That was all Gingold had to concern himself with. None of us knew about child abuse. To view a photo in more detail or edit captions for photos you added, click the photo to open the photo viewer. You couldnt get action from the prosecutor and police. harold e bageant obituary visitation funeral information. GREAT NEWS! The case is described in detail in Barry Siegel's true-crime novel, A Death in White Bear Lake. He could never forget how Lois Jurgens looked at those photos stoically, showing no emotion. In 1984, Jurgens was the artist for the Sun Devils limited series (July 1984 - June 1985), with writers Gerry Conway and Roy Thomas. Sadly, the mother-son reunion was not meant to be; Jerry's child had died just before his fourth birthday. Soon the word spread from house to housethered been a death, the younger Jurgens boy had died.

 

When you judge a case, you dont do so in a vacuum, Lindholm would explain years later in an interview. 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. Jurgens and Weeks joined CBR to discuss launching Lois & Clark 2 and spoilers for its first installment. Still it is fair to say that the story Lois Jurgens told required a considerable imagination to embrace. Quickly see who the memorial is for and when they lived and died and where they are buried. 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. The only witness to Lois's final abuse of Dennis was Robert, who was 5 years old at the time. cemeteries found in Maplewood, Ramsey County, Minnesota, USA will be saved to your photo volunteer list. . There he had been loved and well cared for by an experienced foster mother. With the advent of highways, White Bear Lake has become a suburb of St. Paul, about 12 miles to the south. The term is relative. Notes References A Death in White Bear Lakeby Barry Siegel. 1 Bakgrunn; 2 Innhold; . I didnt examine him further.. My biggest feeling was that it was a sad situation and I wanted to get out of there as soon as I could. They had just buried the body, and that was all. VanderWyst drove the mile to his house in silence, the young boy sitting beside him. Instead the judge agonized, repeatedly expressing from the bench his sense of conflict and uncertainty. Dennis was now fully accepted and loved in the family, she decided. We have set your language to WHAT happened? Death 7 May 2013 (aged 87) . By all accounts, Lois was obsessed with abusing Dennis, and she wanted the world to know he was a "bad child," and made no apologies about the inappropriate way she was disciplining him. Harold Jurgens, an electrical foreman, made $10,000 in 1962, and this placed his family a cut above many of their friends and neighbors. Whod listen? The boy would be gasping and choking for breath until she would fear that he would drown. Jurgens' other adopted son, Robert, testified at the trial, at which Lois Jurgens (then in her 60s) was convicted of third-degree murder and sentenced to prison.[4]. Lois had a question: Would Father Riser write a letter in support of their present effort to adopt another child, a third child? We reached a point where we could not find any new leads or pick up any new information . ``If she had been convicted of this in 1965 she probably would have done about three years, Thomson said. The lawyers danced around the matter, leaving much unspoken. In spite of extensive physical evidence pointing towards severe . . Eventually, all four of the siblings from Kentucky and Robert escaped the home by running away and getting help from concerned neighbors. She was the adoptive mother of six children in the 1960s and 1970s, and brutally abused them all, killing one of them, 3-year-old Dennis Jurgens, in 1965. Dennis and Robert Jurgens, 1965. The email does not appear to be a valid email address. I have several children about that age with this same problem. He had one great friend, his world's Lois, but she died and now he sees another version of her still alive and pregnant. 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. The policeman did not, so they carried the body to the coroners van. The childs death occurred before there were state-mandated sentencing guidelines, and Thomson argued that she should have served less time. They just werent going to get any damaging information from him. Use the links under See more to quickly search for other people with the same last name in the same cemetery, city, county, etc. Edit a memorial you manage or suggest changes to the memorial manager. He would testify that he had talked to some lady down there. 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. 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. 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. Pitera would take photos later that day. Search above to list available cemeteries. I didnt look after that; I couldnt, she said. 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. He has no teeth yet, but they are coming. Tragically, just a few years after the adoption, Dennis died from peritonitis. Harvey had been a rookie cop here in 1965, but Sherwoods story triggered no memories. . he told the grand jury last year. . The suspicious death of Dennis Jurgens wasnt properly investigated for 20 years. Dennis was adopted by the Jurgens, of White Bear Lake, Minnesota, a suburb of Saint Paul: Harold Robert Jurgens, a former bandleader turned electrician, and Lois Germaine Josephine Zerwas Jurgens, a homemaker. This browser does not support getting your location. 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. Donna Mae, about 5 feet away, watched in horror as Lois force-fed that vomit to him, made him eat it. Then there were the neighbors and relatives who had seen incidents and evidence of abuse. If you have questions, please contact [emailprotected]. Why was there no disposition of this case? Lois Jurgens, 93, of Arvada, Colorado, formerly of Malvern and Glenwood, Iowa, passed away June 13, 2022. Homicide was not the issue at the hearing.

