Take A Look At This Arrogant Prick, Darlings!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

                                 Remember the classic "Cold Case" episode, "Churchgoing People?" The fourth in the series, the first truly great one, and the first to have its killer be a female?  That's the one about the trouble-ridden Bayes family--husband Mitch, children Ryan and Tina, who live in mortal terror every day of their lives over being terrorized by the alcoholic, mentally disturbed matriarch of the household, Charlotte Bayes (brilliantly played by Isabella Hoffman, who should have won and Emmy!!!!!!!!!).

                                    As the story went, Mitch took the brunt of it to shield the children.  Tina, maybe out of  female jealousy, got the lion's share of the abuse, (just like Dave Pelzer, as he wrote in his book, "A Child Called IT," got most of it from his unhinged mother, Catherine.)  On the night of February 3, 1990, Mitch stands up to his wife, and for it, Charlotte chases him, beating him to death, with a fireplace poker.  Then she sets up son  Ryan as the fall guy to take the blame!  Nice, huh?

                                      Well, the Pynes, of Highland, Michigan, were a real life version of the Bayes. Since her late 30's, mother Ruth, raising two children, Jeffrey and Julie, became bipolar, abusive and dangerous.  She directed most of this anger at her son, Jeff; at one point being arrested (when he was 20) for trying to choke him to death.  Earlier in her diagnosis, her husband, Bernie, had had her committed.

                                         Actions were taken, but not enough.   In May of 2011, Ruth Pyne was found dead in her garage, having been bludgeoned with a blunt instrument, and then stabbed to death at least 16 times!!!!!!!!!!!  Her son, Jeffrey, was the last one to see her alive, and her mutilation was witnessed by husband Bernie, and daughter Julie, then only 12 year old!!!!!!!!  What trauma for this kid!!!!!!!!!!!!

                                           One camp suggests Ruth was murdered randomly by a stranger.  Which is certainly possible, but how probable is it??????   Others defending Jeff say he snapped, after years of being a target of abuse, and lashed out at her.  But herein lies the rub.  Jeff was 22, an adult, and capable of knowing right and wrong, making decisions.  He could have left home on his own, and then be free of this harridan.
His excuse was he stayed home (having been valedictorian of his Christian-centric high school class, where he had been a star athlete,  a graduate in biology from the University of Michigan, and working two part time jobs) in order to protect Julie, fearing that, should he leave, the torrent of abuse would then fall on her.  Admirable, but it does not explain several things.

                                               If they wanted to protect Julie, why wasn't Child Services called?  If Ruth refused to take her medication, was acting up, and Bernie earlier was able to commit her, why could he not do it again, and save everyone from this tragedy????? And, finally, having read Pelzer's book, depicting his horrific abuse, here is someone who had every reason to take a meat cleaver (or what ever ) to her--but did not.  And herein lies the rub.

                                                 In case you are wondering who is the Bitch Of The Week here, it is not Ruth.  It is Jeffrey.  Jeffrey Pyne had choices, and he chose to act wantonly and selfishly to rid himself of a problem he had been dealing with (but could have handled differently) for too long.  The look of calculated selfishness and arrogance on his face suggests maybe an inherited evil, that this may have been the first manifestation that Jeffrey was going the way of his mother. Which may have been why they clashed.  Takes one to know one, loves!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

                                                     I think, like the fictional Bayes family, the real life Pynes were too preoccupied with keeping up appearances. Which is why you can feel sorry for husband Bernie, but not too. The most tragic and sympathetic figure here is innocent little Julie.  Who should have been better protected.

                                                       The Pynes show, as in the case of the Bayes, that too much can get out of hand, when there is an overemphasis on maintaining public appearances!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

                                                        There is only one true place where maintenance of appearance is important, girls---and that is each morning, in front of your mirror!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!