A single mother would have been "bewildered, shocked and terrified" as she was strangled to death to satisfy her daughter's romantic obsession, a judge has found.
Irene Jones was sipping water in the kitchen of her Sydney home after a birthday dinner when approached from behind, suffocated and stabbed before she collapsed to the floor in November 2001.
"Mrs Jones would have rapidly fallen unconscious, although in the seconds before ... she must have been bewildered, shocked and then - when she realised what was occurring - terrified," Justice Helen Wilson said.
Mrs Jones' daughter, Isabella Carolina Camelo-Gomez, was jailed on Wednesday for at least 14 years after a jury found her guilty of murder in May.
While the beloved daughter likely didn't physically kill her mother, she'd helped plan the violent homicide for a reason "no better than romantic obsession and greed", the judge said.
The then-27-year-old had been obsessed with married man Carlos Camelo-Gomez, showering him with gifts, buying him a car, and marrying his brother in a "sham" wedding to please Carlos.
Attention then turned to Mrs Jones's one substantial asset - her family home, which the daughter was to inherit.
"It is in the offender's strong feelings that the plan to murder Irene Jones originated," Justice Wilson said.
Carlos was "no stranger to violence" and likely strangled Mrs Jones, before clumsily working with Camelo-Gomez to disguised the killing as a home invasion.
However, the man will likely never face justice - he suffered a traumatic brain injury in 2013.
Camelo-Gomez's whispered graveside apology at Mrs Jones's funeral - "sorry, Mum, I didn't mean for it to go this far" - was evidence of genuine remorse, the judge found.
But there was little other evidence of contrition or insight into her offending.
Given her lack of criminal history, her time in custody would be harder, mitigating her sentence.
Justice Wilson acknowledged the lasting effect of the murder upon Mrs Jones' small, tight-knit family, including the offender's unexplained effort to estrange herself.
Relative Keith Sheldrick told the court in October that Mrs Jones was a warm, engaging single mother who wouldn't hurt a fly.
She had given her daughter so much love - often going without herself, while struggling on a pension.
"We will never know the full extent of what Irene suffered at the hands of the (offender)," Mr Sheldrick told the court.
"But with the little we do know, we are dismayed and disgusted for the little regard (she) showed towards her mum."
The offender appeared not to react when told of her sentence.
Camelo-Gomez will be eligible for parole in May 2036. Her full term of 20 years will expire in 2042.
