A paroled rapist has received Victoria's harshest possible punishment of life without parole for the brutal murder of his neighbour, Victorian mother Karen Chetcuti, near Wangaratta in January last year.

Key points: Michael Cardamone bound and attacked Karen Chetcuti and burnt her alive

Michael Cardamone bound and attacked Karen Chetcuti and burnt her alive Justice Lex Lasry described the crime as extraordinarily vicious and unprovoked

Justice Lex Lasry described the crime as extraordinarily vicious and unprovoked He said the sentence was justified by the "terror and suffering" Cardamone caused his victim

Michael Cardamone, 50, sedated the 49-year-old with an animal tranquilliser, bound and gagged her, injected her with methamphetamine and battery acid, fractured her skull and then burnt her alive.

Cardamone later drove over Ms Chetcuti, also known as Karen Chetcuti-Verbunt, in his car.

Justice Lex Lasry said he usually "ceased to be amazed at the level of violence that some men are capable of inflicting on women", but that Cardamone's actions had shocked him.

"Your conduct in relation to the murder of Ms Chetcuti was extraordinarily vicious, callous and thoroughly unprovoked," he said.

"The crime you committed was quite simply horrifying, depraved and disgusting."

Cardamone was on parole for raping a 15-year-old girl at the time of the murder, which the court previously heard was motivated by his "sexual interest" in the mother of two.

Justice Lasry said it was the first time in Victoria a person without prior murder convictions had received a life sentence without parole after pleading guilty to the offence.

He said the unusual measure was justified by the "terror and suffering" that Cardamone inflicted on his victim, before her "extremely painful death".

"Ms Chetcuti must have gone through an extended period of suffering before her death and in all likelihood spent the hours she was conscious expecting to be murdered," he said.

"To refuse to fix a minimum term is an exceptional step and is a dreadful punishment, but this was a dreadful crime.

"It is true … that civilisation is judged by how we treat people like you and very often mercy is appropriate, however sometimes a crime is so horrific, so cruel and so callous, that a step toward mercy becomes too difficult to take."

He said Cardamone's prospects of rehabilitation were "virtually non-existent".

Karen's sister Leny Verbunt said she was relieved that Justice Lasry had set a new bar with the sentence.

"The pain and the terror that she went through, it's horrendous, I cannot believe that it happened to her. I still can't believe it all this time later," she said.

"The whole way through [the sentencing] your heart's pounding, so it's great that Victoria set a new precedent like NSW, it's about time too.

"With more and more people in the community taking ice, we're just going to have more and more of these horrible situations in the future."

Cardamone was a long-standing user of methylamphetamine at the time of the crime.

Cardamone kept changing story to shift blame

Ms Chetcuti's car was initially found burnt out before her body was uncovered by police in bushland near Lake Buffalo.

Cardamone repeatedly lied to detectives about his involvement in her murder, initially saying Ms Chetcuti had come to his house on the night of her disappearance to pick up some cherry tomatoes.

Michael Cardamone was out on parole for raping a 15-year-old girl when he murdered Ms Chetcuti. ( ABC News )

Tomatoes were found in her fridge but forensic testing revealed only Cardamone's fingerprints on the punnet.

Cardamone tried to pin the murder on a group of fictional Lebanese men who he said had threatened him to stay quiet.

He later attempted to shift blame to a friend who had unwittingly helped him set fire to Ms Chetcuti's car.

Justice Lasry said Cardamone's behaviour after the murder formed part of his decision not to grant him parole.

"Your conduct in the days after the offence, in which you began an elaborate attempt to escape responsibility by a variety of lies to police, demonstrated a complete absence of any form of regret or remorse for what you have done and complete disdain for the family and friends of the woman you have murdered," he said.

But after being charged, Cardamone told a fellow prisoner he was responsible and had "had his eye on her for a while".

While in prison he attempted to have the man who helped him burn Ms Chetcuti's car murdered, to prevent him from giving evidence at trial.

But Cardamone and his mother were charged over the plot after being caught in an undercover police operation.