The Perfect Family

Summary

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48 Hours: The Perfect Family

Podcast Summary
Release Date: May 20, 2026
Host: CBS News (48 Hours team)
Case: The Murder of Ruth Pyne

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Episode Overview

This gripping episode of 48 Hours probes beneath the surface of the Pyne family's suburban Michigan life, unraveling a tale that begins with a portrait of domestic bliss and ends in tragedy, suspicion, and heartbreak. Through award-winning reporting, the episode reconstructs the violent murder of Ruth Pyne, exploring the unraveling of a "perfect" family, the complexities of mental illness, and the legal odyssey that ensued when her son, Jeffrey Pyne, stood accused of her murder.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. The Family Behind the Facade

• Bernie Pyne recalls the early years as idyllic and full of love:
  • "She wasn't just beautiful on the outside, she was beautiful on the inside, too...And it was the perfect family." (00:54)
• The family’s world unravels after Ruth is diagnosed with bipolar disorder with psychotic features.
  • Ruth’s paranoia and refusal to take medication escalates household tension.

2. Ruth Pyne’s Mental Illness and Family Struggles

• Bernie details Ruth’s mental decline:
  • "She explained it to me that she believed that all medication was a form of sorcery and that she wasn't going to take it." (05:10)
• Incidents of violence and failed interventions:
  • Ruth was arrested for domestic violence against Jeffrey.
  • The family, including daughter Julia, endured emotional hardship and instability.

3. Marital Breakdown and Infidelity

• Bernie began seeing another woman and contemplated divorce, amplifying tensions within the home:
  • "As much as I loved her, I just couldn't take it anymore." (07:11)
  • Ruth agrees to take medication to save the marriage, briefly improving the situation.

4. Ruth’s Murder—A Brutal Crime Scene

• On May 27, 2011, Ruth is found dead—beaten and stabbed in her garage.
  • "She was struck with a board somewhere between 12 and 14 times, and then she was stabbed in the neck 16 times." —Linda Jarvi (01:37)
• Detectives immediately suspect someone with a personal connection due to the rage involved:
  • "The injuries were so excessive...it was something personal." —Detective Hendrick (01:55)

5. The Investigation: Suspicions and Alibis

• Bernie Pyne initially becomes the prime suspect due to his troubled marriage and past violent incident, but his alibi is airtight and corroborated (10:46).
• Bernie assists detectives in the search for Ruth’s killer but is stunned when suspicion shifts to his son.

6. The Case Against Jeffrey Pyne

• Jeffrey Pyne (then 21) is arrested several months later, becoming the only suspect.
  • Evidence is largely circumstantial: blisters on Jeffrey’s hands, a questionable alibi, and alleged inconsistencies in his story.
  • Detectives focus on his lack of emotion during interrogation:
    • "The lack of emotion, the lack of any questions. He never asked us one question about anything." —Sergeant Hendrick (19:57)

7. The Trial: Prosecution and Defense

• The prosecution constructs a mosaic of motives and circumstantial evidence, presenting Jeffrey’s blisters and false statements about his activities as incriminating (24:08).
• Holly Freeman, Jeffrey’s ex-girlfriend, delivers damaging testimony:
  • "He just lied so effortlessly to me, to my family, to my friends." (28:28)
• The defense, led by James Champion, attacks the lack of physical evidence, highlighting that no blood or DNA ties Jeffrey to the crime (33:10), and argues that demeanor is not evidence of guilt.

8. Jury Deliberations & Verdit

• The judge allows the jury to consider both first- and second-degree murder (37:03).
• After days of deliberation, Jeffrey is found guilty of second-degree murder (41:28):
  • "We the jury find the defendant guilty of second degree murder." —Jury Foreman (41:28)
• Bernie Pyne is devastated but remains convinced of his son’s innocence, maintaining:
  • "It was a coward and a monster that did this to my wife. And that's not my son." (44:40)

9. Sentencing and Aftermath

• Jeffrey is sentenced to 20–60 years in prison (44:24).
• Bernie reads a heartfelt letter from Julia, asking for her brother’s return and expressing the family’s loss (43:43, 44:17).
• Family members remain divided, with Ruth's sister expressing hope Jeffrey gets help, and Bernie promising Julia he’ll fight for her brother’s return.

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• Bernie Pyne on family image:

  • "Lots of happy times. Ruth was a wonderful woman, wonderful mom, and wonderful wife. Lots of happy times." (04:06)

• Detective Dave Hendrick on the nature of the crime:

  • "This was a brutal case that literally is destroying a family." (03:19)

• On Jeffrey’s character:

  • "He's a tender soul. He's not a fighter. He's a loving son." —Bernie Pyne (06:26)

• On the investigation’s emotional toll:

  • "I can't believe what you're doing to my family. Do you realize what you've done to this family?" —Bernie to Detective Hendrick, during a confrontation (36:08)

• Bernie on heartbreak:

  • "I miss my family." (32:01)

• Courtroom surprise:

  • "Your Honor, at this point, the defense rests." —Defense Attorney James Champion (31:12)

• Judge’s sentence:

  • "This court sentences the defendant to 20 years to 60 years with the Michigan Department of Corrections." (44:24)

• Bernie’s denial and pain:

  • "If I thought my son had anything to do with this, we wouldn't need courts...I'd have marched him into the police department and we'd have taken care of this." (45:01)

