Nurse killer to appeal sentence

The man who killed beloved outback nurse Gayle Woodford will be allowed to challenge his 32-year minimum jail sentence.

Dudley Davey, 35, came before the Court of Criminal Appeal on Friday where he was granted leave to appeal against the length of his non-parole period.

Defence counsel Nick Vadasz successfully argued that it was questionable whether or not the sentencing judge gave Davey enough discount for his guilty plea.

Mr Vadasz said the discount applied was closer to 10 per cent, much less than the maximum 30 per cent allowed under the legislation.

He said Justice Ann Vanstone had not adequately explained why she had settled on such a lower figure.

But prosecutor Ian Press argued that a bigger discount would have "shocked the public conscience" given the seriousness of Davey's offending and his appalling record.

Justice Sam Doyle ruled that four of Davey's grounds for appeal were reasonably arguable and ordered the appeal be heard later this month.

When she imposed her sentence in June, Justice Vanstone described Davey as a callous and cold-blooded killer.

He had pleaded guilty to both the rape and murder of 56-year-old Ms Woodford who was found buried in a crude grave three days after she went missing from her home in Fregon, in SA's north, in March last year.

"This was a cold-blooded killing of a woman who had worked with skill and compassion in your community," the judge told Davey.

Justice Vanstone said the drug addict and serial offender, who had an "abnormal desire to rape women", had plainly chosen Mrs Woodford as an "easy target, vulnerable because of her empathy".

She said Davey's offending was "callous in the extreme" and at the higher end of the scale for the crimes of rape and murder.

Outside court, Mrs Woodford's husband Keith said he believed Davey should die in jail.

"Dudley Davey should never ever be let out of jail for the shocking crime he committed," Mr Woodford said.