Convicted killer Marcus Rappel has been sentenced to a minimum of 26 years behind bars for the "vicious and cowardly murder" of his ex-partner Tara Costigan with an axe as she cradled their week-old baby in her arms.
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Rappel, 42, learned on Friday he would be eligible for release in 2041 for the domestic violence attack in Calwell in February 2015 as Ms Costigan's family said those who loved her were the ones who would serve a life sentence.
Ms Costigan's supporters clapped softly in the ACT Supreme Court as Justice John Burns described the murder as in the "worst category" and handed down a total sentence of 32 years and two months.
Outside court, her uncle Christopher Costigan said Ms Costigan's friends, family and members of the community who knew and loved her had received a life sentence when she died.
"No parole, no get out jail card. He deserves the same. He deserves to never walk the streets again.
"Until that happens I won't be happy."
Ms Costigan's mother, Trish Fuller said the experience had been a nightmare and Rappel's sentence was not long enough.
"It should be life, he should never be set free. Never, never."
Another uncle, Michael Costigan said the decision had not brought him a sense of peace as he called for more action on domestic violence prevention.
"Tara is still dead," he said. "There are no winners today."
Dramatic scenes unfolded earlier in court as an agitated Rappel lashed out at the judge and had to be removed from the room, yelling "rights for fathers", to watch the rest of his sentencing remotely.
Ms Costigan's emotional family and friends packed the public gallery and spilled into an overflow room next door to listen to the sentence almost two years to the day since she was brutally slain.
Justice Burns said Rappel's motive for killing his ex-partner was to punish her for taking out the interim domestic violence order against him the day before her death.
Rappel had chosen to ignore "the civilised option" of dealing with the order through the courts and "instead opted for a shameful and cowardly barbarism", the judge said.
He accepted Rappel was, to a degree, remorseful, but said his eventual guilty plea was all that spared him a life sentence.
In detailing the severity of the murder, Justice Burns said Rappel had contemplated the killing in the hours before he attacked and bought the axe from Bunnings for the purpose of killing Ms Costigan.
The judge noted Rappel had attacked her in her own home, breaking through the front door, and used the axe to cause "severe, and indeed horrific" injuries.
He also said Rappel would likely have known Ms Costigan's children would be in the house when he attacked, but was indifferent.
Justice Burns said Rappel's "vicious and cowardly" murder deprived three children of their mother, including his own daughter, whom he had effectively stripped of both her parents.
"Those who witnessed your violence will have to live with their memories for the rest of their lives."
Earlier, Rappel had yelled "rubbish" as Justice Burns said he was a poor witness who tended to be argumentative and suspicious of questioning.
"Your demeanour as a witness was consistent with your general personality as revealed by the evidence.
"You have a tendency to suspicion, bordering on paranoia, and you also have a tendency to aggression."
Ms Costigan's murder triggered an outpouring of shock and grief from the Canberra community and sparked a loud and desperate call to action on domestic violence.
That public debate, intensified by the deaths of three more Canberrans allegedly due to family abuse within weeks, led to sweeping law reform, renewed focus from police and boosted ACT government spending to help tackle the crisis.
Ms Costigan died when Rappel stormed the Calwell house where she was breast-feeding their newborn daughter and struck her twice with an axe as she fled on February 28.
She had taken out an interim domestic violence order against her ex-partner the previous day after she had grown concerned by his escalating abuse towards her and her family.
Rappel, 42, pleaded guilty to the killing, breaching a protection order and two assaults on Ms Costigan's family members stemming from the attack.
Rappel had become fixated on the fact he wasn't present at their daughter's birth and still needed to pick up furniture from Ms Costigan's home.
The court heard he was with his new partner when he was served with the order at Civic police station about 1.30pm the day of the murder and claimed he'd been joking when he told her: "I did say if another girl slapped a DVO on me I would kill her."
He bought an axe from Bunnings, which he said he intended to use to smash up his furniture, before he went to the Calwell house and forced his way inside.
Rappel chased Ms Costigan as she fled into the laundry, where her sister tried to pull her into the garage before he raised the axe in the air.
He plunged the blade into her neck, the force of the blow causing her to fall face-first onto the laundry floor as she held her newborn daughter.
Ms Costigan's teenage sister and her boyfriend were injured when they tried to stop Rappel and ripped the axe from his hands.
Police arrested him at the scene.
