A NSW woman who poisoned her partner with a toxic cocktail of prescription drugs, including morphine, codeine and tramadol, has been jailed for at least 25 years in South Australia.
Wendie-Sue Dent denied killing her de facto husband David Lawrence at the Adelaide home they shared in December 2015 to claim his $400,000 estate.
She had been named the beneficiary of the 63-year-old's $175,000 superannuation fund and also stood to inherit the home valued at $235,000.
Dent was first convicted of murder in 2020, but was granted a new trial on appeal.
She was found guilty a second time in June this year after a Supreme Court trial by judge alone.
Sentencing Dent on Friday, Justice Sophie David said in the days before Mr Lawrence's death, the 64-year-old had isolated him from his family and friends and sedated him with Valium.
"You then administered to him a fatal dose or doses of your prescription drugs, intending to kill him," she said.
"You did so for financial gain to claim the property and superannuation monies that you knew you were to inherit upon his death."
Justice David said Dent, from Dapto in NSW's Illawarra region, had shown no remorse or insight into her offending.
"This was a premeditated murder committed by you upon a generous man who had shown you nothing but kindness and love," she said.
"You were motivated entirely by financial greed."
During her trial, defence counsel said there was no direct evidence Dent administered the fatal drugs and it remained possible Mr Lawrence had self-administered for pain relief.
But delivering her verdict, Justice David said Dent told many lies in the days and months following the death of Mr Lawrence, out of a consciousness of guilt to lay a false trail.
"Notwithstanding defence counsel's arguments, I am satisfied beyond reasonable doubt that Ms Dent administered the prescription drugs to the deceased," the judge said.
"I am satisfied beyond reasonable doubt that this act or acts caused the death of the deceased, that her act or acts causing the deceased's death were without any lawful excuse or justification and that at the time she administered the drugs causing the deceased's death, she had a specific intention to kill him."
The judge jailed Dent for life but set a non-parole period of 25 years.
It is understood she has already filed another appeal against her conviction.