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Timeline of Important Segments

| Timestamp | Segment | |-----------|---------| | 00:54 | Bernie describes the family’s loving beginnings | | 01:37 | Discovery of Ruth’s murder detailed by her sister | | 04:40 | Ruth’s diagnosis and mental health challenges emerge | | 06:07 | Incident of domestic violence and Ruth’s arrest | | 07:11 | Bernie contemplates, then nearly files for divorce | | 14:54 | The murder scene and Bernie's discovery | | 17:18 | Blisters on Jeffrey’s hands raise suspicion | | 19:09 | Trouble with Jeffrey’s alibi uncovered | | 22:19 | Jeffrey’s trial begins | | 24:08 | Testimony about blisters—no one can recreate his injuries | | 28:28 | Ex-girlfriend Holly’s testimony on Jeffrey’s effortless lying | | 31:12 | Defense declines to call any witnesses | | 33:01 | Defense closing arguments emphasize lack of evidence | | 37:03 | Jury allowed to consider second-degree murder charge | | 41:28 | Jeffrey convicted of second-degree murder | | 43:43 | Bernie reads Julia’s letter at sentencing | | 44:24 | Jeffrey is sentenced to 20–60 years | | 45:51 | Reflections on the case’s heartbreak for all involved |

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Episode Tone & Final Reflection

48 Hours maintains its signature investigative and empathetic tone, blending clinical analysis of crime scene and evidence with raw, unvarnished emotion from family members and investigators alike. The episode underscores the devastating ripple effects of violent crime—fractured families, ongoing doubts, and the weight of justice when certainty is hard to come by.

As the dust settles, listeners are left with unsettling questions about guilt, innocence, and the fragile bonds of family. As Bernie Pyne remarks:

• "Julie and I are very close, and we're going to move on. We're going to take this one day at a time. And I've promised her that I will do everything I can to bring her brother back to her." (46:09)

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For Further Listening

The episode concludes with an open invitation to explore related segments in the 48 Hours podcast family and a reminder of the show's broader impact on criminal justice—and on the private lives so often shattered by its course.

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Transcript

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[Bernie Pyne]

And that's Ruth, one of the most beautiful women to ever live. She wasn't just beautiful on the outside, she was beautiful on the inside, too. She was very down to earth, very real fun. She loved being a mom, and it was the perfect family. My wife Ruth, my son Jeffrey, and my daughter Julia. Jeffrey was a great student. He was the valedictorian. And I'm lucky to have a son like him, and I'm lucky to have a daughter like little Miss America. And then one day, something went horribly wrong.

[911 Operator]

911. Where's your emergency? My wife, she's laying in the garage. There's blood everywhere.

[Linda Jarvi (Ruth's sister)]

On May 27, 2011, my sister Ruth was found murdered in her garage. She was struck with a board somewhere between 12 and 14 times, and then she was stabbed in the neck 16 times. I never looked at the pictures. I couldn't. I don't want that memory of my sister.

[Detective Dave Hendrick]

The injuries were so excessive. We knew that there was some type of a rage that we felt, that it was something that was personal.

[Detective Greg Glover]

And he hit her in the back of the head. This was an angry killing. It was the result of years of things that had built up. Living with a difficult person.

[Holly Freeman (Jeffrey's ex-girlfriend)]

Jeff told me that his mother was storing knives in her headboard.

[Sergeant Hendrick]

Ruth had been violent with both of the children.

[Linda Jarvi (Ruth's sister)]

I believe my sister was very victimized by her family.

[Detective Dave Hendrick]

Nobody knows what goes on behind closed doors and in someone's home. The family was not the family that they appeared to be.

[Linda Jarvi (Ruth's sister)]

The police asked me who killed my sister, and I said, Bernie Pyne.

[Bernie Pyne]

To have people think that you could do it is just the most disgusting and debilitating thought that you can have.

[Interviewer/Host]

And then when they started pointing at

[Bernie Pyne]

your son, that's even more ludicrous. Jeffrey could never hurt his mother. There's just no way.

[Linda Jarvi (Ruth's sister)]

It's a tragic story. You feel like this could be made up but it's not. It's real life.

[Narrator/Storyteller]

A savagely murdered suburban wife and mother. Her husband and son the prime suspects. Even for a couple of hard bitten detectives like Dave Hendrick and Greg Glover, this was a tough one.

[Detective Dave Hendrick]

We take no joy in this case. I mean, this was a brutal case that literally is destroying a family.

[Narrator/Storyteller]

It started as a love story. Bernie Pyne says he was smitten the minute he saw a fresh faced farm girl named Ruth walk across the room during his senior year in high school.

[Bernie Pyne]

I said, you are beautiful. We need to go out. And she said, just get out of here.

[Interviewer/Host]

But you were relentless.

[Bernie Pyne]

I called her up about every couple months and on the one occasion she goes, yes, I will. We were actually married less than 10 months later.

[Narrator/Storyteller]

They settled in suburban Detroit and eventually had two kids, Jeffrey and 10 years later, Julia.

[Bernie Pyne]

These pictures don't lie. I mean, there were many, many years that were not just normal, but they were wonderful. Ruth was wonderful woman, wonderful mom, and wonderful wife. Lots of happy times.

[Narrator/Storyteller]

But Bernie says nearly 20 years into the marriage, their lives took a very dark turn.

[Bernie Pyne]

I looked at her and I could just tell that there was something wrong. Then I noticed that she didn't sleep. And I asked her, I said, have you had trouble sleeping? She goes, yeah, I haven't slept in eight days. And that's when we knew that there was something drastically wrong.

[Narrator/Storyteller]

Ruth was eventually diagnosed as bipolar with psychotic features.

[Interviewer/Host]

As the illness progressed, what was her mental state like?

[Bernie Pyne]

She would actually think of things like there were listening devices in the house. In fact, one time she actually thought there was a tracking device in her bloodstream.

[Narrator/Storyteller]

She grew increasingly paranoid, says Bernie, even stashing knives in the headboard of their bed. She was prescribed antipsychotic drugs, but she refused to take them.

[Bernie Pyne]

She explained it to me that she believed that all medication was a form of sorcery and that she wasn't going to take it.

[Narrator/Storyteller]

Despite Ruth's illness, Bernie says the children managed to excel. Julia in ballet, Jeffrey on the basketball court and in the classroom.

[Interviewer/Host]

And he was top of his class.

