An ice addict who murdered an elderly World War II veteran in western Victoria, taking off with his war medals, will spend at least 23 years behind bars.

Adam Lucas Williamson, 40, was the 'driving force' behind the fatal burglary at the Springbank home of Kenneth Handford in 2015 on the eve of his 90th birthday.

Williamson, who was sentenced in the Supreme Court of Victoria on Tuesday, falsely told his co-offender Jonathan Jeffrey Cooper that Mr Handford was a paedophile before Cooper stabbed the veteran 13 times.

An ice addict who murdered an elderly World War II veteran in western Victoria, taking off with his war medals, will spend at least 23 years behind bars

Adam Lucas Williamson, 40, was the 'driving force' behind the fatal burglary at the Springbank home of Kenneth Handford (pictured) in 2015 on the eve of his 90th birthday.

In September, Williamson pleaded guilty to murdering the elderly man, and stealing his cash and nearly a dozen war medals, including a Pacific Star.

Mr Handford, a farmhand and much-loved former RAAF pilot, was found bound in his home near Ballarat on September 15, 2015 by a neighbour who came to wish him a happy birthday.

He was hogtied with the cord from his dressing gown before being stabbed in the back 13 times and robbed of $3,900, several war medals and a gold chain.

In a previous hearing in December, Mr Williamson and Jonathon Cooper, 29, pleaded guilty to one count of aggravated murder, murder and theft in at a Supreme Court hearing in Ballarat over the great-grandfather's death.

The court heard Mr Handford took five hours to die from his stab wounds.

Mr Handford, a farmhand and much-loved former RAAF pilot, was found bound in his home near Ballarat on September 15, 2015 by a neighbour who came to wish him a happy birthday