Milorad Zaric, 48, fatally attacked Vicki Apostolopoulos and assaulted her son after chasing his own fearful son into his neighbour's property in eastern Melbourne.
Ms Apostolopoulos's family sat in a packed courtroom, wiping away tears throughout Zaric's sentencing in the Victorian Supreme Court on Wednesday.
Justice Jacinta Forbes said his actions in November 2024 took a life and irrevocably changed many others, as evidenced in the 24 victim impact statements from family, friends, neighbours and colleagues.
"This reflected the breadth of love Ms Apostolopoulos brought and the loss occasioned by her death," she said.
But Justice Forbes took into consideration Zaric's reduced moral culpability because of his ketamine-induced psychosis, deep remorse, previous good character and early guilty pleas as reasons for her to set a sentence below the standard 25 years.
She set a head sentence of 21 years and five months and a non-parole period of 14 years and six months.
Outside court, Mary Kadis declared the justice system had failed her sister, family and every single person who loved her, labelling the sentence "disgraceful and beyond acceptable".
"It is impossible to understand how a brutal murder can result in a sentence that gives the murderer hope for freedom, while the victim's family is left suffering a lifetime of loss," she tearfully told reporters.
"We will never get paroled from this sentence. We will never get to see Vicki again, never hear her voice, another hug, or share another moment with her.
"He has hope for freedom ... my nephews don't have a mother. I don't have a sister. My mother doesn't have a daughter."
Zaric had been chasing his teenage son on the morning of November 16 after abusing ketamine, cannabis and alcohol the day before.
After the father punched his son, pushed the boy down the stairs and stomped on his head, the then-15-year-old sought refuge in Ms Apostolopoulos's home next door.
The confused neighbour let the boy inside and shut the door again.
When Zaric wouldn't stop banging on it, she opened it and heard her killer chillingly utter: "Welcome home, Vicki."
Zaric then retrieved a knife from his waistband and plunged it into her neck, stomach and shoulder in a frenzied attack.
"You attacked a woman who had no reason to fear you," Justice Forbes said of the woman who opened the door in a sign of friendship.
"You stabbed her with no reason, without explanation or warning."
The Bayswater woman's son Riley Van Aken, then aged 16, grabbed Zaric in a chokehold and ordered his 12-year-old brother out of the house before he escaped after being punched multiple times.
Riley, now 18, said he found the sentence "horrific" and spoke of the impact his mother's murder has had on every aspect of life.
"There's nothing I do, whether it be school or other achievements, where I feel any sort of success from it as I'm not able to share it with mum," he said.
Two days before the murder, Zaric had texted Ms Apostolopoulos to thank her for "amazing" cupcakes, which she had baked and taken to his house.
Sofia Apostolopoulos said her life ended after she lost her daughter and she only lived for her grandchildren.
"Vicki was my life, my first child, my best friend too," she said.
The family would carry the unbearable weight of the loss forever, Ms Kadis said.
"Our family is absolutely devastated, shattered, and heartbroken, and struggling to understand how a life as precious as Vicki's can be valued so little," she said.
Zaric has served 641 days in pre-sentence detention and could be released on parole in less than 13 years.
1800 RESPECT (1800 737 732)
Lifeline 13 11 14
Men's Referral Service 1300 766 491