[Bernie Pyne]

Oh yeah, oh yeah. He was the valedictorian, and he was actually one of the top three recruits in the honors program at U of M Flint.

[Narrator/Storyteller]

All that while holding down two jobs and caring for Julia when his mom was too ill. You can see the toll it took on Julia from this heartbreaking drawing she made when she was just 8. Ruth's sister, Linda Jarvi.

[Linda Jarvi (Ruth's sister)]

Somebody had a, you know, be there and take care of the family. Jeff had to be the guy There to pick up the pieces.

[Narrator/Storyteller]

After a vicious cycle, on and off meds, in and out of hospitals, things turned violent in 2010.

[Bernie Pyne]

She'd been off her medication. She hadn't been sleeping. She was just miserable. And I said, ruth, just please take your medication. After she got through telling me basically no, Jeffrey came in the room and she launched out of the bed and grabbed his throat and tried to hit him.

[Interviewer/Host]

And Jeffrey never fought back?

[Bernie Pyne]

Never.

[Interviewer/Host]

Why not?

[Bernie Pyne]

He's a tender soul. He's not a fighter. He's a loving son.

[Narrator/Storyteller]

The police were called to the scene, says Detective Hendrick.

[Sergeant Hendrick]

She was in fact arrested for domestic violence.

[911 Operator]

I called Bernard Pyne to the stand.

[Narrator/Storyteller]

Ruth spent over two weeks in jail time. Bernie and Jeffrey used to petition the court to free force her to take her medicine.

[Bernie Pyne]

You know, I don't want her to have to take medicine either, but it just seems like when she doesn't, all kinds of bad things happen.

[Narrator/Storyteller]

Ruth, sitting there on the right, was sent to the hospital for 23 days. But when she returned home, she once again refused to take her meds.

[Bernie Pyne]

We loved Ruth, but it was getting old. I actually went to the attorney and I had done everything but serve Ruth the papers.

[Interviewer/Host]

Divorce papers.

[Bernie Pyne]

Divorce papers. As much as I loved her, I just couldn't take it anymore.

[Narrator/Storyteller]

There was something else. Bernie had met a woman, Renee Janelle, the manager of a local GNC store.

[Bernie Pyne]

Somehow the relationship escalated, and when it was all said and done, we were very close.

[Narrator/Storyteller]

Ruth caught Bernie and his lover having dinner at a local restaurant. For Bernie, the final straw. That night, he asked Ruth for a divorce.

[Bernie Pyne]

And she said, bernie, I'll do whatever it takes to save my marriage and my family. When she said that to me, I said, okay, that means you must take your medication and you must let me go to the doctor with you so that we can work with it and get the levels right.

[Interviewer/Host]

And did she?

[Bernie Pyne]

She did.

[Interviewer/Host]

So the Pyne household was a happy household. In the spring of 2011, we were

[Bernie Pyne]

at the best place that we had been in a long time.

[Narrator/Storyteller]

But before the spring was over, 51 year old Ruth Pine would be found

[Interviewer/Host]

lying in a pool of her own blood here on her garage floor, so

[Narrator/Storyteller]

badly beaten that her skull was cracked open.

[Linda Jarvi (Ruth's sister)]

I don't want to think about what my sister had to go through in the final moments of her life. I really don't. You hope that she was unconscious and knocked out, you know, early. You don't want to go there. It's too painful.

[Narrator/Storyteller]

But she did think about who did it and wasted no time telling the police.

[Linda Jarvi (Ruth's sister)]

The police asked me who killed my sister, and I said, bernie Pyne. He's a violent person. I mean, I'm afraid of him.

[Narrator/Storyteller]

And Linda says so was her sister, at least till Jeffrey was born.

[Linda Jarvi (Ruth's sister)]

There was always a sense that Ruth was afraid of her situation with Bernie, and she left him a few times to come live with me.

[Narrator/Storyteller]

Bernie denies ever harming Ruth and says she never stayed with Linda during their marriage. But he does admit he had a wild streak in his youth.

[Bernie Pyne]

I was a little bit of trouble back then. A little rough around the edges.

[Narrator/Storyteller]

He was once arrested for putting a guy in a coma during a bar fight, but was acquitted of felony assault. Bernie insists those days are long gone. Still, he knew it didn't look bad.

[Interviewer/Host]

So there was a point where you felt like you were a suspect?

[Bernie Pyne]

Well, I'm a husband of a mentally ill woman who had had an affair within the last six months. Yes.

[Interviewer/Host]

What was it like living under that cloud of suspicion?

[Bernie Pyne]

Very uncomfortable.

[Interviewer/Host]

How so? Did you feel like everyone was watching you?

[Bernie Pyne]

Well, in the first place, as a, as a husband, to have your wife brutalized like this is the most

[Judge Bowman]

painful

[Bernie Pyne]

and humiliating thing that can happen to any person. And then to have people think that you could do it is the most disgusting and debilitating thought that you can have.

[Narrator/Storyteller]

But it turned out that Bernie had an ironclad alibi backed by his boss and four witnesses. He was at a retirement lunch for one of his buddies at work.

[Sergeant Hendrick]

It took a couple days, but we were able to actually confirm Bernie's alibi and pretty much rule him out as a suspect.

[Narrator/Storyteller]

Bernie started calling Detective Glover, sharing information and helping out however he could.

[Bernie Pyne]

I wanted to be part of finding out who did this to my wife.

[Narrator/Storyteller]

The two men developed a close rapport, but it was not destined to last.

[Detective Dave Hendrick]

It came to a point to where Bernie flat out asked us. He said, I want to know in your mind, who the monster is that committed this crime. And I actually said to Bernie, I said, bernie, I said, I'm not sure you want us to tell you that. And he said, I want to know who the monster is in this case. And I said, bernie, I said, your son is the one that killed your wife.

[Narrator/Storyteller]

In October 2011, five months after his mother was found bludgeoned and stabbed to death, 21 year old Jeffrey Pine was arrested and charged with first degree murder.

