11/26/12 - Testimony resumes this morning in Oakland County Circuit Court in the murder trial of a Highland Township man accused of killing his mother. 22-year-old Jeffrey Pyne is charged with first-degree murder for allegedly beating and stabbing his mother, 51-year-old Ruth Pyne, to death in the garage of the family's Highland Township home on Burwood Court. Prosecutors contend the former high school valedictorian killed his mother because he was angry over her mental illness and refusal to take medications. The defense has argued that no physical evidence links Pyne to the killing and the case against him is entirely circumstantial. Testimony last week included that from Pyneâs boss at Spicerâs Orchard in Hartland Township who said he saw wounds on Pyneâs hands the day of the murder consistent with a rope burn or swinging a bat without gloves. An autopsy determined Ruth Pyne was struck multiple times in the head and arms with an object, believed to be a two-by-four, and then turned over and stabbed more than a dozen times. Pyne claimed to have hurt himself while throwing a wooden pallet while on the job. A co-worker also testified that he couldnât replicate the injury when he tried to throw a similar pallet. If convicted, Pyne faces life in prison without parole. (JK)
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