Darcy McNamara will spend up to 20 years in jail for the murder of Wangaratta man Nathan Day.
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The 44-year-old will have to spend at least 14 years in custody before he is eligible for parole.
He was sentenced in the Supreme Court on Thursday, more than two years after Mr Day, 35, had his throat cut in the bedroom of McNamara's home on July 26, 2018.
McNamara pleaded guilty to murder on the basis he encouraged and assisted co-accused Phillip Dunn to kill Mr Day, but in a separate hearing, Dunn has pleaded guilty to assisting McNamara commit the crime.
Judge Michael Croucher said Mr Day met "a tragic and grizzly end" and his body was buried in McNamara's backyard with "little dignity".
"This was a case of drunken aggression that got very much out of hand and turned so nasty as to result in murder," he said.
"It was a terrible thing to do to a human being."
Dunn will be sentenced in the Supreme Court on Monday.
More to come.