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[Bernie Pyne]

So I'm a better suspect in any day than Jeffrey could ever be. I was the one that was trapped in a marriage. When you look at this, you know that with a mentally ill woman, I mean, looking at it from the outside, I'm a logical suspect. There's no doubt about it. Jeffrey could never hurt his mother. There's just no way.

[Judge Bowman]

So you may all be seated.

[Detective Dave Hendrick]

Nobody wants to believe that somebody like Jeff is capable of this type of a crime. The person that everybody thought was the perfect kid on the inside wasn't as perfect as what they were seeing on the outside.

[Narrator/Storyteller]

When detectives Greg Glover and Dave Hendrick received a call for assistance on May 27, 2011, they could not have imagined what was awaiting them.

[Sergeant Hendrick]

Multiple, multiple puncture wounds to her neck. It appeared to be multiple wounds to her head. There's rage, there's violence there. I mean, that's indicative of some sort of personal relationship between the victim and the killer.

[Detective Dave Hendrick]

I've been doing this for almost 25 years, and this was probably one of the worst crime scenes that I had seen.

[Narrator/Storyteller]

It was an unsuspecting Bernie who discovered the gruesome scene when he arrived home after picking up his daughter from school.

[Interviewer/Host]

So what happened when you came home?

[Bernie Pyne]

Julia and I got out of the car. We parked right here, walked around the back of the house, and I saw Ruth's arm. Luckily, Julia didn't go inside.

[Interviewer/Host]

And she was right in the doorway.

[Bernie Pyne]

Yeah, she was actually up against the door.

[Narrator/Storyteller]

Bernie ran from the house before Julia could fully see what happened. Calling out to Neighbors and calling 911.

[911 Operator]

911, where's your emergency? My wife, she's laying in the garage. There's blood everywhere. I can't. I don't know what's going on.

[Narrator/Storyteller]

Police arrived within a few minutes, but Ruth was already dead, Viciously beaten with an object and repeatedly snapped, stabbed.

[Bernie Pyne]

I remember there was blood everywhere.

[Narrator/Storyteller]

As police investigated the scene, Bernie called Jeffrey, who had started his shift at 3 o' clock that afternoon working at Spicer Orchards.

[Bernie Pyne]

First time I called him, no answer. Second time I said, jeffrey, you need to. You need to come home.

[Interviewer/Host]

Did you tell him why?

[Bernie Pyne]

I did not tell him why.

[Interviewer/Host]

And when Jeffrey got to the house, what happened?

[Bernie Pyne]

That's when I told him that mom was dead.

[Interviewer/Host]

Did he ask you what happened?

[Bernie Pyne]

I don't remember the. I don't remember the conversation. I was pretty. I was in a bit of shock.

[Narrator/Storyteller]

When Jeffrey arrived home, he found his first father and sister being consoled in the backseat of an ambulance. It was there that EMS workers noticed and bandaged blisters on Jeffrey's hands, which he said developed after lifting a large pallet at work.

[Detective Dave Hendrick]

When I had heard the story that he gave about how he injured those hands on a pallet, I was suspicious of it. As a teenager in high school, I worked in a feed store, and I've moved hundreds of wooden pallets and had never came up with an injury even remotely close to that. Nothing more than a sliver.

[Bernie Pyne]

I've seen those blisters on him, and usually it's from shoveling and Raking and that type of thing. I don't know if those were new blisters or old blisters. They didn't look like new blisters to me. They looked to me the way I look at it. Looked like old blisters that he'd actually ripped the skin off throwing the pallet, which would make perfect sense to me. Blisters don't make a murderer.

[Narrator/Storyteller]

Jeffrey told police he had been home with his mother before and after she went shopping that morning.

[Sergeant Hendrick]

We know that she left the Meijer store at approximately 10:54am we know the body was found at 2:30.

[Narrator/Storyteller]

It's what happened between those hours that will prove Jeffrey's innocence or guilt.

[Bernie Pyne]

And he told me he left the house at 1:30. And that's when I knew whatever had happened happened between then and 2:30.

[Interviewer/Host]

In that one hour window?

[Bernie Pyne]

In that one hour window, yes.

[Interviewer/Host]

And did you ask him how was Mom?

[Bernie Pyne]

He told me she was laying in bed. One of the things he told me that I said, what's the last thing you did before you left? And he said, well, I got the mail and I threw it on the fireplace and said bye to Mom.

[Sergeant Hendrick]

I mean, everybody is focused on the fact that he left at 1:30. He says he left at 1:30. We don't know that he didn't have a confrontation and kill his mother shortly after she came home. If that's the case, he had two hours to clean up, approximately get things together and leave.

[Narrator/Storyteller]

Jeffrey says after leaving his home, he drove a few miles to his neighbor's Diane Needham to do some gardening.

[Detective Dave Hendrick]

Was very specific about planting five lilac bushes. We discovered that the lilac plants or bushes had been planted on the Monday prior. We'd found out through Mrs. Needham. She was very specific about that. So at that point, we knew that he had not been there and planted those lilac bushes as he had told us.

[Sergeant Hendrick]

Jeff, My name is Sergeant Hendrick. I'm with the Sheriff's department.

[911 Operator]

Hendrick.

[Narrator/Storyteller]

And when Jeffrey was brought in for questioning the night of his mother's murder, detectives were struck by his demeanor.

[Sergeant Hendrick]

You have no idea how your mom died or anything?

[Bernie Pyne]

No.

[Detective Greg Glover]

Okay.

[911 Operator]

Your mom was murdered.

[Sergeant Hendrick]

Someone killed your mom. The lack of emotion, the lack of any questions. He never asked us questions about anything. So if there's anything else that you know about that you've been holding back. He never asked us how she died, how she was killed, who did this, anything. He never asked us one question about anything.

[Bernie Pyne]

I don't know what to tell you.

