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Christopher Allen Bell strangled his girlfriend in a Melbourne laneway, then instead of calling for help he went to Crown Casino to gamble and then home to bed.

Natalina Angok's relatives described the 32-year-old as the light of her family, a sweet soul with a heart of gold.

She had been in a relationship with Bell for nine months before he killed her and left her body in a Chinatown laneway.

Bell, now 34, was on Friday jailed for 다이렉트 자동차보험 21 years for her murder.

"Natalina Angok's death was futile," Justice Lex Lasry said.

"Her death was a culmination of a history of family violence that you perpetrated against her and former partners."

Bell was in the midst of a "psychotic meltdown", with schizophrenic delusions involving Ms Angok beginning almost immediately after their relationship began.

Bell had admitted himself to hospital in the weeks before the murder, suffering visual and auditory hallucinations.

Despite his mother's efforts to have him sectioned he was released to a transition facility, but he left while his hallucinations continued.

He wasn't treated with anti-psychotic medication despite his symptoms.

He continued to see Ms Angok and 자동차보험 went out together on A

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Just after 5am the next day they argued as they walked through Chinatown.

Ms Angok, an aspiring dental nurse, went down the laneway to relieve herself. Bell said he wondered if he should follow to "keep an eye on her".

"Things sort of went a bit funny and then I remember being on top of her and panicking, not really knowing what was what I was doing or how I even ended up on top of her," he said.

He later told police he had "choked the life out of her until she breathed no

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Her body was found about 90 minutes later.

Ms Angok fought back, scratching him and leaving traces of DNA under her fingernails.

"Having killed her for reasons you yourself cannot comprehend, you left her alone and dead in an alleyway," Justice Lasry said.

Bell had claimed he was immediately remorseful for what he had done, but he did not seek help for Ms Angok.

Instead he spent an hour gambling at Crown Casino, stood on a street corner eating a souvlaki for 15 minutes, and bought a bottle of wine and cigarettes before going home to bed.

Doctors found Bell, whose mental health has stabilised in prison, remains a high risk of reoffending.

Angok's sister said she would never forgive Bell.

"You were supposed to love and protect her ... even if my life depended on it, I will never forgive you," she said.

Bell will be eligible for parole in 2034.

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