Robert Lyons wanted his mother to pull strings to get him skybox seats for an Avril Lavigne concert, but when she refused, he savagely attacked her and stabbed her to death, prosecutors said Wednesday on the first day of Lyons' murder trial.

A DuPage County jury began hearing the case against Lyons, 39, accused of first-degree murder in the March 14, 2008, slaying of his mother, Linda Bolek, in the kitchen of the Carol Stream condominium where both lived.

Reportedly upset that Bolek, 61, would not call her friend to see if Lyons could use the friend's skybox to see the singer Lavigne, Lyons struck his mother in the head with a bottle of cognac, stabbed her nine times in the back and then dumped household cleaning solutions on her dead body, according to prosecutors.

"This defendant was so angry with his mother that he bludgeoned her and repeatedly stabbed her in a fit of rage," Assistant DuPage County State's Attorney Ann Celine O'Hallaren told jurors in her opening statement.

Authorities picked up Lyons about seven hours later in the Hooters restaurant at Woodfield Mall in Schaumburg, O'Hallaren said.

But Assistant Public Defender Valerie Pacis said Lyons, who she said is bipolar, acted in self-defense when Bolek held a knife to her son's face during their quarrel and threatened to cut out an eye.

"There's no question that Rob Lyons' reaction caused her death," Pacis said. But that reaction was not planned and did not rise to first-degree murder, she said.

Stan Matusiak, Bolek's boyfriend, testified Wednesday that on the day she died, Bolek stayed home from her job as an insurance agency receptionist because she had laryngitis. About 10:30 a.m. that day, Bolek called him and was angry and aggravated about Lyons' demands for the concert skybox, Matusiak said.

About 2:30 p.m., after the time authorities allege the crime was committed, Lyons called Matusiak and said his mother had attacked him with a knife, said Matusiak, who added he did not believe Lyons. When Matusiak asked where Bolek was, Lyons reportedly said, "She's in the house," Matusiak said.

The boyfriend said Bolek and Lyons had loud, profanity-laced quarrels once or twice a month, usually over Lyons' unwillingness to do household chores.

The trial is expected to go through the middle part of next week, and Lyons' attorneys indicated Wednesday that he plans to testify.