[Interviewer/Host]

Is it strange that he never asked what happened when they said your mom has been murdered, that he didn't say how, what. What happened?

[Bernie Pyne]

You know, I don't. As far as I'm concerned, okay, that's Jeffrey. He's very even. And you know, they're asking the questions. He's not.

[911 Operator]

Did you have any arguments with your mom today? I didn't say anything hurtful to her. I did nothing.

[Detective Dave Hendrick]

We felt the police were accusing you of killing your mother and you hadn't done that. That you would be very adamant and very strong by stating that you have the wrong guy. I didn't do this. Jeff Pine has never to this day told us that he did not kill his mother.

[Narrator/Storyteller]

The detached demeanor, the questionable alibi. I went over there, transplanted her lilacs, those mysterious blisters.

[Detective Dave Hendrick]

Can you take the bandages off your hands for us?

[Narrator/Storyteller]

Along with no sign of Ruth being sexually assaulted and no sign of a break in, made Jeffrey not just the prime suspect, but the only suspect.

[Sergeant Hendrick]

We took months working this investigation. Anytime we developed information on another suspect or things that the family would say, well, what about these people? Or what about that? We looked into them, we ran them down, we checked them out. We went into as much detail as we could to eliminate anybody else that was a possible suspect. There was no one else.

[Bernie Pyne]

The boy didn't do it. My son would never harm his mother. They have this one wrong. The police make mistakes. And this is a mistake.

[911 Operator]

Your Honor, now calling in the matter of the people of the state of Michigan versus Jeffrey Pyne. All rise for the jury.

[Narrator/Storyteller]

Nearly a year and a half after the brutal slaying of Ruth Pine, her son is going on trial.

[Detective Greg Glover]

This is the kind of a case that is a mosaic. It's like a jigsaw puzzle. We're going to put all these pieces together.

[Narrator/Storyteller]

The stakes are high for Jeffrey Pine. If convicted, he would spend the rest of his life in prison.

[Detective Greg Glover]

You're going to see that what it forms is the picture of a man, Jeffrey Pine, committing a first degree premeditated murder.

[Narrator/Storyteller]

Prosecutor John Skrinsky gained national attention when he won a conviction against suicide, Dr. Jack Kevorkian in 1999.

[Detective Greg Glover]

Jack Kevorkian does not have the right to kill.

[Narrator/Storyteller]

He's won dozens of other high profile cases.

[Defense Attorney James Champion]

I want to make something perfectly clear.

[Narrator/Storyteller]

This is the first murder trial for defense attorney James Champion.

[Defense Attorney James Champion]

We're not exercising a defense of insanity or self defense or some other excusable homicide.

[Narrator/Storyteller]

Most of Jeffrey's family is pulling for him. Even Ruth's sister Linda is Trying to keep an open mind.

[Linda Jarvi (Ruth's sister)]

I wanted to be a good aunt for Jeff and really listen to the testimony. Maybe Jeff didn't do this. Maybe Jeff didn't do this.

[Detective Greg Glover]

I just want to show you these.

[Narrator/Storyteller]

Prosecutor Skrinsky begins with the only physical evidence implicating Jeffrey. Rip the skin right off the blisters on his hands that Jeffrey claims he got handling wooden pallets at work.

[Detective Greg Glover]

Do you handle pallets in boxes often? Wooden pallets and boxes?

[911 Operator]

Yes.

[Narrator/Storyteller]

On the stand, Jeffrey's friend and co worker Nick.

[Detective Dave Hendrick]

I smashed my finger between a box before. Yes.

[Narrator/Storyteller]

He says he's hurt his hands at work, but never the way Jeffrey says he did. Even when he tried to duplicate Jeffrey's injuries.

[911 Operator]

I tried multiple times, picking up pallets in multiple different ways, and I could not. I couldn't do it.

[Detective Greg Glover]

You were trying to simulate the injuries and you couldn't do it?

[Sergeant Hendrick]

No.

[911 Operator]

No.

[Detective Greg Glover]

Was that Jeff's voice? Yes.

[Narrator/Storyteller]

Skrinsky then launches an attack on Jeffrey's alibi. Remember, Jeffrey says he left his house around 1:30 on the day of the murder and went over to a neighbor's house to plant lilac bushes and paint the basement.

[911 Operator]

Hey, Mrs. Ham, it's Jeffrey.

[Narrator/Storyteller]

Skrinsky plays the jury a voicemail message Jeffrey left on Diane Needham's phone that day.

[911 Operator]

I've been over to your house a few times. I thought you were coming home.

[Narrator/Storyteller]

It's a very detailed message.

[911 Operator]

I was just over there for about an hour or so, just kind of sweeping up, kind of checking things out.

[Narrator/Storyteller]

But he never mentions the lilac bushes.

[911 Operator]

I was actually hoping he'd be there.

[Sergeant Hendrick]

I think he was looking for an alibi.

[Narrator/Storyteller]

Detective Hendrick believes Jeffrey left the voicemail to back up his alibi.

[Sergeant Hendrick]

He was hoping that she was either there so he could run over to the house or at least talk to her on the phone to give him something to tell us later. Hey, it couldn't have been me. I was here.

[Interviewer/Host]

You may have a seat.

[Narrator/Storyteller]

The state then calls medical examiner Ruben Ortiz Reyes. He testifies that the manner in which Ruth Pine was brutally slain does reveal something about her killer.

[Detective Greg Glover]

Based on the wounds themselves, can you tell anything about the person who committed this crime?

[Sergeant Hendrick]

In forensic pathology, it's called overkilling because the injuries at the beginning were enough to kill this person. But whoever did it was upset.

[Detective Greg Glover]

Can you say that that person is enraged?

[Sergeant Hendrick]

Yes. Could be enraged.

[Detective Greg Glover]

Does that indicate some kind of relationship between the people?

[Sergeant Hendrick]

It's possible.

