Mrs. Harold Jurgens, an electrical foreman, made $10,000 in 1962, and this placed his family a cut above many of their friends and neighbors. The question of Dennis Jurgens death next fell to the Ramsey County attorneys office. The coroner noted in his report that Dennis had almost zero subcutaneous fat, at the level of a person who had died of starvation. He was the son of teenage Jerry Sherwood (who was herself a ward of the state) and her teenage boyfriend. Dennis Craig Jurgens was an American 3-year-old boy who was murdered in White Bear Lake, Minnesota in April 1965. 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. His intensely angry adoptive mother, Lois Jurgens, know for her short, volatile temper, murdered him. Late in August, Lois had called Rekdahl to report the matter. Lois Jurgens Obituary - Visitation & Funeral Information On or around the night of April 11, 1965, Dennis Jurgens died at the hands of Lois Jurgens. Harold Jurgens, an electrical foreman, made $10,000 in 1962, and this placed his family a cut above many of their friends and neighbors.
Use the links under See more to quickly search for other people with the same last name in the same cemetery, city, county, etc. 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. 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. [2] She is buried at the Union Cemetery, in Maplewood, Ramsey County, Minnesota . Quickly see who the memorial is for and when they lived and died and where they are buried. 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. Jurgens was one of 16 children. To all appearances, they were a normal midwestern family, but Jerry suspected that something sinister had happened in the Jurgens household. WHAT happened? This account already exists, but the email address still needs to be confirmed.
Lt. Clarence (Buzz) Harvey at first did not know what to make of the blonde 42-year-old woman who appeared at the front desk of this towns solitary police station on the morning of Sept. 18, 1986. This post is sponsored by Open Road Media. A common belief amongst witnesses and neighbors at the time of the murder, and among the investigators who eventually re-opened the case, is that he interfered with the investigation and destroyed incriminating evidence. Lois is survived by her husband, Floyd Jurgens; children Gary Jurgens and Caron Klein (Bruce);. If Votel had called it a homicide, at least that prospect would have been removed. 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. It did not occur to him to question Robert. Dennis Craig Jurgens was an American 3-year-old boy who was murdered in White Bear Lake, Minnesota in April 1965. She talked about it all the time, in fact. None of this, however, was what had killed Dennis. 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 would wait until the police investigation could resolve the matter. 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. They talked with more than a dozen relatives and neighbors of the Jurgenses. The house at 2148 South Gardenette Drive, White Bear Lake, where the Jurgenses lived from 1957 to 1967. To him, that was close to frightening. Murder of Dennis Jurgens - Abuse at The Hands of Lois Jurgens For that reason, Dennis, a week after his birth, was baptized a Catholic.
The roller coaster had been just to the west of his lot, the water slide just to the east, and the dance pavilion exactly where his house now stood, the old foundation still there below his lawn and patio. Now VanderWyst was looking at him, asking a question: What was the cause of death?. There was a deep, ulcerous lesion at the base of the penis and dark bruises on the tip. Are you sure that you want to report this flower to administrators as offensive or abusive? 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. Robert would remain in county custody for the time being. Lois Germaine Josephine Zerwas Jurgens was an American convicted murderer. At the funeral home, Lois Jurgens brother, Lloyd Zerwas, came to pay his respects. Child Murder : The Town Confronts Its Past - Los Angeles Timeshome The case is described in detail in Barry Siegel's true-crime novel, A Death in White Bear Lake. Lois Jurgens appeared with her attorney Doug Thomson in Ramsey County View Obituary & Service Information Superman Writer Confirms Which Villains Almost Killed the - ScreenRant Lois was accused of murdering and beating her adopted son Dennis Jurgens in 1965 but wasn't convicted until 1987 and only spent 8 years of her sentence before being paroled in 1995. Lois Jurgens Obituary (2019) - Petersburg, IL - Legacy.com . Clothing retains the heat. At first Bob Brass thought the squad car was Loiss brothers, but then they saw VanderWyst in the driveway. 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. Statements in the police logs were riddled with discrepancies. Problems arose within the police department as well. VanderWyst and Korolchuk had brought in the file themselves and lobbied for prosecution. 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. Sherwood eventually located Dennis's death certificate; because the death was categorized as "deferred", the case was still technically open. Only 5% to 10% of the bruises on Dennis could have been caused by such a fall. From a newspaper notice of his death she had learned that the boys body bore multiple injuries and bruises. Lois Jurgens at the time that she had custody of Dennis. Lois Jurgens (August 12, 1925 March 7, 2013) | World Biographical Youve got to worry about tomorrow. 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..
That was all Gingold had to concern himself with. Its kind of hard to believe., ``How can you take a babys life like that and beat it for two years and then walk free? she said. Lois Jurgens - Alchetron, The Free Social Encyclopedia . So began a painstaking inquiry into the past--an inquiry that in recent months has pulled back the curtains on a decidedly uncomfortable vision. They had shocked James Nelson. You are only allowed to leave one flower per day for any given memorial. they figured. . She seemed to Scott County welfare workers a hostile and sullen young woman, unhappy and emotionally underdeveloped. 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. Lois Jurgens released after serving eight years, The Winona Daily News, June, 7, 1995. This browser does not support getting your location. After seeing newspaper reports about the death, she was convinced that he had been beaten to death and demanded the case be re-opened. Several relatives now told the investigators they would not sign statements. charles edward ed holland memorial park funeral homes and cemeteries. The next day, Rekdahl phoned the Jurgenses family physician, Dr. Roy Peterson, who was treating Dennis. Harvey had been a rookie cop here in 1965, but Sherwoods story triggered no memories. I want photos of this, he thought. They wanted to do something, but felt it was none of their business.
