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.
Dennis and Robert Jurgens, 1965.
My Mother Almost Killed Me. No one cared or stopped her. | by Karen ). Rekdahl by now had quite a dim outlook on this placement. Three-year-old Dennis Craig (Puckett) Jurgens was tortured to death in the wee hours of April 11th, 1965. We have set your language to Product details Publisher : Ballantine Books (November 28, 2000) Language : English Paperback : 560 pages ISBN-10 : 0345487176 #dennisjurgens #jerrysherwood #truecrime Jerry Puckett's mother abandoned her when she was three, she was raised by her father and abused by two stepmothers.. This was the situation that Gerane Rekdahl, a Ramsey County welfare case worker, found when she visited the Jurgens home on March 1, 1962. He attended Olney Rural Elementary School and graduated from Filley High School in 1959.``May God strike her dead, thats what I have to say to Lois Jurgens, Jerry Sherwood said. In the 1960s, the term child abuse had not yet been coined[citation needed][2] and no one, not even medical professionals and teachers, was required to report suspicions. Murder Shelf Book Club: Ep 50 A Death in White Bear Lake by Barry 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. But, at a hearing just one month after Dennis death, Peterson, when asked if there was anything unusual about the burn accident, said: No, not in particular.. The next morning, six coroners jurors were asked to view the body of a dead boy, and to remember everything they saw. contact Connect with the definitive source for global and local news. [citation needed][3]. Lois Jurgens had not one good thing to say about Dennis. Strange, he thought, that she hadnt called her brother, the police lieutenant. For that reason, Dennis, a week after his birth, was baptized a Catholic. Learn how and when to remove this template message, "Child Abuse and Neglect in the Home | Center for Problem-Oriented Policing", "A woman was convicted Friday of third-degree murder in", Child Murder: The town that lived in silence, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Murder_of_Dennis_Jurgens&oldid=1138138523, This page was last edited on 8 February 2023, at 06:11. In 1987, testifying 22 years later, Peterson was questioned again about the bruises. From the bench, he said he hoped that they could find something to explain the mistreatment of Dennis. Jurgens and Weeks joined CBR to discuss launching Lois & Clark 2 and spoilers for its first installment. 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. Family and friends are welcome to leave their condolences on this memorial page and share them with the family. It was just inconceivable to Woodburn that Dennis had been so injured by slipping and falling on a basement floor. Donohue, their attorney, had allowed Lois before the hearing to be examined by a psychiatrist only under the strictest conditions. It had always troubled her, more than any she handled before or since. 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. But in 1962, before the developers and high-speed roads came, this was more truly a small town, inbred and insular, with a population just reaching 15,000.
If hes notified there would be fifty people at her house, and she didnt want that many people around. 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. cemeteries found within miles of your location will be saved to your photo volunteer list. Lois Germaine Josephine Zerwas Jurgens (August 12, 1925 - May 7, 2013) was an American convicted murderer responsible for one of the most unusual child murder cases in history in Minnesota. Flowers added to the memorial appear on the bottom of the memorial or here on the Flowers tab. If Votel had called it a homicide, at least that prospect would have been removed. They had shocked James Nelson. 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. On the other hand, he could not bring himself to embrace the notion that Lois Jurgens was a murderer.