Customer Reviews

A Death in White Bear Lake: The True Chronicle of an All-American Town

5 star:		(20)
4 star:		(5)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

A fascinating true story of how A 3 1/2 year old child was brutally abused and ultimatly murdered by his adopted mother, Lois Jurgens. You Will learn how her husband, family and friends were very aware of the abuse and did absolutly nothing to help this poor child. You will also read how the justice system and adoption agency failed to save Dennis. And the painful events for the natural mother, Jerry Sherwood and her family to get justice for her dead son. Very well written book that goes into the background of Lois and Harold Jurgens and how this evil women was able to adopt a total of 6 children (all which ran away and was removed from her home due to abuse). The book also gives a compelling account of the trial and finally the conviction of murder for Lois Jurgens, who almost for 22 years got away with it.

As a parent myself, I will never forget what happened to little Dennis Jurgens.

Karen, OHIO

A haunting and horrifying book that I couldn't put down. It will break your heart & make you very angry indeed! Should be required reading in the social work & psychology fields. It is an excellently researched book with fascinating characterizations of the real people involved - the evil, the apathetic, the meek, the tormented. A truly unforgettable book.

I have lived in White Bear all of my life. My parents grew up there. We all attended classes in the "new" high school that is talked about. My aunt was in that school's first graduating class in 1965. I say this because, horrifying as the Dennis Jurgens case may be, it is not hard to see how it happened. Even today, it is a small community where most everybody knows everybody else. My family often attended holidays at the Zerwas home, and even today they find it hard to speak ill of Lois. This book does a wonderful job of telling what so many people have been trying to keep quiet for so many years. This is a story that needs to be told in order to make sure that it never happens to another child. Siegel does an excellent job of projecting the difficulty of following up a 20 year old crime that nobody would admit was committed. This is a powerful story that will make you look at child abuse in a whole new way.

A stellar performance on the part of Barry Siegel and Peter Borland. The detail, history, and character development are exquisitely attended and because of that the writer's talent has created a smooth and clear and compelling flow of the story, when it could have been quite muddled. I am a voracious reader and prefer nonfiction to fiction. This is one of the best. Thanks, Mr. Siegel. More. More. Do it again!

On Sunday morning, April 11, 1965, the badly bruised and battered body of 3 1/2 year old Dennis Jurgens was reportedly found in his crib by his adoptive parents, Harold and Lois Jurgens, who claimed he had fallen down the evening before. Rigor mortis had already set in when the police arrived, and the autopsy determined that his death was due to peritonitis, due to a rupture of his bowel. Although virtually everyone who knew the family suspected that the death was due to child abuse, the case fell through the cracks and was eventually forgotten, until the birth mother walked into the police station in White Bear Lake, Minnesota in 1986, demanding justice for her son. This is the fascinating story of the events leading to his death and the subsequent investigations, both at the time and later, when it was successfully prosecuted. Only 3 days ago, I drove by the house in White Bear Lake where little Dennis suffered and died, and one of the principals in the book, Lt. Jerome Zerwas died last October (1997). Five stars.

I read this book many years ago and was moved by its fine detail into one childs life of suffering. The author was exceptional with the detail into the abusers life and family history, the history of White Bear Lake, the adoption, and the trial. I felt the boys pain and suffering and was outraged at the husband,the police department,the coroner,the family, and everyone involved who allowed this horrible act of child brutality to happen. I will never forget what happened to this child, thanks to this book. A must read for all who want to protect children from abuse.

Here is a thoroughly well - researched/ well-documented true crime tale with an interesting-and disturbing twist: Child abuse that led to murder. The central character is Lois Jurgens, who, with her husband Harold, somehow managed to adopt 6 children from different agencies in different states. The highly suspicious death of one child, Dennis, is the heart of the plot. For various reasons, none of them compelling, Dennis' death is not properly investigated for years. The arrival in White Bear Lake, Minnesota of Jerry, the birth mother of Dennis, gets the long delayed wheels of justice to crank. Author Siegel provided some very good local background on the town as well as the Jurgens' neighborhood and neighbors. The reader will also receive a primer on the initial legal and academic interests in researching and finally prosecuting child abuse. The reader should also begin to appreciate the pressures faced by child-adoption agencies and those well-intentioned folks like Gerane who must approve potential adoptive parents. "A Death in White Bear Lake" is an extremely intelligent and recommended true crime work. I look forward to reading Mr. Siegel's other 2 works. Minor point: White Bear Lake is a Twin City bedroom community and not a remote, woodsy "typical" Upper Midwest rustic village. Most importantly: SKIP OVER the centerfold photos until the end. They are far too revealing!!

This is a very well written book. It is a very sad true story of child abuse by adoptive parents. At the time of 3-year-old Dennis Jurgens' death, most child abuse cases were not prosecuted. Barry Siegel skillfully tells the story of how Dennis' birth mother stirred up interest in his death, just when people were becoming more aware of child abuse cases and physical abuse started to be prosecuted. The story of the town of White Bear Lake is intrinsic to the story. The adoptive parents, Harold and Lois Jurgens, got married in the small town after WWII, in a community of young families geared toward the mother staying home and raising kids. In the postwar suburban world of mom and apple pie, a woman abusing her kids was unimaginable. Lois' brother was a force to be reckoned with in the City Police. He managed to intimidate many who knew the bad things that went on in the suburban home of Harold and Lois. The Jurgens could not have children of their own, but managed to adopt in spite of Lois' history of mental problems. Reading about the hell the adopted children went through is very difficult and affecting. The first child the Jurgens adopted grew up to be a police officer, and his role in the story is very interesting. This is a very sad, very well-written book, one you won't be able to put down.

Get out your kleenexes when you start this book. It is a sad, and unfortunately true tale of child abuse in an all american town. Child abuse is often hidden and ignored, and the abuser and her husband seemed to be enabled to continue their behavior by most of the town. Unfortunately their is no happy ending here. You will never forget this book when you read it.

I think the reviews that have been crafted thus far are really perfect. This is one of the saddest books I have ever read. No hyperbole. It is easy to read a book like this and want to assign all blame to the evil "mother dearest" Lois, the crazy neurotic abusing adopted mother but there is more blame to be shared. What a sad state of affairs in what was seemingly a lovely small town that they could all turn away from bruises, open genital wounds and sick cruelty for their own hides. No one would challenge her cop brother. No one would speak aloud. Child abuse was unrecognized. Doctors were considering skull fractures and femur breaks as some kind of spontaneous anomaly. Doctors are very cautious now and report anything suspicious. Only good can come from these breakthroughs we have made in treating our young. As a professional reviewer stated, "From horror to enlightenment".