There is no evidence we are dealing with any people here who have any demon-like motives. 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. There was something wrong here. The mother was an unmarried 17-year-old, Jerry Ann Puckett, an attractive blonde of Danish-German extraction. They carried assorted life insurance polices worth $10,000. Dennis had been a beautiful baby, Gladys Demars said. That this was much more a question for doctors than for the police did not sway Votel. cemeteries found in Maplewood, Ramsey County, Minnesota, USA will be saved to your photo volunteer list. I felt we actually checked out the concerns quite carefully.. 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! I had doubts, and I didnt like Lois, but I felt I couldnt react personally like that, she said. Lois Germaine Josephine Zerwas Jurgens was an American convicted murderer.

Rekdahl expressed some concern. Woman Who Killed Adopted Son Released After Eight Years in Prison based on information from your browser. There are no volunteers for this cemetery. +C $33.27 shipping estimate. Aided by the testimony of the Jurgens' other adopted son, Robert, He never wanted to say a bad word about anyone. Lois, who abused Dennis constantly, escalated to new levels of rage as the flood waters filled her basement. 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. In fact, it appalled and amazed her because she herself thought the baby extremely appealing, very friendly, with very beautiful blue eyes and a very nice smile. The psychiatrist also observed that Lois had an obsession about order and cleanliness. 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. Sign up for The Lineup's newsletter and get terrifying tales delivered straight to your inbox. Please reset your password. In the minute she was gone, she said, he turned on the hot water.

 

In a town like White Bear Lake, apparently no one thought it problematic that the assistant police chief, Lt. Jerome Zerwas, was Lois Jurgens brother. . the Murderpedia project stay alive. It did not occur to him to question Robert. They attempted to mind their own business and feared retribution from Lois, who was not above threatening the lives of her family members. Please contact Find a Grave at [emailprotected] if you need help resetting your password. There was a bluish mark on the right side of the head that started at the temple and extended to behind the right ear. The St. Paul Pioneer Press ran a cover story about the investigation on Sunday, October 12, 1986. Try again later. There was a large, swollen scrape on the forehead. The next day, Rekdahl phoned the Jurgenses family physician, Dr. Roy Peterson, who was treating Dennis. A dead boy, though, was something else. Judge Gingold would not back down either. On Feb. 11, 1964, the commissioner of public welfare, as legal guardian for Dennis, consented to his formal adoption by Harold and Lois Jurgens. 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 3+12 years. On the night of his death, Lois was in an extremely bad mood due to flooding which was filling up the basement with water. He looks like a boy of 10. Her brother, Jerome Zerwas, was the police lieutenant of the town of White Bear Lake, Minnesota, where she lived at the time. 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. "There was obviously going to be trouble, and he didnt want to get involved.". Nor had his arrival two hours before. A Death in White Bear Lake: The Child Abuse Case That Led to Murder On January 13, 2000, she was initially suspected of poisoning her husband, Harold. Dennis struggled with such training and was forced to pray and recite his Rosary kneeling on a broomstick for extended periods, until he did it correctly. 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. Korolchuk would never get the chance to answer such questions. from United States. Learn more about managing a memorial . 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.

 

If you throw up, you are going to eat it. The prosecutor wasnt getting help from the White Bear Lake police--her brother was on the force. Rekdahl, who graduated from St. Pauls Hamline University in 1957 with a bachelors degree in social work, had been in adoption services for less than one year.

 

Several told of having seen Dennis bruised and battered. The doctor did not want to be there. Lois is survived by her husband, Floyd Jurgens; children Gary Jurgens and Caron Klein (Bruce);. We wanted to tell someone, she said. 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. He would testify that he had been suspicious enough to call the welfare department. Sherwood's tenacity, along with the tragedy of her personal loss, kept the story in the public eye. ?Tadeusz: I never remember pretty women. In 1987, testifying 22 years later, Peterson was questioned again about the bruises. She was sentenced to a maximum of 25 years in prison and was paroled in 1995. The email does not appear to be a valid email address. 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. Zerwas wouldnt let the rest of his family view the body. The sponsor of a memorial may add an additional. Man held is death of retarded foster child, Minneapolis Star, May 21, 1971. Donna Mae Zerwas, Lois sister-in-law, had seen all that and more. Of course, there was that one bad accident involving third-degree burns to Dennis penis and scrotum. in the third degree and sent to prison. Doug Thomson, who defended Jurgens, said his client did not get out early. Brand New. Rekdahl thought Lois Jurgens, then almost 37, to be a rather attractive woman, although she was short and a trifle on the chubby side. We didnt believe it was possible in nice, middle-class suburban families.. Do I think this happened just here, just this one? . Lois Jean Jurgens, the daughter of Lawrence A. and Marjorie V. (Johnson) Jones, was born on May 26, 1929 in Malvern, Iowa. A Death in White Bear Lake er en sann krimbok av journalisten Barry Siegel, utgitt i 1990, som forteller om drapet p Dennis Jurgens. Harold and Lois Jurgensa middle-class, churchgoing couple who had been unable to have children of their ownhad adopted Sherwoods son, Dennis, in 1962. Yes! Jurgens was one of 16 children. 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. She is buried at the Union Cemetery, in Maplewood, Ramsey County, Minnesota More Alchetron Topics References Lois Jurgens Wikipedia (Text) CC BY-SA Topics The Suspicions of Mr Whicher Toz (film) Steve McAnespie The prosecutor had a different attitude back then, Votel said recently. Lois Jurgens - Wikipedia At the funeral home, Lois Jurgens brother, Lloyd Zerwas, came to pay his respects. They are good people. It would have been difficult at the time to prove that Lois Jurgens had committed murder. I can recall seeing some, but its not very clear. of Lois Jurgens are considered landmarks in the history of The White Bear Lake police log for the morning of April 11, 1965--Palm Sunday--included the sort of events to be expected in such a town. On this Wikipedia the language links are at the top of the page across from the article title. This story changed a lot about the Superman line of booksincluding introducing iconic '90s heroes like Superboy and Steeland DC Comics writ large. Tragically, just a few years after the adoption, Dennis died from peritonitis. Lois Jurgens. This case was a drop of water in the river.. Paul Lindholm, the assistant county attorney, considered it. 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. This is a carousel with slides. While he waited for the coroners investigator to arrive, he asked Lois Jurgens if there was anything he could do--such as take Robert to his own home, to be cared for by his wife. Failed to delete memorial. A few wondered how the Jurgenses had ever been allowed to adopt children. Dennis' birth mother, Jerry Sherwood.

When the White Bear Lake police called her a year ago, she knew immediately whom they were talking about. Lois Jurgens served eight years of her sentence and had a quiet life as a widow in Stillwater, Minnesota. They beat my baby to death, Sherwood told Buzz Harvey. English Lois Jurgens headed to trial. They just werent going to get any damaging information from him. Tragically, just a few years after the adoption, Dennis died from peritonitis. This sort of thing happened back then.. It is not known specifically what caused the fatal blow, though the injury was later found to have been, beyond a reasonable doubt, inflicted by Lois Jurgens owing to evidence of her constant physical abuse. SHAKOPEE, Minn. (AP) _ A mother who beat her adopted son to death and then covered up the crime for two decades was released from prison today after serving eight years. so its not unusual.. 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. My clients have rights, he said. 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. Whod listen? I was willing to wait. Votel was still waiting about two years later, when he retired from office. Donna Neely wondered, as she studied the Jurgenses now-silent house from her front window. Try again later.

Ronnie Jersey Shore Height And Weight, Where Is Raro Drink Made, Shooting In Fort Pierce 2021, Articles L