Police arrested the young man Wednesday, and he promptly confessed to the crime, Vadim Dymkov, a spokesman for Sverdlovsk regional branch of the Investigative Committee, said by telephone from Yekaterinburg.
Citing official policy, Dymkov declined to name the man or his mother, but he said they had been born in 1981 and 1962, respectively.
The grim chain of events began in late February, when the two began arguing in the apartment where they both lived, Dymkov said.
"She began to nag him for having no job, doing nothing and being useless," he said.
The young man -- who told police that he had been drinking beer and was holding a hammer because he had been doing work around the house -- became enraged and struck her on the head several times. She died as a result of the blows.
When he realized that she was dead, he wrapped her body in a bedspread, tied it up and dragged it to the balcony.
Dymkov said it was not clear why the killer then rented out the apartment without bothering to remove the corpse.
"One can suppose that he did not have the strength to carry the body outside and hide it by himself," Dymkov said.
"But continuing to live in the apartment with his mother's body on the balcony is also not good."
The spokesman added that, in his personal opinion, the killer might have hoped that suspicion would fall on the tenant instead of himself.
Instead, the tenant found the body on Sunday and immediately told police, Dymkov said.
If convicted, the young man faces up to 15 years in prison.
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