A man who strangled his wife of 38 years after getting upset over constant phone calls from strange men believing it was the local brothel's number has been jailed for 18 years.
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George Misalis, 61, claimed the phone calls had been one of the stressors that led to him killing his wife Zaharia.
The Misalis's home phone number was very similar to the local brothel's number. Misalis told police after his arrest that men had been calling the couple's South Morang home for six or seven years talking dirty and asking things like, "How many bitches have we got in the house?" and if there were girls available.
Supreme Court Justice Betty King said Misalis, who had been suffering from a depressive disorder with psychotic features, believed that "there were people out there trying to destroy us".
Misalis, who pleaded guilty to murdering his wife, a mother of three, in their bedroom on March 26, 2013, was jailed for 18 years with a non-parole period of 14 years.
He strangled his wife with a piece of rope before repeatedly stabbing her in the chest with a pair of scissors when she was dead or dying.
He then stabbed himself in the throat.
Justice King said that on the morning of the murder, Misalis claimed he had just woken up when the phone rang and it was another man asking how many girls he had there at the brothel.
"Your wife asked you who rang and you explained it was those people again and you asked her, 'Who are these people?' to which she said she didn't know," the judge said on Thursday.
"You said, 'You both got upset, she got upset, I got upset'. "You were asking her, 'What were they doing there, why were they calling you?'.
"You talked about her being angry with you and you being angry with her but with no basis and no explanation at all as to what was the cause of the anger. I shall not speculate about those matters and I will treat this as I said as a crime with an unknown motive."
Justice King said Mrs Misalis had done nothing to hurt her husband.
"She had done nothing in fact but nurture you and care about you.
"The courts and our community have said that women in particular must be protected from their partners. We have white ribbon days, we have marches in our streets in support of women and their right to not be abused or have their lives taken by their partners, but still it continues."
Justice King said Mrs Misalis had been killed in a savage and brutal manner.
"She was in her home ... going about her business in an ordinary way, caring for you. She should have been safe. She probably felt safe.
"Your wife had the right to continue to enjoy her life, her future, her grandchildren, her retirement years, and you took all of those things from her."
