Sentence cut for Vic killer

A Victorian man who stabbed three men, two of them fatally, during a neighbourhood dispute has had his jail term reduced on appeal.

Aaron Jamie Ball, 34, was serving a 20-year prison term - with a non-parole period of 17 years - after he pleaded guilty to charges arising from a brawl on his Casterton property in September 2011.

This has been reduced to a term of 17 years and six months, with a 14-year non-parole period.

Judges considering the appeal agreed the original sentence was excessive because it did not give sufficient weight to Ball's serious mental illness.

Ball's schizophrenia and persistent delusions were factors when he stabbed the three men who had arrived at his home.

Among the two who died, neighbour Raymond McCombe was stabbed 34 times, including to his genitals.

"The circumstances of the offences under consideration, particularly the repeated stabbing and mutilation of Mr McCombe, were horrific," Justice Phillip Priest said in a ruling on Tuesday.

"The overwhelming preponderance of evidence demonstrates, however, that the applicant was mentally ill when he committed the offences."

Ball was resentenced on two charges of defensive homicide. His sentence for a further charge of recklessly causing serious injury was unchanged.