A 22-year-old Chinese student, Wei Li, has been arraigned in Australia for killing his mother because she pressured him about his studies.
Li is accused of killing his mother in 2011, while he was still an 18-year-old studying law, at their family home in Burnside.
The former student allegedly bashed her with a metal pole and strangled her then wrapped her body in a bedsheet and left it in the living room.
He then fled Australia for China but was arrested three years later and extradited to face the murder charge.
He admitted to the killing but claims he did it in self-defense.
A friend who accommodated Li when he was escaping from Australia in 201, Xiang Ji, said the accused had told him he was not on good terms with his mother.
"The mum always pressed him to learn a lot of things and sometimes the attitude of the mum also treat him not so good," Ji said.
"At home, also the mum pressed him to do a lot of things ... pressure to learn.
Ji said he lent Li about $900 to buy an airline ticket to Singapore.
Li's father, Jian Lu Li, was the one who discovered his wife corpse.
He is expected to give evidence at his son's trial next week.