Kaliopi Roumeliotis had only just stepped out of her car on November 30, 2022, when Joe Lo Bianco attacked her with a metal car ramp, repeatedly striking her to the head and neck.
He left her body on the garage floor, placing the murder weapon under her head to stage an accidental death, before removing and hiding his bloodied clothes.
Lo Bianco went next door to chat to his in-laws for close to an hour while he waited for his daughter to be dropped off after a friend's birthday party.
When the girl arrived, she asked after her mother and suggested she could be in the garage.
Lo Bianco then told his daughter to go inside and see if she was there.
The young girl, named in court under the pseudonym Sally, found her mother's dead body with blood covering the floor, car and walls.
Sally ran next door, begging for help from her uncle and aunt who came and started performing CPR while Lo Bianco called triple zero.
Paramedics confirmed Ms Roumeliotis was already dead.
Lo Bianco initially told police his wife must have tripped and fallen, claiming he had no involvement in her death because he was in the backyard cleaning a rabbit enclosure.
The 53-year-old later admitted to what happened and on Wednesday pleaded guilty to murder in the Victorian Supreme Court.
Arthur Roumeliotis said his sister's death had left him totally devastated. (Joel Carrett/AAP PHOTOS)
He did not look at Ms Roumeliotis' family and friends as they filled the courtroom and kept his head down while 10 victim impact statements were read to the court, including one from his daughter.
In the statement read by her uncle Arthur Roumeliotis, the girl said Lo Bianco had left her with scars that would never heal and she didn't want him in her life anymore.
"My mum's love was like being in a hug forever - you made her let go," the statement read.
Mr Roumeliotis said his sister's death had left him totally devastated.
"I miss that she's not able to see her daughter grow up and guide her through life," he told the court.
"It's not fair she's not with us anymore. She still had so much life to give."
Lo Bianco and Ms Roumeliotis had been arguing about money because he had lost his job during the pandemic after not taking the COVID-19 vaccine, the court was told.
They argued on the morning of November 30, where Ms Roumeliotis told Lo Bianco he needed to bring more money in.
He had spent three hours that day gambling at the pokies while she was at work.
Lo Bianco then murdered his wife when she returned home just after 7pm.
His defence barrister Moya O'Brien said it was not a premeditated attack, rather he was acting in the "heat of the moment" after months of disharmony in the marriage.
"I cannot give the family the comfort of a reason other than it was instantaneous," she said.
Lo Bianco felt remorseful and had accepted he had lost the relationship with his daughter through his unforgivable actions, she said.
She noted he had no prior convictions, including for family violence, and his prospects of rehabilitation were good.
But prosecutor Nanette Rogers SC described the murder as an unprovoked, vicious and sustained attack on a vulnerable woman who was entitled to feel safe.
She said Lo Bianco had been waiting for Ms Roumeliotis to come home to confront her and he attacked her almost immediately after she got out of the car.
He also carried out a series of "calm and rational actions" to conceal his involvement in the murder, Ms Rogers said.
Lo Bianco will be sentenced at a later date.
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