Local man arraigned in mother's brutal slaying

PONTIAC (AP) -- A 21-year-old Oakland County man has been arraigned in the beating and stabbing death of his 51-year-old mother. Defense attorney Jim Champion says Jeffrey Pyne entered a not guilty plea Tuesday to a charge of first-degree murder in Oakland County Circuit Court in Pontiac. Pyne was ordered held without bond in the county jail. A Dec. 20 pre-trial hearing was scheduled. He was indicted earlier this month by a county grand jury reviewing unsolved homicides since June. Ruth Pyne was found dead May 27 inside the garage of their Highland Township home, about 30 miles northwest of Detroit. Champion says Jeffrey Pyne "did not commit" the slaying. Champion calls Ruth Pyne's murder "the work of a very sick man or woman, not the work of somebody's son." Published: Thu, Oct 27, 2011