Los Angeles, ICE detainees allege retaliation for speaking about medical conditions at Otay Mesa center, Downtown L.A stabbing sends six to hospital; 1 arrested, San Diego Roman Catholic diocese facing yet another lawsuit from its insurance company, K-Pop isnt the only hot ticket in Koreatown how trot is captivating immigrants, Los Angeles is suddenly awash in waterfalls. harold e bageant obituary visitation funeral information. 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. On the night of his death, Lois was in an extremely bad mood due to flooding which was filling up the basement with water. Jurgens and Weeks joined CBR to discuss launching Lois & Clark 2 and spoilers for its first installment. She was sentenced to a maximum of 25 years in prison and was paroled in 1995. Harold and Lois Jurgensa middle-class, churchgoing couple who had been unable to have children of their ownhad adopted Sherwood's son, Dennis, in 1962. 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 considered herself a devout Catholic and believed she was doing "God's work" by making Dennis "perfect" in her eyes. Robert lived with other relatives, ultimately settling for two years with a distant cousin before he returned home. Add to your scrapbook. He found bruises running the length of the body--50 to 100 of them, he would say later, the exact number hard to judge because many were overlapped. She knew that Lois came from a large, poor, Catholic family of 16 children, a family that at times survived on welfare. Testimony from neighbors and family members told of young Dennis showing up to public events wearing sunglasses at the age of two, to hide his frequent black eyes. Description above from the Wikipedia article Lois Jurgens, licensed under CC-BY-SA, full list of contributors on Wikipedia. The first came now. No one here is being punitive, Gingold told the Jurgenses and their attorney from the bench. White Bear Lake true crime page-turner turns 30 Lois is survived by her. The adoption should be approved. During the early morning hours of April 11, 1965, Dennis Jurgens died at the hands of Lois Jurgens. Most simply remain hidden. 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. Murder of Dennis Jurgens | Detailed Pedia He was an outgoing child, as happy and adjusted as could be expected under the circumstances. There was a television movie broadcast in 1992 on NBC en*led A Child Lost Forever that told the story from the perspective of Jerry Sherwood (played by Beverly D'Angelo). Lois Jurgens. 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. 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. He eats well. Rekdahl did know that Lois had a history of psychiatric problems involving a nervous breakdown in the early 1950s. The lawyers danced around the matter, leaving much unspoken. 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. VanderWyst drove the mile to his house in silence, the young boy sitting beside him. The psychiatrist thought it fortunate that Lois Jurgens could not get pregnant because a child would only compound and complicate her emotional disturbances. In spite of extensive physical evidence pointing towards severe abuse, the medical examiner did not classify the death under any of the standard classifications of accident, suicide or murder; he simply marked it "deferred". 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. Sign up for The Lineup's newsletter and get terrifying tales delivered straight to your inbox. All photos uploaded successfully, click on the Done button to see the photos in the gallery. With the exception of the severe burns, his health remained quite good. Lois had a question: Would Father Riser write a letter in support of their present effort to adopt another child, a third child? Murder of Dennis Jurgens - After The Murder
In winter, they got the north wind, so the lake froze too rough for ice skating.
The victim
. Officially forbidden to adopt children owing to Lois' history of mental illness, the couple managed to adopt a baby named Robert privately.
To the casual observer, the Jurgens seemed to be a normal, church-going family with a perfectly maintained house and yard. This woman was no crank. Lois Jurgens - en-academic.com The policemen were led to understand that an attorney representing the Jurgenses had visited them and threatened them with civil lawsuits if they spoke out. Soon the word spread from house to housethered been a death, the younger Jurgens boy had died. After Dennis' death, an older adopted son, Robert, was removed from the Jurgens home. Last week, Judge David Marsden sentenced. 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. Year should not be greater than current year. 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. 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.
. Such stories are not rare. 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. Harold told relatives he was going to be out of town the weekend of April 10 and 11, 1965. based on information from your browser. Donna Mae, about 5 feet away, watched in horror as Lois force-fed that vomit to him, made him eat it. "There are certainly problems," says Jurgens, one of the main architects of . She is buried at the Union Cemetery, in Maplewood, Ramsey County, Minnesota. Thirty years later, writer and artist Dan Jurgens is revisiting the storyline that gripped the world. Verify and try again. Family members linked to this person will appear here. Zerwas wouldnt let the rest of his family view the body. At the hearing a month later, Peterson was asked whether he saw anything unusual as he viewed the body in the crib. They had just buried the body, and that was all. She committed one of the most unusual child murder cases in history in Minnesota. She was cleared of second-degree . . The doctors eyes slid to a corner of the room. They beat my baby to death. She is buried at the Union Cemetery, in Maplewood, Ramsey County, Minnesota. 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. The electric streetcar with overhead power lines, running as a spur off the main railroad tracks along Highway 61, would stop just three doors down. Why was there no disposition of this case? It would have been difficult at the time to prove that Lois Jurgens had committed murder. Many years later, asked in court how this placement was approved, Rekdahl--by then a psychotherapist and psychiatric social worker in Napa, Calif., remarried and using the name Gerane Wharton-Park--said: We finally had really no exacting reasons why we could turn this family down. She believed that Lois Jurgens was accepting and embracing Dennis, and he seemed healthy and adjusted.
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. 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. 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 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. Lois Jurgens, 62, of Stillwater, chewed gum impassively as the jury announced its verdict, finding her guilty of third-degree murder in the 1965 death of her adopted son, Dennis.