. He returned to the Jurgens home in time to meet the coroners investigator, Saveiro Pitera. But this death didnt look as though it was from natural causes. This memorial has been copied to your clipboard. Well, I do, he replied. The official cause of death was peritonitis due to perforation of the small bowel. In the early 1980s, Dennis' birth mother, Jerry Sherwood, looked for Dennis, only to find out he had died in 1965. I have several children about that age with this same problem. 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. There was something wrong here. Please check your email and click on the link to activate your account. After seeing newspaper reports about the death, she was convinced that he had been beaten to death and demanded the case be re-opened. Dennis had been a beautiful baby, Gladys Demars said. She talked about it all the time, in fact.
We didnt believe it was possible in nice, middle-class suburban families.. Still it is fair to say that the story Lois Jurgens told required a considerable imagination to embrace. She is buried at the Union Cemetery, in Maplewood, Ramsey County, Minnesota. Harold told relatives he was going to be out of town the weekend of April 10 and 11, 1965. Try again later. Try again later. Lois Jurgens served eight years of her sentence and had a quiet life as a widow in Stillwater, Minnesota. Eventually, all four of the siblings from Kentucky and Robert escaped the home by running away and getting help from concerned neighbors. Harold and Lois Jurgens, on the advice of their attorney, no longer would make themselves available for questioning. It was not his job to do anything other than pronounce the boy dead. Try again later. From a newspaper notice of his death she had learned that the boys body bore multiple injuries and bruises. Clothing retains the heat. When Lois found him gasping and gurgling at 9 a.m., she promptly called Dr. Peterson. 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. She did not want this to influence their decision, but in all truthfulness, that was the reality. The doctors eyes slid to a corner of the room. As he viewed the body, he thought: This boy has been murdered. Active children that bruise easily . 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. A parade of neighbors and relatives called to the stand by the Jurgenses attorney, Edward Donohue, all denied seeing any evidence of abuse. remarkable Beverly D'Angelo as Jerry Sherwood
Do you have a camera in the car, he asked VanderWyst. harold e bageant obituary visitation funeral information.
Obituary. When Dennis messed his bed, she said, she forced the boy to eat his feces. Her attorney Doug Thomson (left) follows, and Harold Jurgens is behind him. If you throw up, you are going to eat it. She was born February 25, 1927 to Leslie and Margaret Stowell in Cass County Il. Harold Jurgens, an electrical foreman, made $10,000 in 1962, and this placed his family a cut above many of their friends and neighbors. . A dead boy, though, was something else. They are good people. She was born February 25, 1927 to Leslie and Margaret Stowell in Cass County IL. She is buried at the Union Cemetery, in Maplewood, Ramsey County, Minnesota . She died aged 87 on May 7, 2013. During the early morning hours of April 11, 1965, Dennis Jurgens died at the hands of Lois Jurgens. 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.
But neither the judge nor anyone else was willing to face the implications of such findings. They just werent going to get any damaging information from him. You need a Find a Grave account to continue. The Jurgenses had wanted a younger child and Dennis was almost a year old. Pitera would take photos later that day. With the exception of the severe burns, his health remained quite good. 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. None of us knew about child abuse. Woodburn could find no subcutaneous fat at all, something everyone normally has in varying degrees. 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. Her brother, Jerome Zerwas, was the police lieutenant of the town of White Bear Lake, Minnesota, where she lived at the time. She wanted assurances. He would wait until the police investigation could resolve the matter. They had been able to discuss Lois weaknesses, even her past mental depression, without Lois becoming too nervous or upset or defensive. Some had seen or heard Dennis being beaten. The term is relative. Thank you very much in advance. Dr. At the urging of authorities, Jerry placed Dennis for adoption after being told that he would receive good care.[1]. There are a lot of dead babies in the ground who were killed.. Do I think this happened just here, just this one? The official cause of death was peritonitis due to perforation of the small bowel wich even 1965 was treatable if he'd been brought to the hospital . Harold Jurgens had converted a breezeway off the kitchen into a large, open family, dining and cooking area. so its not unusual.. There was no community pressure back then. This site uses cookies to improve user experience. But how did such an infection occur in the first place? For a time, that appeared to be the end of the story. Though the specific cause of that fatal blow is not known, it is known that it was Lois who had given it to Dennis. Lois, who abused Dennis constantly, escalated to new levels of rage as the flood waters filled her basement. In 1987, Jurgens was convicted of third-degree murder of Dennis. The next day, Dennis brother, Robert, was picked up and taken to a local hospital, on order of Juvenile Court Judge Archie Gingold. None of this, however, was what had killed Dennis. Four days after he drafted this analysis, on April 30, he and VanderWyst were pulled off the case. At first Bob Brass thought the squad car was Loiss brothers, but then they saw VanderWyst in the driveway. They would have to find out. 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. When patrolman Robert VanderWyst arrived at the Jurgens home soon after, he found the doctor, the Jurgenses and 5-year-old Robert in the living room. The testimony from Dr. Woodburn, the pathologist who did the autopsy on Dennis, was unequivocal. 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. 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. Donna Mae, about 5 feet away, watched in horror as Lois force-fed that vomit to him, made him eat it. Harold Jurgens, an electrical foreman, made $10,000 in 1962, and this placed his family a cut above many of their friends and neighbors. 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. . They talked with more than a dozen relatives and neighbors of the Jurgenses. Father Bernard Riser of the St. Mary of the Lake Catholic Church had known the Jurgenses for years and considered them to be among his parishs best families. To add a flower, click the Leave a Flower button. She had a story to tell. Lois had had a history of mental illnesses including depression and psychosis and was originally deemed . He had lived in this home since 1953, and it gave him much pleasure. . No one here is being punitive, Gingold told the Jurgenses and their attorney from the bench. In the 1960s, the term child abuse had not yet been coined and no one, not even medical professionals and teachers, was required to report suspicions. Youve got to worry about tomorrow. His intensely angry adoptive mother, Lois Jurgens, know for her short, volatile temper, murdered him. Strange, he thought, that she hadnt called her brother, the police lieutenant. Those looking back now, those who unraveled the case, tend to shrug and shake their heads when Votels name comes up. Villains also abound, but they remain less noticed. Tragically, just a few years after the adoption, Dennis died from peritonitis. He knew Peterson as a man always willing to help others, as a doctor very much for his patients. However, he was in failing health and his autopsy results did not indicate poisoning. Death 7 May 2013 (aged 87) . For memorials with more than one photo, additional photos will appear here or on the photos tab. Dennis and Robert Jurgens, 1965.