[Interviewer/Host]

And there's something more. After she was savagely beaten, Ruth Pine

[Narrator/Storyteller]

was still Alive before. She was then stabbed 16 times.

[Sergeant Hendrick]

I don't know. How long did it take?

[Narrator/Storyteller]

The ME Says a couple of minutes may have passed as the attacker looked for a knife.

[Detective Dave Hendrick]

He intended on killing her.

[Narrator/Storyteller]

Detective Greg Glover.

[Detective Dave Hendrick]

He could have stopped what he was doing and walked away from it. And he didn't do that. He continued the assault a second time.

[Interviewer/Host]

And does that make it premeditated?

[Detective Dave Hendrick]

Under the law? Yes, it does.

[911 Operator]

Do you swear or fight?

[Narrator/Storyteller]

It's a circumstantial case. But what about motive? What would make this perfect son turn into a brutal killer?

[Detective Greg Glover]

How do you know Mr. Pine?

[Holly Freeman (Jeffrey's ex-girlfriend)]

He was my boyfriend.

[Narrator/Storyteller]

Jeffrey's ex girlfriend, Holly Freeman.

[Detective Greg Glover]

Can you describe the relationship?

[Holly Freeman (Jeffrey's ex-girlfriend)]

It was a serious relationship. We had talked about marriage and kids.

[Narrator/Storyteller]

She would open a window on life inside. Inside the Pine home and deliver perhaps the most dramatic and damaging testimony of the trial.

[Holly Freeman (Jeffrey's ex-girlfriend)]

He became emotional often and almost every time it was about his mother.

[Narrator/Storyteller]

Holly learned of Ruth's mental illness and that often it became too much for Jeffrey.

[Holly Freeman (Jeffrey's ex-girlfriend)]

There were many things that bothered him that he tried to brush off, but they would accumulate and result in him having an emotional breakdown.

[Narrator/Storyteller]

Jeffrey considered moving out, but Holly says he worried about what would happen to his little sister.

[Holly Freeman (Jeffrey's ex-girlfriend)]

He felt bad leaving Julia there, and he was worried for her.

[Narrator/Storyteller]

But just two months before Ruth's murder, something happened that made Holly look at Jeffrey in a completely different way.

[Detective Greg Glover]

Can you tell the jury what happened?

[Holly Freeman (Jeffrey's ex-girlfriend)]

At that time, Jeff had told me. Sorry.

[Narrator/Storyteller]

Holly found out Jeffrey had cheated on her.

[Holly Freeman (Jeffrey's ex-girlfriend)]

I was completely thrown off.

[Detective Greg Glover]

In what way?

[Holly Freeman (Jeffrey's ex-girlfriend)]

Because Jeff, to me, Jeff was the perfect guy, the perfect son, the perfect boyfriend.

[Bernie Pyne]

And

[Holly Freeman (Jeffrey's ex-girlfriend)]

that was the first time ever that I had ever had a reason to doubt him.

[Detective Greg Glover]

And that was as a result of his cheating?

[Holly Freeman (Jeffrey's ex-girlfriend)]

Yes, because he lied so effortlessly to me, to my family, to my friends.

[Linda Jarvi (Ruth's sister)]

What really tied it together was probably Holly's testimony that Jeff can lie so effortlessly. Why? Why does Jeff. Did Jeff do this? What is so wrong with him?

[Defense Attorney James Champion]

Well, I can see how that doesn't look good, but that's nowhere near proof beyond a reasonable doubt.

[Judge Bowman]

Mr. Champion, the people have rested at this point.

[Narrator/Storyteller]

The defense is about to reveal a surprise of its own.

[Judge Bowman]

Is it your intention to call any witnesses?

[Bernie Pyne]

Par les tu francais?

[911 Operator]

Hablas espanol?

[Bernie Pyne]

Parle italiano?

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[Bernie Pyne]

This is a tough day. It's a tough thing to go through. Appreciate it.

[Judge Bowman]

You may all be seated. Court turns to the defense. Is it your intention to call any witnesses?

[Defense Attorney James Champion]

Your Honor, at this point, the defense rests.

[Narrator/Storyteller]

James Champion shocks the courtroom, declining to call any witnesses.

[Interviewer/Host]

Why didn't you call any witnesses?

[Defense Attorney James Champion]

We really felt that they hadn't proven the case beyond a reasonable doubt. They hadn't satisfied their burden of proof. They had a case that laid an egg. They had a case that ran out of air, that ran out of energy, that ran out of gas.

[Narrator/Storyteller]

Champion is sure the esteemed Mr. Skrinsky isn't going to win this one. Bernie is praying he's right.

[Detective Greg Glover]

He's guilty.

[Bernie Pyne]

Ladies and gentlemen, I have to believe that the system's going to work and that Jeffrey will be home. This was one of Rue's favorites right here.

[Narrator/Storyteller]

Bernie hasn't been able to touch or hug his son in more than a year.

[Interviewer/Host]

What do you miss most?

[Bernie Pyne]

I miss my family.

[Narrator/Storyteller]

He's allowed only one visit a week to Jeffrey.

[Bernie Pyne]

I feel like the government literally came in and stole my son.

[Narrator/Storyteller]

Bernie says he's Never felt so powerless, but believes he has the truth on his side.

[Interviewer/Host]

Did you ever flat out ask him if he killed Ruth?

[Bernie Pyne]

He and I had the conversation, if you will.

[Interviewer/Host]

The conversation?

[Bernie Pyne]

The conversation meaning what? I remember it very well. I said, jeffrey, I don't know what's going on here, but they're really looking hard at you. And I need to know, did something happen here? Did mom lose it? I said, it would actually be easier to defend you for self defense than it would be for anything else. I need to know, did something happen here? And he looked at me and said, dad, I could never. He says, I could never hurt anyone, let alone Mom. I loved her.

[Interviewer/Host]

And that was it.

[Bernie Pyne]

I knew right then.

