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. he told the grand jury last year. No. 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. She was sentenced to a maximum of 25 years in prison and was paroled in 1995. Lois Jurgens.

the Murderpedia project stay alive. The defense picked the doctor, and set parameters on what questions he could ask. By the second week, the investigation began to encounter obstacles. Robert would remain in county custody for the time being. Verify and try again. 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.

Your new password must contain one or more uppercase and lowercase letters, and one or more numbers or special characters. 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. The house at 2148 South Gardenette Drive, White Bear Lake, where the Jurgenses lived from 1957 to 1967. 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. Oops, something didn't work. There was enough evidence to sustain child abuse and neglect charges. Petersons house sat precisely on the site of the old Wildwood Amusement Park. When Harold Jurgens called 10 days later to say they wanted to keep Dennis, the two agencies allowed that as well. While visiting one Thanksgiving, she saw Lois force-feed Dennis, in a highchair, by shoving a fork full of food into his mouth.

To this end, she forced religious training on her young sons; reports had young Robert flawlessly reciting the Rosary at two. Jurgens would make his debut as a comic book writer with Sun Devils he began scripting from Conway's plots with #8 and fully took over the writing duties on the title with #10. They were of varying colors--black and blue, yellowish green, reddish--which meant that some were fresh, some old. Are you adding a grave photo that will fulfill this request? Lois Jurgens was disappointed about Dennis age. This site uses cookies to improve user experience. A parade of neighbors and relatives called to the stand by the Jurgenses attorney, Edward Donohue, all denied seeing any evidence of abuse. It would be no use. 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.

The victim

The coroner noted in his report that Dennis had almost zero subcutaneous fat, at the level of a person who had died of starvation. From behind their curtains and blinds, the Jurgenses neighbors on Gardenette Drive had been watching the comings and goings all morning with mounting interest. So Robert, on a temporary but semiannually renewed basis, remained in county custody, living in foster homes. English Searching him out, she discovers he died at 3 1/2, though the death certificate does not show what killed him. This account has been disabled. On the other hand, she realized the improbability of being offered another Catholic baby in the near future. 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. . Harold told relatives he was going to be out of town the weekend of April 10 and 11, 1965. This browser does not support getting your location. Connect with the definitive source for global and local news. The lawyers danced around the matter, leaving much unspoken. That was all Gingold had to concern himself with. Certain neighbors and family members knew there were problems with Lois' treatment of Dennis but did nothing to prevent it. Resend Activation Email. They talked with more than a dozen relatives and neighbors of the Jurgenses.
Thank you for fulfilling this photo request. She always proclaimed her innocence. 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. Translation on Find a Grave is an ongoing project. He couldnt push Votel on this. Years later, Peterson would say much the same to the police who were reopening the case, but he did not do so in 1965. How could a little boy not scream out in pain as soon as he was burned? Clothing retains the heat. They felt sad, and also naggingly disturbed. As the new adopted children were older, there were many first-hand histories (recounted to the media during the 1987 trial of Lois Jurgens) describing the severe abuse they suffered at their adoptive mother's hands. Forever' w/ the Theres nothing worse, Peterson had thought, than seeing a dead child. Her mother having long ago disappeared, Jerry Puckett had bounced among assorted relatives and county homes for girls. Are you sure that you want to report this flower to administrators as offensive or abusive? VanderWyst, visiting him after the autopsy the night of Dennis death, told the family physician what Woodburn had found. She died aged 87 on May 7, 2013. He felt that she needed psychiatric help very badly and, without it, might become psychotic. Blankets covered him to the waist. We didnt believe it was possible in nice, middle-class suburban families.. The trial of Lois Jurgens for the murder of 3-year-old Dennis made national . 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. Rekdahl found her judgment confirmed by the Jurgenses priest. Why was there no disposition of this case? It is one of a few crimes that FBI agent Kenneth Lanning argues can legitimately be described as "ritual abuse". On the stand, the Jurgenses had refused to answer questions about Dennis. Notification of death or terminal illness, Office of Revisor of Statues . Over the course of several visits to the Jurgens home, Rekdahl saw the matter differently.

Dennis Craig Jurgens, 3.

He was the son of teenage Jerry Sherwood (who was herself a ward of the state) and her teenage boyfriend. 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. undefined Notes ^ http://www.angelizdsplace.com/ http://www.angelizdsplace.com/child43.htm. My clients have rights, he said. This was the first child-abuse case he had handled. Rekdahl expressed some concern. . She is buried at the Union Cemetery, in Maplewood, Ramsey County, Minnesota. Family and friends are welcome to leave their condolences on this memorial page and share them with the family.
Ivey's Lois Jurgens is a woman so proud and righteous, her sense of morality . Death 7 May 2013 (aged 87) . [citation needed][3]. 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. Her brother, Jerome Zerwas, was the police lieutenant of the town of White . She was diagnosed as having mixed psychoneurosis and also unable to conceive a child with Harold. Stanley Wiatros was one of them. conviction
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. . At first Bob Brass thought the squad car was Loiss brothers, but then they saw VanderWyst in the driveway. So it was that Dennis Jurgens death resulted not in a murder prosecution but, rather, in a juvenile court hearing over custody of his brother, Robert. A piano and bass fiddle occupied the living room. They just buried the body in St.. In the early 1980s, Jerry Sherwood went looking for the newborn son she gave up for adoption 20 years prior. Dennis was now fully accepted and loved in the family, she decided. 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. It was hard to believe that the Jurgenses had noticed nothing. I was willing to wait. Votel was still waiting about two years later, when he retired from office. Lois Jurgens had not one good thing to say about Dennis. 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. You do consider social attitudes.   Well, I do, he replied. They saw the hearse sitting in the Jurgenses driveway, and a big blue convertible, and the police car parked awkwardly, askew, as if the officer had been in a hurry. Buy It Now. 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. The topic under consideration was the possible placement of Dennis Puckett with the Jurgens family. He had served as a reference when they adopted Robert. 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. 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. Our kids have fallen down steps and not died. Throughout the years of frequent abuse, it has been reported that while Harold Jurgens made little effort to curb his wife's abuse of young Dennis, he personally never mistreated the boy. At the urging of authorities, Jerry placed Dennis for adoption after being told that he would receive good care.[1]. Top Rated Seller. This drove Lois further into madness, as she felt she needed children to complete the "perfect picture" of her life. When Dennis cried, Lois would force his head under the cold water faucet at the kitchen sink. Obituary. Are you sure that you want to delete this photo? It would have been difficult at the time to prove that Lois Jurgens had committed murder. In 1987, testifying 22 years later, Peterson was questioned again about the bruises. Please enter your email and password to sign in. Lois Jurgens (at left) appeared with her attorney Doug Thomson in Ramsey County Courthouse Monday May 4, 1987. Rekdahl did know that Lois had a history of psychiatric problems involving a nervous breakdown in the early 1950s. . He has had all his baby shots. Remove advertising from a memorial by sponsoring it for just $5. She had not noticed anything was wrong until sometime later, when Dennis began holding himself and saying, Owie! It was then she saw that his genitals were burned and called the doctor.