To receive the type of severe burns he suffered, Dennis would have had to be exposed to steaming-hot water for a significant length of time. I did my best.. She was cleared of second-degree . Rekdahl could not so assure her. That was not binding on the prosecutor, but the defense attorney would zero in on this. new content, we kindly appreciate any donation you can give to help Korolchuk would never get the chance to answer such questions. I didnt examine him further.. Lois and Harold Jurgens lived in a comfortable . Please contact Find a Grave at [emailprotected] if you need help resetting your password. Remove advertising from a memorial by sponsoring it for just $5. There were at least a dozen bruises on the face alone, some large and others small. Rekdahl suggested that if she had negative feelings, it would be best for them not to take the child. Rekdahl did not know that a psychiatrist at the Mayo Clinic had diagnosed Lois Jurgens as having a longstanding psychoneurosis dating to her childhood--a childhood spent in a tension-filled home with an alcoholic, abusive father. 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. ``May God strike her dead, thats what I have to say to Lois Jurgens, Jerry Sherwood said.
She died aged 87 on May 7, 2013. Others promised that they would do so. As he read, he stiffened in his chair. Harold Jurgens suggested that perhaps they should not go forward with the adoption of Dennis, but Lois refused out of concern that it would discourage the authorities from allowing them to adopt further children. When she was 17 and living in a juvenile home, she said, she gave birth to a boy, Dennis, who was quickly taken from her and eventually adopted by a family named Jurgens who lived in White Bear Lake. Lois Jurgens at the time that she had custody of Dennis. 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. One day, Zerwas walked into the squad room and found the two officers investigating Dennis death. She was sentenced to a maximum of 25 years in prison and was paroled in 1995. C $186.13.
In the early 1980s, Jerry Sherwood went looking for the newborn son she gave up for adoption 20 years prior. The process of adopting Dennis was completed. This was a murder. Donna Marlene Norton, Lois sister, was there that day and saw the same thing. Lois Jurgens (born 1925) is an American convicted murderer. Please complete the captcha to let us know you are a real person. Lois Jurgens served only eight years of her sentence, released early for good behavior, and lived a secluded life in Stillwater, Minnesota, until her death in 2013. In 1951, some 14 years before Dennis's death, a psychiatrist at the Mayo Clinic entered this assessment in her file: "It is . Though there was an investigation, society and law enforcement of the mid-1960s did not accept the concept that a child in a middle-class home could be the target of abuse. Donna Marlene had seen other things. 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. 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. My clients have rights, he said. A system error has occurred. He looks like a boy of 10. Resend Activation Email. The investigation, trial, and As it happened, Peterson at the time was deputy coroner in Ramsey County. He had read the early articles that by then had been published. . Learn more about merges. Retrieved 12 February 2015. 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. At 2 p.m. on that Palm Sunday, Dr. Robert Woodburn, the coroners chief pathologist, conducted the autopsy. Robert was leaving things alone at the age of 1 year. The psychiatrist also observed that Lois had an obsession about order and cleanliness. Lois Jurgens, it turns out, was from the start a poor parental bet. A Mrs. Hansen called to report a lost wallet, which resulted in an officers checking a phone booth at Fourth and Washington streets, next to the Avalon Jewelers.
Korolchuk wondered: Why wasnt a doctor called to the home in the day before Dennis died, when he must have been extremely and obviously ill? This sort of thing happened back then.. 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. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate, or jump to a slide with the slide dots. This case was a drop of water in the river.. We will review the memorials and decide if they should be merged.
In the early 1980s, Dennis' birth mother, Jerry Sherwood, looked for Dennis, only to find out he had died in 1965. ). 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. How could the hot water splashing down on the baby have burned only his penis and scrotum?
Many years later, he explained why: I was quite certain it was a homicide, quite certain, Gingold said recently in an interview. Published Jan 18, 2023. When he arrived at the Jurgens home, though, hed realized all that was pointless. Family members linked to this person will appear here. |