Rating: 
Summary: A brutal murder of a child that went unpunnished for 22 yrs
Review: 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
Rating:
Summary: Evil Next Door
Review: 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.
Rating:
Summary: Evil Next Door
Review: 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.
Rating:
Summary: Living in White Bear
Review: 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!
Rating:
Summary: A stellar performance
Review: 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!
Rating:
Summary: A moving read
Review: 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.
Rating:
Summary: A moving read
Review: 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.
Rating:
Summary: A First Rate Job!
Review: 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!!
Rating:
Summary: The best of the best of True Crime
Review: I am sorry to see this book is no longer in print. I was turned on by this book because my brother is friends with the people who currently live in the house where this abuse and murder took place. So I read the book and could not put it down. While visiting Minnesota I went to the grave sight of the murdered child. This book is a very good read. How the laws work and how a woman could get away with crime for so many years. I am not a morbid person and this book is not morbid either. It brings you into the forensics of an old murder. Wish it would come back in print.
Rating:
Summary: Original case establishing legal precedents - child abuse
Review: I don't usually pick up books of the 'true crime' genre. I am all too aware of man's inhumanity to man through my research and work as a disability rights advocate. I do enjoy forensic science for the science information and techniques used, but even then I tend to avoid reading more than a couple of those types of books a year. I don't need to fill my brain with 'junk' or with depressing subjects. Yet I am glad I picked up this book. As a mother and a grandmother, I've never really understood child abuse. I've heard many theories, and of course, in medical school (even for a PhD in neuroscience) students are exposed to this as a medical and social problem. But we didn't delve deeply into the psyche of those who abuse, and children who are abused. Since this is a topic which has always made me distinctly uncomfortable, it's not usually something I choose to read about (whether in reality or in mysteries...I stay far away from J. Kellerman for this reason). Siegel is evidently a journalist, and the book is written with a very compact journalistic bent. He rarely is wordy, and as a journalist, he learned to write with a minimum of unnecessary verbal adornment. He does not mince words. Even if he cannot prove it, Siegel makes it clear that he considers the cop brother of the defendant the reason why the child's death was not prosecuted in 1965, as the cop obviously interfered with the investigation and subsequently lied about it. Journalists are just as prone to opinions as the rest of us. As long as the reader is aware of that, and the fact that their writing will have a bias (one way or another), to an extent we can accept the information as 'close' to reality. This child's death is one of the first cases of child abuse to be brought to trial in the United States. I was unaware of the fact that prior to the '60s, abuse of children in regular middle-class and upper class homes was ignored. It's very difficult to read this book, not just for the fact that a woman nearly got away with the torture and death of a child, but because so many people turned away from the obvious abuse. Even though Mrs. Jurgens was the only person prosecuted, there is plenty of blame to go around. I would hope that I would never be guilty of avoiding 'involvement' in a case such as this in order to avoid discomfort or inconvenience. Thank heavens for the courage of those in authority who finally decided to prosecute this case, the natural mother for pursuing justice for her son, and especially the courage of the other adopted son of this woman who testified against her and in the process, lost what little semblance of parents he had. I hope that he has found some peace in his own life... A truly well-documented case and one that we need to be aware of ...
Karen Sadler,
Science Education,
University of Pittsburgh
| 
