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A Victorian woman who murdered her abusive husband by feeding him temazepam-laced lemon biscuits and stuffing him in a freezer has had her sentence reduced.
Walpeup woman Rebecca Payne was originally sentenced to 16 years' jail with a non-parole period of 10 years.
The state's Court of Appeal has slashed that sentence to 12 years and she will be eligible for parole after seven.
She has already served more than four years in custody.
Still guilty of murder
Ms Payne and her criminal defence barrister Veronika Drago applied for an appeal against the conviction and sentence but the conviction stands.
Today Justice Stephen McLeish, Justice Stephen Kaye and Justice Terry Forrest handed down their decision.
In their judgement, the three judges said "the motive for the killing had built up and festered in the sordid and stifling environment created by the cruel and degrading conduct of the deceased over many years".
"She had endured upwards of ten years of intolerable and seemingly escalating emotional and physical torment at the hands of the deceased," they said in their judgement.
Rebecca Payne's husband, Noel Payne, died at Walpeup in September 2020. (Supplied: Facebook)
The judges determined Ms Payne's situation was inescapable.
"Having lost her thirties in this way, she now stands to lose her forties and more as a result of the offence she committed," the judges determined.
The Sentencing Council of Australia reported the country's shortest prison sentence for murder was 7.67 years.
The average sentence for murder is 22.5 years.
Defence lawyers Richard Edney and Veronika Drago leave Mildura Courthouse. (ABC Mildura-Swan Hill: Tamara Clark)
Abusive, violent, cruel
Rebecca Payne was 41 at the time she was taken into custody for murdering her 68-year-old spouse, Noel Payne.
His body was left in a freezer for three days before police found it in September 2020 in Walpeup, 130 kilometres south of Mildura.
Despite Payne pleading not guilty, a Supreme Court jury found her guilty of murder on March 15, 2023, after deliberating for two days.
Describing Mr Payne as a rapist, defence lawyer Richard Edney had requested a merciful sentence on the grounds that the woman had been abused during the marriage.
Supreme Court Justice Rita Incerti noted Payne had endured extensive physical, emotional and sexual abuse during her marriage, which entitled her to a "significant level of mercy".
"You were trapped in an abusive, violent and cruel environment for over a decade," Justice Incerti said to Payne.
"I have given full weight to the serious damage suffered … sentencing you is a difficult task."
Payne will be eligible for parole in December 2027.