A suburban Chicago man who admitted to stabbing his mother to death allegedly told authorities that his actions stemmed not from his bipolar disorder but from anger that she refused to get him tickets to an Avril Lavigne concert.
Linda Bolek was home sick on March 14, 2008 in the Carol Stream, Ill. condo she shared with her son, Robert Lyons, who had asked her to take him on several errands that day, the Chicago Sun-Times reports. When she refused to call a friend to arrange skybox tickets for an upcoming Avril Lavigne concert, prosecutors claim Lyons flew into a rage, hitting his mother twice in the head with a bottle of champagne and stabbing her nine times in the back.
Lyons, 39, whose first-degree murder trial began Wednesday morning, has been in jail since police arrested him at a Hooter's restaurant in Schaumburg hours after finding his mother's body, the Daily Herald reports. Bolek's body had been defiled with household chemicals when police found her while responding to a tip about a possible domestic dispute.
Lyons suffers from bipolar disorder and reportedly had had a tumultuous relationship with his mother since he moved in with her a year earlier. Lyons' court-appointed attorneys describe an incident earlier that day where Bolek held a kitchen knife to her son's face during an argument, the Sun-Times reports. Assistant Public Defender Valerie Pacis argued in court that Lyons' actions were reactive and unplanned. The defense is not disputing that Lyons was responsible for Bolek's death.
Assistant State’s Attorney Ann Celine O’Hallaren contended in court Wednesday that the nature of Bolek's injuries do not support the notion that Lyons was acting defensively, citing the multiple stab wounds in the victim's back, one of which caused the blade to break, according to prosecutors.