JODHPUR, India, Oct. 4 (UPI) -- A U.S. teenager accused of killing his mother in India by cutting her throat was denied bail Monday.
The Juvenile Justice Board rejected the bail application University of Pittsburgh Professor George Patton made on behalf of his 16-year-old son Jon of South Fayette, Pa., The Times of India reported.
The younger Patton is accused of killing Cynthia Iannarelli by slicing her throat with a knife at a resort in Osian near Jodhpur on the night of Aug. 12. He was arrested the next morning at the Jodhpur airport.
Assistant public prosecutor N.K. Sankhla said the presiding officer, Ishwari Lal Verma, cited the brutality and seriousness of the crime in turning down the bail request. The youth has been formally charged with murder and destruction of evidence. He denies the allegations.
Defense attorney Manish Vyas said another attempt would be made in sessions court to obtain bail, the Times said.
"We argued in the board that Jon Carlo was falsely implicated in the murder of his mother," Vyas said, adding there are weaknesses and missing links in the charge sheet filed by police.
He also noted police were slow to file their initial report, there were no witnesses to the slaying and authorities had yet to recover a murder weapon.
