Murder in an All-American Town
Written: Mar 11 '01 (Updated Mar 12 '01)
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Product Rating:
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Pros: Honest, well-written and researched, engrossing
Cons: Graphic, horrifying, and heartbreaking
The Bottom Line: I highly recommend this book, though it's graphic nature and upsetting theme are difficult to handle. One of the best-written true crime stories I have ever read.
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| millymac's Full Review: Death in White Bear Lake: The True Chronicle of an... |
A Death in White Bear Lake" is a powerful and painful book. It is the story about a horrific crime that went unpunished for two decades. Thankfully, the laws governing investigations of children's unexplained deaths have changed drastically since Dennis Jurgens was battered to death in 1965, but the fact that "battered child syndrome" exists at all is our nation's shame.
"A Death in White Bear Lake" recounts how Dennis' biological mother was forced to give him up and was assured that he would be placed in a loving home. Many years later, when Jerry Sherwood began searching for the child, she received shocking news - Dennis had been dead since 1965. Autopsy reports showed the cause of death as perotinitis, a rupture of the intestines. But something didn't seem right to Jerry, and, realizing that her baby had very likely been murdered, she set out on a quest for the truth.
The truth was more disturbing and horrifying than she could have imagined. For little Dennis, dead at the age of three and a half, had suffered abuse and torture at the hands of his adoptive mother for most of his young life. Meanwhile, family and neighbors looked the other way, and, upon his death, gave statements to the police that were subsequently "misplaced." Perhaps the fact that Lois Jurgens' brother was on the police force had something to do with it. But Dennis' biological mother was persistent, and was able to get the case reopened in 1986. Subsequently, Lois Jurgens was convicted of Dennis' murder and sentenced to life in prison.
Justice came too late to save Dennis' life. Perhaps, if neighbors had acted upon their impulse to report Lois to the proper authorities, Dennis would be alive today. Perhaps, if the Jurgens had not been able to adopt their first child, Robert, then Dennis would never have been placed in their home. There are so many what-ifs, and they are indeed thought-provoking. Where do we draw the line between not wanting to interfere in people's "private" business and doing something that will perhaps save the life of an innocent child?
Barry Siegel allows the reader to decide if those who stood by and allowed Dennis to die, including his adoptive father, Harold, are as much to blame as Lois, who struck the fatal blow. Who killed this baby is no mystery; the real mystery lies in why it was allowed to happen at all and why it was covered up. Siegel spends much time describing the sheer niceness of this all-American town, with its peaceful neighborhoods and close-knit families. Yet here, yes, even here, child abuse could and did occur.
Portions of the book are all the more effective for either being deliberately understated or incredibly ironic. And the photo of Dennis, a chubby, smiling toddler, in stark contrast to the descriptions of his emaciated, destroyed corpse, will make you weep.
"A Death in White Bear Lake" will sicken and enrage you. Barry Siegel is honest and uncompromising in his telling of this American horror story. It is graphic, it is gruesome, it is designed to make you think, long and hard, about the way we treat our precious children. It will haunt you long after you finish the final page. Don't miss it.
Recommended:
Yes
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Epinions.com ID:
millymac
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Member: Christina McKenzie
Location: Daphne, AL
Reviews written: 520
Trusted by: 91 members
About Me:
I review lots of movies and books when I'm not teaching.
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