The next morning, six coroners jurors were asked to view the body of a dead boy, and to remember everything they saw. The defense attorney was still thinking about a criminal prosecution--even if no one else was. No. Jurgens was one of 16 children. . Found more than one record for entered Email, You need to confirm this account before you can sign in. No, she explained. He has no teeth yet, but they are coming. It was highly unlikely that a fall on a flat surface could have caused this. 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. You consider how well you can sell this to 12 people in the jury box. You are only allowed to leave one flower per day for any given memorial. Two or three couples signed written statements. April 11, 1965. Camille Brass knew the blue convertible belonged to Dr. Peterson. the Murderpedia project stay alive. Woodburn could find no subcutaneous fat at all, something everyone normally has in varying degrees. Please contact Find a Grave at [emailprotected] if you need help resetting your password. None.. She had a story to tell.
You dont know what to think, Donna Marlene said. She is buried at the Union Cemetery, in Maplewood, Ramsey County, Minnesota. She knew he had high school and one year of college behind him, and that he was an only child with strong bonds to his mother. In 1987, Jurgens was convicted of third-degree murder of Dennis. Dennis Craig Jurgens was an American 3-year-old boy who was murdered in White Bear Lake, Minnesota in April 1965. So Robert, on a temporary but semiannually renewed basis, remained in county custody, living in foster homes. 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. 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. The case drew widespread publicity and was the subject of a book and a made-for-television movie. Leave a sympathy message to the family in the guestbook on this memorial page of Lois Jean (Jones) Jurgens to show support. There was testimony from other officers that he impeded the investigation into the child's death. . The investigation, trial, and conviction are considered landmarks in the history of child abuse law. 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. Deferred, Votel had written. However, he was in failing health and his autopsy results did not indicate poisoning. In fact, they remain strangely forgotten. Dennis lay in the ground at St. Marys Cemetery, no name given to his death. Lois' remedy for the toddler wetting his diaper too frequently was to place a spring-action clothespin upon the end of his penis. Donna Neely wondered, as she studied the Jurgenses now-silent house from her front window. When Dennis cried, Lois would force his head under the cold water faucet at the kitchen sink. There was also talk years earlier of her having started the fire at her in-laws' home which killed her mother-in-law, with whom she never got along. . 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. There were, to begin with, the same photos of Dennis battered body on the coroners table. The same day that she spoke to the priest--Aug. 30, 1962--Rekdahl informed the Jurgenses that they were going to be approved for a second adoption. Strange, he thought, that she hadnt called her brother, the police lieutenant. Family and friends are welcome to leave their condolences on this memorial page and share them with the family. Due to this frequent starvation, Dennis gained only three pounds in a 2+12-year period as he aged from one year old to 3+12 years old.
Lois considered herself a devout Catholic and believed she was doing "God's work" by making Dennis "perfect" in her eyes. He had lived in this home since 1953, and it gave him much pleasure.
In 1992 A made-for-TV movie was made based on both Jerry's story There is 1 volunteer for this cemetery. He naps both in the forenoon and the afternoon. My clients have rights, he said. Lois thought that would be a good idea. 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. undefined Notes ^ http://www.angelizdsplace.com/ http://www.angelizdsplace.com/child43.htm. In 1984, Jurgens was the artist for the Sun Devils limited series (July 1984 - June 1985), with writers Gerry Conway and Roy Thomas. She had talked about this with the whole family, but not with the authorities. 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. Novel and Adaptations: Barry Siegel's true-crime novel A Death in White Bear Lake recounts the story via extensive research and oral history. You see, Gingold said, I didnt have to go that far. Lois Jurgens was the infamous subject of one of the most unusual child murder cases in history in Minnesota.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.. Jurgens was one of sixteen children. It is essentially unconceivable to me, without a protruding object above the floor, that he could have been injured in this way, Woodburn said. 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. You can customize the cemeteries you volunteer for by selecting or deselecting below. From the bench, he said he hoped that they could find something to explain the mistreatment of Dennis. 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. 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. Are you sure that you want to report this flower to administrators as offensive or abusive? Top Rated Seller. Though the specific cause of that fatal blow is not known, it is known that it was Lois who had given it to Dennis. Such stories are not rare. 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 Germaine Josephine Zerwas Jurgens (August 12, 1925 May 7, 2013) was an American convicted murderer[1] responsible for one of the most unusual child murder cases in history in Minnesota. Our kids have fallen down steps and not died. When Harold Jurgens called 10 days later to say they wanted to keep Dennis, the two agencies allowed that as well. Photo by Patrick Hendry on Unsplash. That was all Gingold had to concern himself with. The victim Lois A. Jurgens (92) of Petersburg passed away September 25, 2019. called, 'A Child Lost You may occasionally receive promotional content from the Los Angeles Times. She died aged 87 on May 7, 2013. Published by Bantam Books, 1990. Failed to report flower. During his short life, Dennis . No prosecution was taken at that time. Years later, Peterson would say much the same to the police who were reopening the case, but he did not do so in 1965. VanderWyst and Korolchuk had brought in the file themselves and lobbied for prosecution. 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. The official records say 1,200 children died of abuse in 1986, but many experts believe the figure would reach 5,000 if closer attention were paid to some deaths attributed to accident or blamed on sudden infant death syndrome.