SA man jailed over strangling murder

One man is dead but two lives have been destroyed after Lindon Luke Sekrst strangled fellow psychiatric patient Stephen Barton with such force that he fractured his Adam's apple.

Sekrst has been jailed for at least 20 years for murdering Mr Barton while both were under treatment at the Noarlunga Hospital in Adelaide in 2014.

The 25-year-old was likely in the midst of a drug-induced psychosis, with Supreme Court judge Trish Kelly questioning the decision to place the two men together in the same room.

Whether Mr Barton was provided with the appropriate protection would be something for others to determine, the judge told the court in sentencing on Wednesday.

But she said there was no doubt the case was a tragedy and had left behind two grieving families.

"In destroying Mr Barton's life you simultaneously destroyed your own," Justice Kelly told Sekrst.

She said his decision to use drugs had proved catastrophic with ice turning "men and women into unreasoning savages".

"It's an evil, evil drug," the judge said.

The family of Mr Barton praised the judge's handling of the case and described the sentence as fair.

But sister Annette Burden said the process had still been traumatic and upsetting.

She said the family had also been advised not to comment on what might follow, including any possible investigations into the case and security for psychiatric patients.

Mr Barton, 43, had suffered from paranoid schizophrenia since his early 20s.

But Ms Burden said he was a lot more than just his health condition.

"He was very thoughtful and kind and caring and loving," she said.