A mother is living in pain every day after her daughter was murdered by an abusive partner and then discarded in bushland.
Maryam Hamka's killer, who took almost two years to lead police to her remains, continues to claim she died from a drug overdose.
Susan Iramiyan described her grief in a statement to the Supreme Court in Melbourne on Friday, as her 36-year-old daughter's murderer Toby Loughnane faced a pre-sentence hearing.
The 44-year-old was in June found guilty Ms Hamka's murder in April 2021 after a jury rejected his claims she had died of a drug overdose.
Loughnane had already admitted dumping Ms Hamka's body in a shallow grave at Cape Schanck, having led investigators to her remains in August 2023.
At the pre-sentence hearing, Ms Iramiyan told the court her daughter's death had left her broken.
"Losing Maryam has been the hardest thing I have ever been through," she said, in a statement read by prosecutors.
"Every day, the pain hurts more and more - my life will never be the same again."
Ms Hamka's devastated brother Ayman described his sister as his best friend, in a second statement read to court.
"The pain of her absence is a constant weight on my shoulders - a heaviness I carry every day," he said.
"The world seems so much darker without her light."
Mr Hamka said he hoped "justice would be served" even though no sentence would ever bring his sister back.
Prosecutor Kristie Churchill told the court Loughnane had been abusive towards Ms Hamka in the lead-up to the murder and the family violence made the crime more serious.
"He is a man who violently assaulted her previously," Ms Churchill said.
"He violently killed her and then sought to cover up his involvement in her murder in extreme and drastic measures."
Ms Churchill conceded Loughnane's decision to bring police to Ms Hamka's remains warranted some discount on sentence.
But she said his decision to disclose the burial site was self-serving rather than evidence of remorse.
Loughnane's barrister Daniel Sala originally argued Loughnane's disclosure showed his remorse, but he withdrew this argument after prosecutors called for the police informant to give evidence.
Mr Sala also said Loughnane still maintained Ms Hamka had died of a drug overdose, despite the jury's verdict.
The defence barrister told the court the murder was a drug-fuelled spontaneous attack, lacking aggravating features such as children being present or premeditation.
Justice Christopher Beale will sentence Loughnane in December.
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