Two men who killed a Queensland woman before discarding her body "like rubbish" in a Sunshine Coast forest and setting it alight have been sentenced to life in prison.
A Brisbane Supreme Court judge deemed Clinton Oliver, 45, and Braydon Franklin, 35, were "devoid of any human decency" as he extended their non-parole period, for murdering Caboolture grandmother Donna Howe in an "act of extreme cowardice."
Ms Howe's charred skeletal remains were uncovered by two men four-wheel driving through the Glass House Mountains in June 2022.
The 57-year-old was last seen by her daughter a month earlier on Mother's Day, and was killed in her own home later that night.
"I hugged my mum and told her I loved her for the very last time, without knowing it would be the last," Tiana Dempster told the court through tears today.
"[On a day] when we should be celebrating her, we're grieving … Mother's Day will never hold that happy cheer that is intended."
Donna Howe's daughter, Tiana Dempster, leaving court. (ABC News)
'This is how you thank her'
During their joint Supreme Court trial, the jury heard that Oliver, then 41, became roommates with Ms Howe at her Balkee Street home after he began dating a woman who lived there.
The then 31-year-old Franklin, a father of two who was on parole when he killed Ms Howe, was dating another woman who lived at the house.
While reading a victim impact statement to the court on Wednesday, Ms Howe's mother, Margaret Ellem, said her daughter was a "fun loving person" who would "do anything" for anyone, before directly addressing Oliver and Franklin.
"Even giving you residence at her own house … this is how you thank her for all she's done," said.
"To think she had been thrown away like rubbish."
The men failed to meet the elderly mother's eye as she made her way back from the witness stand.
Ms Howe was reported missing in June, 2022. (ABC News)
'Entirely vulnerable'
The court heard of tensions arising at the Caboolture home as the roommates became suspicious that Ms Howe was stealing their belongings.
But during sentencing, Justice Martin Burns told the court their motive was "by no means clear".
"There was, in my judgement, much more to what moved you to take her life … than what was given in evidence."
The court heard on the night of May 8, 2022, Ms Howe was murdered after walking into her living room.
Justice Burns told the court that Franklin taped her mouth closed "with the urging" of Oliver.
Ms Howe was then struck by Oliver, likely with a hammer.
Braydon Franklin and Clinton Travis have pleaded not guilty to murder, but guilty to interfering with a corpse. (ABC News)
"She would have, in every sense, been unsuspecting and entirely vulnerable to the attack," Justice Burns told the court.
The men then wrapped up her body with the rug from the living room, before carrying her outside to a car where they left her overnight.
The following evening, they transported her body to the Sunshine Coast bushland where they doused it in petrol and set it on fire.
"In all of the days that followed, you conducted yourselves in the most shameless of ways, and without the slightest hints of regret and remorse," he told the court.
"You have shown yourself to be devoid of any shred of human decency."
Non-parole period extended
The two men pleaded guilty to moving Ms Howe's body at the outset of the trial last week, and were convicted by a jury for the offence of murder on Tuesday.
During Wednesday's sentencing, Justice Burns deemed Oliver and Franklin's actions to be "within the worst category of offences of that type" and they were each sentenced to five years in prison for interfering with a corpse.
They were also each handed a life sentence for murder, which has a minimum non-parole period of 20 years.
Ms Howe's burnt remains were found by members of the public in Beerburrum State Forest. (ABC News)
"Cases may arise where more [non-parole time] is required, and in my view, this is one," Justice Burns told the court.
The men were each sentenced to 21 years without parole.
With time served, Oliver will be eligible for parole in June 2043, and Franklin in November 2044.
Ms Dempster said her family was "torn apart" the day her mother was killed.
"This is what the family will forever have to go through … the true life sentence."
