Jeffrey Pyne accused of beating and stabbing mother to death after years of abuse goes on trial

The murder trial of a high school valedictorian begins today after he allegedly bludgeoned and stabbed his mother to death.

Jeffrey Pyne, 22, has been charged with first-degree murder in the death of his mother Ruth whose body was found in the garage of the family's suburban Michigan home.

Mrs Pyne, 51, was found in May 2011 by Jeffrey's ten-year-old sister Julia. She had been stabbed 16 times and her head repeatedly beaten with a board.

Family: Jeffrey, left, stands behind his little sister Julia, beside his mother Ruth and his father Beard, right, who maintains his son's innocence

Jury selection was under way at Oakland County Circuit this afteoon and could take several days.

Jeffrey Pyne was indicted by a secret grand jury five months after his mother's death in 2011. Although little has been revealed pre-trial, it is believed that the prosecution has mentioned wounds to the 22-year-old's hands, according to ABC.

Pyne, who was in the midst of a promising academic career studying biology at the University of Michigan, maintains his innocence, saying he was working as a handyman for a neighbor at the time of his mother's death. 

His father Beard Pyne also believes that his son is innocent of the brutal slaying on May 27, 2011. If convicted, Jeffrey Pyne faces life without parole.

The defense has suggested that the brutal murder could have been committed by an intruder although nothing was stolen from the home, according to the Detroit News.

The 22-year-old has been in jail since being arrested in October last year. He was first held in the same Oakland County prison where his mother spent two weeks in 2010, charged with beating her son and trying to choke him.

Many in the close-knit, rural community of Highland Township knew that the pair had a dysfunctional and volatile relationship.

Mrs Pyne, a dental hygienist, reportedly suffered from psychosis and paranoid schizophrenia and was involuntarily hospitalized.

Court documents stated she needed medication to control her violent tendencies, most of which were targeted towards her son.

His father Beard, a 52-year-old automotive engineer, maintains his son is innocent and would never do anything to hurt his mother.

Court records show that it was when Jeffrey was only nine that his mother started threatening to kill him. Beard Pyne described his wife as a 'kind and loving mother' when she had taken her medication.

Defense attoey James Champion of Grand Rapids said Jeffrey Pyne played no role in the death.

'This wasn't a case of some kind of struggle or outburst,' Mr Champion said. 'Jeffrey Pyne did not do this. This is something Jeffrey Dahmer would do, not Jeffrey Pyne.'

For five months her murder was unsolved before the case was taken up by Oakland County grand jury, convened earlier this year to review dozens of unsolved homicides. Prosecutors said testimony ties Jeffrey Pyne to his mother's death.

'The grand jury compelled testimony from the defendant's family, friends and coworkers, which produced evidence linking Jeffrey Pyne to the murder,' Oakland County Prosecutor Jessica Cooper said in announcing the indictment.

The Pynes - who were deeply religious - enrolled their son and daughter at West Highland Christian Academy where Jeffrey Pyne was described as a star student and athlete.

From 1998 onwards, Ruth Pyne's mental health deteriorated, and she would threaten to kill herself and her son. After this she was diagnosed with being both bipolar and a paranoid schizophrenic.

Over the coming years, psychiatrists would describe her as 'angry and violent', 'severely mentally ill', 'a danger to herself and others' and suffering from 'acute mania', court records show.

In 2009, in a petition to the probate court asking that his wife be committed to a mental hospital, Beard Pyne wrote she was refusing medication, believed a computer chip had been implanted in her daughter and had been 'striking our son for no reason'.

He had sent their young daughter Julia to stay with relatives. According to the Detroit Free Press, Beard Pyne wrote: 'I must work, and can't monitor her when I work. ... She claims that her family could die, and it would not bother her at all.'

Her treating psychiatrist wrote on October 7, 2009: 'She is likely to deteriorate severely and become a danger to herself and others due to her refusal to accept treatment for her very serious mental illness,' and recommended immediate transport to a mental health hospital for involuntary commitment.

She was in and out of hospital and spent time in jail in 2010 after trying to kill her son. The judge released her on $10,000 bond and said she could retu home as long as she took her medication in front of her husband.

The trial of Jeffrey Pyne continues.