SA man loses murder appeal

An Adelaide man twice found guilty of the murder of a man he stabbed 15 times and dumped in a wheelie bin has had an appeal against his second conviction dismissed.

Michael Joseph Lindsay had his first conviction overturned by the High Court and a new trial ordered after it found the jury wasn't properly directed on the question of provocation, which can be used in South Australia as a partial defence to murder.

But in March this year he was found guilty for a second time and jailed for at least 23 years over the 2011 killing of Andrew Negre who was attacked after the 37-year-old had made a joke about paying Lindsay for sex.

In his second appeal Lindsay also complained about the judge's directions on the provocation issue, sometimes referred to as the gay panic defence, but also questioned directions given to the jury on the reliability of witnesses and his admissions.

But the three-judge appeal court found that none of the killer's grounds had been made out and unanimously dismissed the appeal.

On the question provocation, Justice Ann Vanstone said the directions to the jury were clear.

"I do not consider that the jury could have been in any doubt as to the availability of provocation, how to approach it, or the fact that the onus of proof remained on the prosecution throughout," she said.

In sentencing Lindsay in September, Justice Anne Bampton said when Mr Negre, who had been drinking with Lindsay, made his comment about paying for sex, Lindsay attacked, punching his victim in the head and then smashing his head on the ground.

He later ripped off Mr Negre's clothes and stabbed him 15 times in the chest.

The attack stopped when another man, who was jailed in 2013, slit Mr Negre's throat.

Justice Bampton described Lindsay's attack as intentional, brutal and senseless.