lois jurgens' death lois jurgens' death

Dennis Craig Jurgens, 3.

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. Lois Jurgens released after serving eight years, The Winona Daily News, June, 7, 1995. 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. The term is relative. 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. Last week, Judge David Marsden sentenced. In 1987, Jurgens was convicted of third-degree murder of Dennis. There was testimony from other officers that he impeded the investigation into the child's death. It would be no use. 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. In our family you dont dare say much.. They were informed they would not be allowed to foster or adopt any additional children. so its not unusual.. Adopted just after his first birthday, Dennis suffered years of abuse at the hands of his adoptive mother, Lois Jurgens. He would testify that he had talked to some lady down there. Dr. Peterson said he saw nothing unusual in Dennis life or death. As the laws were then interpreted, he believed that he would have to link a specific action taken by Lois Jurgens to the precise cause of death. This had required at least two hospitalizations at the Mayo Clinic and at a small psychiatric hospital called Crestview, where she had received electrical shock treatments. Whod listen? 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. He had lived in this home since 1953, and it gave him much pleasure. The Jurgenses were delighted. Close this window, and upload the photo(s) again. She was born February 25, 1927 to Leslie and Margaret Stowell in Cass County IL. Along with the aforementioned evidence of starvation and the scarring and bite-marks on his genitalia, the coroner discovered multiple lacerations and multiple generations of bruises covering most of his body. DC artist Dan Jurgens shares an image of an unused Electric Blue Superman design from 1996, reminiscing about what might have been. She knew that Lois came from a large, poor, Catholic family of 16 children, a family that at times survived on welfare. There was enough evidence to sustain child abuse and neglect charges. Aside from the incident when Dennis was hospitalized with burns on his genitals, there were many other incidents of abuse that fell under the category of sexual sadism. Lois JURGENS - Murderpedia, the encyclopedia of murderers Lois had had a history of mental illnesses including depression and psychosis and was originally deemed . 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. Fittingly for a major anniversary like . Donna Marlene Norton, Lois sister, was there that day and saw the same thing. There was obviously going to be trouble, and he didnt want to get involved. And a Dr. Peterson called at 10:09 a.m. to report a DOA--dead on arrival--at 2148 Gardenette Drive. Years later, the attorney representing Roberts interests at the 1965 custody hearing would still remember those photos. She was right. He doesnt look like a tiny little kid, he thought. No one here is being punitive, Gingold told the Jurgenses and their attorney from the bench. Woodburn could find no subcutaneous fat at all, something everyone normally has in varying degrees. Sorry! There is no evidence we are dealing with any people here who have any demon-like motives. Lois Jurgens at the time that she had custody of Dennis. Lois was mean to DennisCam Brass and Donna Neely and the othersCam Brass and Donna Neely and the others understood that much. To this end, she forced religious training on her young sons; reports had young Robert flawlessly reciting the Rosary at two. Though the specific cause of that fatal blow is not known, it is known that it was Lois who had given it to Dennis. . The coroner noted in his report that Dennis had almost zero subcutaneous fat, at the level of a person who had died of starvation. Dennis & Robert That isnt an issue at all. He assured that it was going on, that this would be his responsibility to get the information, bring it back to me so I could complete the certificate. from United States. Even with half the body obscured, VanderWyst noticed the bruises--an awful lot of them he would say later. In spite of extensive physical evidence pointing towards severe abuse, the medical examiner did not classify the death under any of the standard classifications of accident, suicide or murder; he simply marked it "deferred". Murder Shelf Book Club Podcast | a podcast by murdershelfbookclub updates . 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. It was highly unlikely that a fall on a flat surface could have caused this. Aided by the testimony of the Jurgens' other adopted son, Robert, The investigation, trial, and conviction are considered landmarks in the history of child abuse law. I was advised that the information was being obtained, that there was an ongoing investigation, Votel said recently. You are only allowed to leave one flower per day for any given memorial. Opens in a new window or tab. 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. Harold Jurgens, an electrical foreman, made $10,000 in 1962, and this placed his family a cut above many of their friends and neighbors. He was frequently starved, to rid him of "sloppy fat," as Lois called it (she also called him "Sloppy Fat" as a nickname). 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. Two husbands and four children later, Sherwood had gone searching for her firstborn, only to learn that he had died years before, in 1965, at age 3. That was all Gingold had to concern himself with. A piano and bass fiddle occupied the living room.