[Defense Attorney James Champion]

Ladies and gentlemen, the jury. Good morning.

[DSW Advertiser]

Good morning.

[Narrator/Storyteller]

And now it's up to Champion to convince the jury in his closing argument.

[Defense Attorney James Champion]

Look, if Jeffrey was responsible for this,

[Narrator/Storyteller]

there would be proof, at least some blood on his clothes, under his fingernails or in the house, says Champion.

[Defense Attorney James Champion]

There was no evidence that anybody cleaned up in that house.

[Bernie Pyne]

They checked Jeffrey's car. There's no blood in the car. Whoever did this was covered with blood. There's no way Jeffrey could have cleaned up, not transferred anything. That to me alone should clear him.

[Defense Attorney James Champion]

There's no facts there. That's a hunch, That's a theory, that's an argument. That's a guess. If Jeffrey had done this, he wouldn't have come back with his hands all bandaged up. Look at who Jeffrey is. Compassionate, sensitive, trustworthy.

[Narrator/Storyteller]

Not according to his ex girlfriend, Holly. Remember, she testified that Jeffrey cheated on her.

[Holly Freeman (Jeffrey's ex-girlfriend)]

He just lied so effortlessly to me, to my family, to my friends.

[Narrator/Storyteller]

Bernie says he's never known his son to be a liar.

[Bernie Pyne]

Basically, it's character assassination, if you will, to portray him as a liar and somebody that he's.

[Interviewer/Host]

You think that Holly was just an angry ex?

[Defense Attorney James Champion]

Yeah, no doubt in my mind. Everybody lies. That's a fact. And especially when it comes to kids and dating.

[Interviewer/Host]

But I think what she was saying was going to his demeanor. That whole idea that he. With a very straight face, he could lie.

[Defense Attorney James Champion]

I think anybody can. That doesn't make him guilty of murdering his mother.

[Narrator/Storyteller]

In fact, on cross, Champion got Holly to admit Jeffrey was anything but violent.

[Defense Attorney James Champion]

Did you ever see him hit anybody?

[Holly Freeman (Jeffrey's ex-girlfriend)]

No.

[Defense Attorney James Champion]

In fact, you hit him a couple times, didn't you?

[Holly Freeman (Jeffrey's ex-girlfriend)]

A couple times.

[Defense Attorney James Champion]

He never hit you, did he?

[Sergeant Hendrick]

No, Jeff.

[Narrator/Storyteller]

But what about Jeffrey's demeanor on that interrogation tape?

[Sergeant Hendrick]

See, you have no idea how your mom died or anything.

[Narrator/Storyteller]

A red flag for the detectives.

[Interviewer/Host]

Your mom was murdered, don't you think it just plain looked bad in the police interview that he showed no emotion?

[Defense Attorney James Champion]

I would have preferred that he showed more emotion, but, you know, we can't impose our standard of how somebody ought to react to grief or tragedy or, you know, some traumatic event. This was a rush to judgment,

[Sergeant Hendrick]

and

[Defense Attorney James Champion]

a young man's paying for it right now.

[Bernie Pyne]

Here's a boy who's never had any type, never had been in any fights, never had any type of violence at all. In fact, even video games. And so this is going to be his first exposure to violence. Do you really think so?

[Interviewer/Host]

Could he have just lost it?

[Bernie Pyne]

I don't believe so. That explanation would make it real easy for the police, but I don't believe so, no.

[Interviewer/Host]

And that brings us to the big question. If Jeffrey didn't kill Ruth, who did?

[Bernie Pyne]

I don't know who killed Ruth. Anybody could have done it. But I know the person that did not do it, and that's Jeffrey.

[Narrator/Storyteller]

As the trial winds down, tensions rise on both sides, and it gets personal. Detective Glover and Bernie Pine get into an angry confrontation in the hallway.

[Detective Dave Hendrick]

At one point, he come right up to me, shaking his head nonstop and actually said to me, he said, I can't believe what you're doing to my family. Do you realize what you've done to this family?

[Bernie Pyne]

The look I gave him, I'm sure, was not friendly because I was not happy with the way my son was treated.

[Detective Dave Hendrick]

And I said, bernie, I said, don't blame the police for this. We didn't cause this.

[Bernie Pyne]

At that time, he told me, don't look at me that way. And I thought about that for a moment. And then I looked at him and I said, I'll look at you any way I like.

[Detective Dave Hendrick]

I feel horrible for Bernie, but at the same point, it's hard to swallow what he's. The personal attacks on me in the public.

[Judge Bowman]

Good afternoon. Counsel ready to proceed?

[Detective Greg Glover]

We're ready.

[Narrator/Storyteller]

At the 11th hour, shortly before the case goes to jury, Prosecutor Skrinsky makes a potentially game changing motion. He asks for another option. Second degree murder.

[Detective Greg Glover]

Your Honor, I am requesting a lesser included offense of second degree murder.

[Narrator/Storyteller]

Champion argues vehemently against it.

[Defense Attorney James Champion]

I'm concerned that the jury will compromise their verdict.

[Interviewer/Host]

Why argue against including a second degree murder charge?

[Defense Attorney James Champion]

Because I'm scared to death that these jurors might actually split the baby. Might compromise the verdict. And if there's an alternative, they'll take it.

[Narrator/Storyteller]

Judge Bowman grants the motion. The jury will now have the option of murder in the second degree.

[Defense Attorney James Champion]

That was my Greatest fear. And that was the prosecutor's greatest hope.

[Bernie Pyne]

The only thing that repeats and goes through my mind is gotta get my son home to his sister. I've got to restore what's left of my family. Oh, look at here. Look at these.

[Detective Dave Hendrick]

Oh, yeah.

[911 Operator]

I want a day. A white watch like that.

[Bernie Pyne]

Do you?

[911 Operator]

Yeah.

