News Service from House Harris

Vic:24 years' jail for woman who drugged lover, left him to burn

MELBOURNE, Nov 28 AAP - A woman who laced her lover's favourite meal with sedatives and left him to die in a burning house has been jailed for 24 years.

Justice Stephen Kaye described Vasiliki Efandis as "calculating" and said she had planned the cold-blooded murder of George Marcetta so she could claim his assets.

"You yourself felt no affection for Mr Marcetta, but on the contrary, had callously exploited his attraction to and affection for you, in order to murder him for his worldly assets," Justice Kaye said as he sentenced Efandis in the Victorian Supreme Court on Friday.

Had the medication she drugged him with not worked quickly, he would have suffered a most terrifying end, the judge said.

Justice Kaye said Efandis, 49, had shown no remorse and made several attempts to avoid being viewed as a suspect.

Efandis befriended Mr Marcetta when she was his housekeeper and they became lovers, the court was told.

Over the next two years she gained a half-share in his painting business and had the house they bought together registered in her name.

On the night of the 2004 murder, Efandis cooked Mr Marcetta his favourite meal of pork rolls and noodles and laced it with sleeping tablets, the court was told.

She then used kerosene and paper to light a fire at several points in his Bellfield house, including the bedroom where the 58-year-old slept.

She sent text messages from her phone and Mr Marcetta's phone after drugging him and used a hire car so she could not be identified when she left his house after torching it.

She also tried to take advantage of a conflict Mr Marcetta had with a friend to blame him for the death.

The court was told that Efandis stockpiled more than 20 litres of kerosene to fuel the blaze.

A pathologist found Mr Marcetta was alive when the fire was lit, but he did not survive it for long.

Outside court, the victim's only child, Athanasia (Athanasia) Marcetta described the sentence as "very fair".

"Today justice was served for my father. He was a good man, very hard working, loved and respected by all his family," she said.

"We cannot forget my father, never, but at least we can close this chapter and move forward with our lives."

Ms Marcetta thanked police for their work to find her father's killer.

"She's a cold-blooded murderer," she said.

"It's a good calming feeling that she will be where she has to be because my father is somewhere he shouldn't be right now."

Efandis, found guilty by a jury of murder, must serve a minimum of 20 years.

The judge noted she had suffered a series of accidents and accepted the impact jail would have on her health.