Dennis Jurgens was a chubby, joyful, and active toddler when Harold and Lois Jurgens adopted him in White Bear Lake, Minnesota. Unable to have children of their own, Lois and Harold adopted several children over the years. Dennis wasn’t their first or last. From the very beginning, case workers from the adoption agency had their concerns about whether Lois would accept Dennis, but homes were scarce and there was nothing factually wrong that would prevent the placement. The signing of the adoption papers sealed Dennis’ fate.
Join us today for The Terrible and Totally Preventable Death of Dennis Jurgens. One cold and wet Sunday morning, a local doctor responded to a call from Harold Jurgens, who said, “I think my son is dying.” When Doctor Peterson arrived, he found a 3-year-old’s body, long dead and clearly beaten. The cause of Dennis’ death was peritonitis from a ruptured bowel. But why had Dennis’ bowel ruptured? Lois and Harold claimed that Dennis had taken a fall, but that would not explain the multiple bruises of every shape and color that peppered his tiny body. On his death certificate, where “homicide” should have been, the coroner wrote “deferred.” This failure to acknowledge that a crime had even occurred or punish the perpetrator would leave five more children at risk of leading tortured lives, being murdered, or both.
Sources
The Battered Child Syndrome, Journal of the American Medical Association, C. Henry Kempe, MD et al., 1962, 1984. Retrieved 6/25/2025. The Battered Child Syndrome
A Death In White Bear Lake by Barry Siegel
A Mother Denies Guilt In Adopted Son’s Death, New York Times, 1/ 31/1987, retrieved 5/11/2-25.
A Mother’s Love, Jerry Sherwood in Her Own Words, Twin Cities Magazine, 2/1988, retrieved 6/14/2025.
State v. Jurgens, Court of Appeals of Minnesota, 5/3/1988, retrieved 5/11/2025.
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