .net Ive been doing this job too long. That this was much more a question for doctors than for the police did not sway Votel. This had required at least two hospitalizations at the Mayo Clinic and at a small psychiatric hospital called Crestview, where she had received electrical shock treatments. This sort of thing happened back then..
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. 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. . 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. Lois, who abused Dennis constantly, escalated to new levels of rage as the flood waters filled her basement. Zerwas wouldnt let the rest of his family view the body. He could never forget how Lois Jurgens looked at those photos stoically, showing no emotion. 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. 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. roger w. tufte sr, 76, resident of lakota, nd died saturday, february 26, 2022 at the lakota good samaritan center. Korolchuk would never get the chance to answer such questions. Dennis lay in the ground at St. Marys Cemetery, no name given to his death. He attended Olney Rural Elementary School and graduated from Filley High School in 1959. The official cause of death was peritonitis due to perforation of the small bowel. On Nov. 28, 1962, members of the Scott and Ramsey counties welfare departments, including Rekdahl, had a conference in the town of Shakopee. Sorry! Lois is survived by her. The afflicted look and act very sick for a matter of hours, sometimes days. You can always change this later in your Account settings. He feared finding himself alone. The neighbors talked among themselves that afternoon. There was a problem getting your location. Year should not be greater than current year.
Father Riser told her he definitely would. Flowers added to the memorial appear on the bottom of the memorial or here on the Flowers tab. During this period, Lois was once again placed in a psychiatric facility. . Ivey's Lois Jurgens is a woman so proud and righteous, her sense of morality . They were of varying colors--black and blue, yellowish green, reddish--which meant that some were fresh, some old. Make sure that the file is a photo. 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. We would like to have done something, but it was none of our business. and Judith Ivey as WHAT happened? 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. Obituary. Instead the judge agonized, repeatedly expressing from the bench his sense of conflict and uncertainty. The foster mother thinks him a little wild one, but she means this appreciatively and derives pleasure from his antics. Rekdahl decided to call on the Jurgenses. They had a son--a 2-year-old named Robert, whom they had adopted at birth through private channels. The body was severely undernourished, nearly emaciated. 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. ``There is no justice. They had cited the Fifth Amendment protection against self-incrimination. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate, or jump to a slide with the slide dots. The two also teased what's in store for readers .
We did not have enough evidence of any kind to deny them. . Then he began to look terrible--his face so old, like a little old man. Your Scrapbook is currently empty. His vision was a hulking humanoid creature with massive muscles and chunks of bone . Pitera stared at the body. Are you sure that you want to report this flower to administrators as offensive or abusive? During his short life, Dennis . Dennis had been a beautiful baby, Gladys Demars said. That will make you swallow, Lois had said. Harold (Harry) Jurgens Obituary - Tribute Archive 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. Just past one year of age, Dennis was placed in the Jurgens' home in 1962, in anticipation of an adoption after spending much of his first year in foster care. . This site uses cookies to improve user experience. He looks like a boy of 10. Try again later. Whod listen? When the White Bear Lake police called her a year ago, she knew immediately whom they were talking about. . Clayton Robinson Jr., a former prosecutor in the case, said Jurgens should not have been released yet. Rekdahl found her judgment confirmed by the Jurgenses priest. The night of his death, a great flood had hit the Saint Paul area and the Mississippi River's waters were rising to record levels, causing flooding in the region and inside the Jurgens' home. In 1987, testifying 22 years later, Peterson was questioned again about the bruises. 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. The only witness to Lois's final abuse of Dennis was Robert, who was 5 years old at the time. I want photos of this, he thought. By the second week, the investigation began to encounter obstacles. En dd i White Bear Lake - A Death in White Bear Lake Superman Writer Confirms Which Villains Almost Killed the - ScreenRant Jurgens who says he still has the yellow legal pad on which he did his quick sketch was the victor. Lois also was not pleased to learn how active Dennis was. Found more than one record for entered Email, You need to confirm this account before you can sign in. She had a story to tell. Retrieved 12 February 2015. Maybe we can get more evidence from there. With the advent of highways, White Bear Lake has become a suburb of St. Paul, about 12 miles to the south. Now VanderWyst was looking at him, asking a question: What was the cause of death?. There was no possibility that Dennis had died from a blow to the head. No. I was advised that the information was being obtained, that there was an ongoing investigation, Votel said recently. Thank you for supporting our partners, who make it possible for The Lineup to continue publishing the terrifying stories you love. 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. Donna Neely wondered, as she studied the Jurgenses now-silent house from her front window. The defense attorney was still thinking about a criminal prosecution--even if no one else was. 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. 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 . Lois Jurgens headed to trial. The policeman did not, so they carried the body to the coroners van. The Death of Superman By Jurgens, TPB, DC Comics 1993, New, Sealed. HH You see, Gingold said, I didnt have to go that far. 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). Villains also abound, but they remain less noticed. Lois Jurgens was sentenced to 25 years in the Shakopee women's correctional facility for third-degree murder. We wanted to tell someone, she said.