Family wants Vic killer wife to pay: court

The sons and ex-wife of a Victorian man who was beaten and stabbed by his wife after he abused her and made extreme sexual demands want to be compensated for their pain and suffering.

Eileen Mary Creamer, 58, was jailed for 11 years in 2011 after she bashed David Creamer with a South African tribal stick, then stabbed him in the stomach during a fight at their Moe home.

During her trial, Creamer claimed her husband made constant demands for her to have sex with other men in front of him, and had been violent and abusive towards her.

Lyle Creamer, Dale Creamer and Buera Lynn Creamer are arguing for Creamer to pay them $75,000 compensation, which is her share of the profits from the sale of a New Zealand property she owned with her late husband.

Tom Moisidis told the Victorian Supreme Court on Tuesday Mr Creamer's children and ex-wife had lost someone dear to them, and said Lynn Creamer believed her relationship with Mr Creamer was going to be resurrected.

"Someone has been killed," Mr Moisidis said.

"The victims have suffered as a result of that.

"The primary focus should be on compensating the victims.

The court heard Mr Creamer had been estranged from his sons for about 14 years, after leaving them when they were in primary school.

They reconnected when he visited South Africa 14 years later.

Nicholas Goodfellow, for Eileen Creamer, said the circumstances of the offending should mitigate the amount of compensation Mr Creamer's family is entitled to.

A Supreme Court jury found Creamer guilty of defensive homicide, which means they accepted she believed she was defending herself, but that belief was unreasonable.

Mr Goodfellow said there was a lack of premeditation in the killing, and the verdict acknowledged domestic violence was a feature of Mr and Mrs Creamer's marriage.

"She, herself, had been a victim of domestic violence," Mr Goodfellow said.

He said Creamer has good prospects for rehabilitation and is unlikely to offend again in this way.

Creamer will be eligible for parole in April next year.

Mr Moisidis said the overwhelming feature in the minds of Mr Creamer's loved ones was his death.

"The reality is, the respondent killed Mr Creamer."

Justice Christopher Beale has reserved his decision.