Adair Lomas was told by police that his pregnant sister had died.
It wasn't until he turned on the TV morning news the next day that he discovered Kardell Lomas had been killed and dumped in the boot of an abandoned car.
The 31-year-old Queensland woman was seven months pregnant.
Now, more than three years later, Mr Lomas says he can finally start to grieve after his sister's ex-partner Traven Lee Fisher was sentenced in the Brisbane Supreme Court on Wednesday.
Fisher, 40, received 14 years in jail after pleading guilty to manslaughter.
Speaking outside the court, Mr Lomas said he suspected foul play in December 2019 when police told him about her death.
"I said 'what do you mean my sister has passed away? She is too young to die' ... I said to my missus 'my sister has been murdered'," he said.
"We found out on the Today Show. It was breaking news.
"That still traumatises me. That is not how someone should find out their sister got killed.
"We didn't have time to prepare or nothing. It just king hit us in the face."
Fisher had been with Ms Lomas for more than 12 months and was the father of her unborn child.
"There was a history of domestic violence between you and Ms Lomas," Justice Peter Davis said while sentencing Fisher.
On December 8, 2019, neighbours heard an argument at the couple's property in Ipswich, west of Brisbane.
Later that day, Fisher contacted a friend and asked if he had "a ute and a big tin box".
Fisher also asked another mate to help him "move something".
Asked what it was, Fisher replied: "It's Kardell. She's inside. She's OD'd. She has taken heaps of pills."
The friend said they should call an ambulance.
Fisher said it was "too late for that".
"I draw the inference that you intended to place Ms Lomas in a large tin box and dump her," Justice Davis said.
Instead, Fisher dumped her in one of four broken down cars in the backyard.
Ms Lomas had likely been in the car boot for 48 hours before Queensland Police found her following an anonymous call.
Justice Davis said the evidence suggested Fisher killed Ms Lomas with a choke hold in a violent argument on December 8.
Two days earlier, Fisher and Ms Lomas had happily attended Ipswich hospital for baby scans.
"As we got older we sort of grew apart," Mr Lomas said of his sister.
"I just feel a bit guilty. I am the brother and I let this happen to her.
"A lot of people need to stop thinking it is normal to be in a domestic violence relationship because it is not."
The court heard Fisher had been declared a dangerous prisoner after a 2004 jail sentence for offences including rape.
The supervision order was lifted in 2018 and he killed Ms Lomas about 18 months later.
Fisher also pleaded guilty to the destruction of an unborn child and interfering with a corpse.
"It has been a living nightmare since they told me the sentence is coming up," Mr Lomas said.
"Now I am relieved in a way. I can start to heal and grieve properly for my sister and nephew."
Fisher is eligible for parole in September 2030.
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