A murderer who strangled a Brisbane mother before stealing her money for a trip to the Philippines has told a court his victim was "unreliable, clumsy and a drunk" before being sentenced to life imprisonment.
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Robert Graham Thomas' sacked his lawyers and represented himself before being sentenced in the Brisbane Supreme Court on Thursday for the murder of Danielle Miller.
Miller, who had been in a casual sexual relationship with Thomas, was found by police lying face up alongside a broken fan and a clump of her own hair in her Greenslopes home in October 2015.
The only clue as to Thomas' motive for killing Ms Miller was that he had told a man she had humiliated him in some way, his trial heard in March.
During the sentencing hearing, prosecutor Dzenita Balic submitted statements from Miller's two children which listed "things I miss about mum" and said the impact of her death would have been "unimaginable" for them.
Thomas stood up and told the court his lawyers advised him not to talk but he felt the "damage had already been done and I will stay silent no longer".
He said he wanted to explain what happened in the lead up to the murder one day "should I get the chance to tell the truth".
He also made disparaging remarks about Ms Miller while also apologising to her family.
"I did try my best to resuscitate Danny, and wish I had realised sooner that she had passed," Thomas said.
"Danny like the rest of us had faults. She was also a good friend, someone unreliable, clumsy and a drunk, but to us that was Danny.
"However, no matter what, she was loved unconditionally by two people who know her as mummy."
Almost immediately after Thomas finished his submissions Justice David Jackson delivered his judgment.
Justice Jackson said a day after the murder Thomas told a friend he had squeezed her around the neck with his hands.
He said Thomas squeezed so hard he fractured cartilage in Ms Miller's neck and caused heavy bruising.
"The precise period over which you strangled Ms Miller is not known, but it was more than half a minute and possibly much longer," Justice Jackson said.
"For the victim it would have been a terrifying ordeal."
He sentenced Thomas to life imprisonment for the murder which has a mandatory minimum non-parole period of 20 years in Queensland.
Australian Associated Press