Blankets covered him to the waist. Try again later. 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. Then there was the coroners report. . Lois and Harold Jurgens lived in a comfortable . 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. There is a problem with your email/password. I remember very clearly the pathologist coming in and saying it had to be a blow, not a fall, but I think the prosecutor felt he couldnt prove it, and I was on the same wavelength as the prosecutor. Now VanderWyst was looking at him, asking a question: What was the cause of death?. Want more true crime books? 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. Please contact Find a Grave at [emailprotected] if you need help resetting your password. . When he arrived at the Jurgens home, though, hed realized all that was pointless. On the stand, the Jurgenses had refused to answer questions about Dennis. Peritonitis is a horribly painful illness involving shock, collapse of the blood vessel system, high fever and breathing difficulties. Dennis had thrown up then. When he wet his pants, she said, she put a clothespin on his penis. Lois Jurgens had not one good thing to say about Dennis. As he viewed the body, he thought: This boy has been murdered. The way Lindholm figured it, instead of prosecuting Lois Jurgens for murder, lets move to take Robert away. When he wouldnt have a bowel movement, she said, she pulled the feces from his rectum with her hands. 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. Family members immediately begin whispering "she killed him" , referring to his adoptive moth Harold and Lois Jurgens, a middle-class, churchgoing couple in picturesque White Bear Lake, Minnesota, had adopted Dennis and five other foster children. Why werent his hands burned--wouldnt he have instinctively reached down to protect himself? Include gps location with grave photos where possible. April 11, 1965. You may not upload any more photos to this memorial, This photo was not uploaded because this memorial already has 20 photos, This photo was not uploaded because you have already uploaded 5 photos to this memorial, This photo was not uploaded because this memorial already has 30 photos, This photo was not uploaded because you have already uploaded 15 photos to this memorial. Because they were Catholic and there were very few Catholic babies on the register, it was likely that they would have to wait quite a long time, she explained. 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. Lois had had a history of mental illnesses including depression and psychosis and was originally deemed . 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. That will make you swallow, Lois had said. Translation on Find a Grave is an ongoing project. 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. 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. If Votel had called it a homicide, at least that prospect would have been removed. This case was a drop of water in the river.. No, she explained. She knew that Lois had finished only the eighth grade. 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. Three-year-old Dennis Craig (Puckett) Jurgens was tortured to death in the wee hours of April 11th, 1965. They were of varying colors--black and blue, yellowish green, reddish--which meant that some were fresh, some old. Top Rated Seller. C $186.13.

 

You need a Find a Grave account to continue. 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. Learn more about managing a memorial . Get up to speed with our Essential California newsletter, sent six days a week. Lois Jean (Jones) Jurgens Obituary We are sad to announce that on June 13, 2022 we had to say goodbye to Lois Jean (Jones) Jurgens of Arvada, Colorado. 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. He couldnt comprehend anyone torturing a kid, Peterson would explain many years later. Dennis died that evening of Peritonitis due to a perforation of his small bowel.

 

There was no possibility that Dennis had died from a blow to the head, and scarce chance that he had died from a fall on the flat basement floor.