A Melbourne man maintains he didn’t mean to shoot and kill the American woman he met on Facebook and went on the run with in remote Victoria.

Steven Samaras, 50, has pleaded guilty to the manslaughter of Tamara Turner near Mildura on June 6, 2016. He had met her online in October 2015 and within hours of first speaking to her, he proposed to the divorced cleaner. A month later she moved from her home in Missouri to be with him.

"Just wanted to be loved": Tamara Turner. Credit:Facebook

Her younger sister Heather Crouch, in a victim impact statement read to the Supreme Court on Wednesday, said she had felt deep down she would never see Ms Turner again.

‘‘Steven Samaras said he loved and cared for her. If so, how come it took him so long to get to hospital for help? And why did he leave Tammie outside on a bench at the hospital?’’ Ms Crouch said.