[Narrator/Storyteller]

Bernie Pine has been spending the holiday season trying to keep some sense of normalcy for his daughter, Julia.

[Bernie Pyne]

There's at least three different kind of candy canes in there.

[911 Operator]

Well, there's two. Okay, there's two.

[Bernie Pyne]

Yep, you're right.

[Narrator/Storyteller]

As they both wait for a jury to decide whether Julia's brother is.

[Bernie Pyne]

I had to tell her that we're pretty sure that Jeffrey's coming home, but the system isn't perfect. And that there is a chance that maybe Jeffrey isn't coming home. It shook her visibly.

[Interviewer/Host]

What'd she do? What'd she say?

[Bernie Pyne]

I just can't think about that, dad. It can't happen.

[Interviewer/Host]

Do you allow yourself to think about that?

[Bernie Pyne]

I really don't know. I can't imagine Julia not having her brother back. And I can't imagine not having my son back at home. Morning, ma'. Am.

[Narrator/Storyteller]

It's the third day of jury deliberations.

[Bernie Pyne]

We're going to be all right. I'm focusing on the positive right now.

[Judge Bowman]

The jury has been ordered to return back to the court at 4 o'. Clock. I will then take the verdict in this case from the jury.

[Narrator/Storyteller]

Bernie, who's been waiting more than a year for Jeffrey to be cleared in the murder of his mother, now due to the judge's crowded court docket, must wait four more hours before he can learn his son's fate.

[Bernie Pyne]

The agony of having to wait four hours to hear a verdict is just. It's torture.

[Narrator/Storyteller]

But he's hopeful it will end with an early Christmas present for Julia.

[Bernie Pyne]

She has a play tonight, a Christmas play at 7pm that she's playing the prelude for on the piano. And my hope and my prayer is that I can take him to that play and he can see her play that prelude.

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[Judge Bowman]

Mr. Pine, sir, I'm going to ask that you please stand.

[Detective Dave Hendrick]

And the people of the state of Michigan versus Jeffrey Pine. We the jury find the defendant guilty of second degree murder.

[Narrator/Storyteller]

Second degree murder. The jury determined that Jeffrey killed his mother, but it was not premeditated.

[Judge Bowman]

The verdict, as you have just published.

[Narrator/Storyteller]

Jeffrey seemed stunned and Bernie distraught and disillusioned.

[Bernie Pyne]

I wasn't there to protect my wife when I needed to be. And I wasn't able to get my son home for his sister for Christmas. So it's not been a good year.

[Narrator/Storyteller]

But for Jeffrey's aunt, the verdict was a relief and a vindication.

[Linda Jarvi (Ruth's sister)]

This was a heinous crime. Ruth Pine was a victim.

[Bernie Pyne]

Thank you.

[Narrator/Storyteller]

Still, she has sympathy for her nephew.

[Linda Jarvi (Ruth's sister)]

I hold no grudge against Jeffrey. I just hope Jeff gets help, the help that he needs to understand himself why he did this.

[Narrator/Storyteller]

Bernie had to break the news to his daughter.

[Bernie Pyne]

She was more upset than actually I've ever seen her before. She said, no, no, no, it can't be.

[Narrator/Storyteller]

Do you think if there was no

[Interviewer/Host]

option for second degree, that the jury would have acquitted Jeffrey?

[Defense Attorney James Champion]

There's no doubt in my mind.

[Narrator/Storyteller]

James Champion has no doubts because he spoke with jurors immediately after the trial.

[Defense Attorney James Champion]

The last question I asked them was, if you hadn't had the second degree instruction, would you have quitted him? And they said, yes.

[Bernie Pyne]

I believe the jury got it wrong in this case. Absolutely

[Narrator/Storyteller]

wrong or right, Jeffrey could be facing as much as life in prison. With parole at his sentencing in January 2013, Bernie returns to court to read a letter from his daughter.

[Bernie Pyne]

Good afternoon, you, Honor.

[Narrator/Storyteller]

A letter about Jeffrey.

[Bernie Pyne]

My brother Jeffrey and I are very close and I miss him very much. He is a great big brother. And I ask you to send him home very soon to me and my dad, because we love him very much. I am a victim of this crime. I miss my wife Ruth, very much. And I'm doing the best I can to raise my daughter as a single Parent. Nobody knows who killed my wife. I am sure that my son had nothing to do with this. But must try to live with the verdict. I would ask for leniency in his sentencing. So that what is left of our

[Narrator/Storyteller]

family can be put back to together after all this. The judge is ready with the sentence.

[Judge Bowman]

This court sentences the defendant to 20 years. To 60 years with the Michigan Department of Corrections. You may take the defendant. The court stands adjourned.

[911 Operator]

All right.

[Bernie Pyne]

I'm disheartened. I'm disgusted. And I'm gonna tell you something else. It was a coward and a monster that did this to my wife. And that's not my son. He could never harm her.

[Interviewer/Host]

Could it be that it's just too painful for you to think that your son did this to his mother?

[Bernie Pyne]

I don't think so. In fact, if I thought my son had anything to do with this, we wouldn't need courts and we wouldn't need attorneys and everything else. I'd have marched him into the police department and we'd have taken care of this.

[Interviewer/Host]

What if somewhere down the line, somehow it's proven to you that he did do this? Would you forgive him?

[Bernie Pyne]

I would forgive him, but that would be tough.

[Detective Dave Hendrick]

Me and my partner are both fathers and could never imagine what he's going through.

[Narrator/Storyteller]

There are mixed emotions for everyone in a case that leaves no victors. Just heartbreak.

[Detective Dave Hendrick]

When the guilty verdict came back, I was happy of the verdict. But at the same point couldn't help but feel bad for Burns and that family. Ultimately, nobody was really going to win in this case. And it's a tragedy.

[Bernie Pyne]

Julie and I are very close, and we're going to move on. We're going to take this one day at a time. And I've promised her that I will do everything I can to bring her brother back to her.