Man who murdered uncle spoke of desire to kill him days before attack

A man who murdered his uncle in Victoria's east spoke about his desire to commit the crime in text messages in the days leading up to the death, the Supreme Court has heard.

Jethro Curtis was 44 when he murdered his uncle Stephen Curtis in his Maffra home on January 18, before escaping in his victim's car and dumping it at an underground car park.

The now-45-year-old suspected his uncle had sexually assaulted him and others, the court heard.

"You told police you made sure he was dead, you had snapped because of lots of things that had hurt your feelings and that you believed he was a child molester," Justice Rita Incerti said.

"While these allegations have not been proven, [your psychologist] indicates that he believes them to be plausible."

The Supreme Court heard at a plea hearing in Morwell last week that Jethro Curtis was messaging another person in the weeks leading up to the murder, talking about what should be done to him.

"Tonight I'm doing this," Jethro Curtis said in one text message read to the court. 

"It's nearly time to get this show on the road."

In July, Jethro Curtis indicated he would plead guilty and was today sentenced to 24 years in prison, with a non-parole period of 17 years.

'I made sure he was dead'

Prosecutor Daniel Porceddu told the court Jethro Curtis admitted his crimes during his police interview in January.

"I hit him a lot, I strangled him, I tried to strangle him a few times with a few different things and then like he just stopped, so I stopped," he told police at his interview.

"I made sure he was dead. It is what it is, man."

The court heard Jethro Curtis lived in a makeshift bedroom in a shed at the rear of a property his mother bought with the victim, with inheritance from their mother.

Stephen Curtis was a 63-year-old jeweller and had trouble walking after being diagnosed with Parkinson's disease in recent years.

The court heard the victim was in his bed and his mother was away in Melbourne when Jethro Curtis entered his bedroom and began punching him, before throwing him on the floor and kicking him.

He then taped his face so he could not speak and strangled him with a charger cord.

In the days before the murder, Jethro Curtis had texted a former partner of the victim before deciding he would kill him, the court heard.

The prosecution said that after the killing, Jethro Curtis draped the body in a shower curtain so his mother would not find her brother dead on the floor.

The next morning, he logged into his uncle's bank account and stole $5,500 before driving the victim's car to Traralgon, buying clothes and leaving the car in an underground car park.

He then boarded a train to Pakenham before taking a taxi to Seaford.

He handed the taxi driver $250 before telling him he had killed someone and would be going to jail.

The court heard Jethro Curtis made many phone calls to three former partners, a friend, his mother and stepfather.

In one phone call, he told the mother of some of his children what he had done.

"I killed Steve last night, I left him in his bedroom, please call me soon before I hand myself in," he said in a voicemail message.

His mother called emergency services, who sent an ambulance, with paramedics confirming Stephen Curtis's death.

Jethro Curtis was apprehended by police in Seaford two days after the murder, where he had been staying with acquaintances.

The prosecution argued the murder was an act of vigilantism, which Justice Incerti did not accept.

"I am not satisfied beyond reasonable doubt that it can be characterised as vigilantism," she said.

"It was more impulsive and volatile than the prosecution contends.

"You were unarmed and had no plan as to how you were going to kill Stephen."