Vic killer bound for psych hospital: court

A Melbourne man jailed after stashing his dead girlfriend's body in a cupboard is expected to be moved to a high-security forensic mental health facility.

The man, who cannot be named for legal reasons, killed his 41-year-old partner around Valentine's Day in 2016 but has previously been found not guilty of murder due to mental impairment, the Supreme Court of Victoria was told on Wednesday.

Following the woman's death, the man phoned his stepfather from the psychiatric ward of a Dandenong hospital on February 20, asking him to remove a body from a cupboard at his Hallam home.

The man was instructed to go to his stepson's unit and remove a "B, O and two other letters", the court was previously told.

The man's stepfather told the court he immediately knew his stepson meant "body", and it was probably that of his girlfriend.

Evidence previously told to the court indicated the man was often violent to his partner, with a tradesman giving evidence that he saw the man beating his girlfriend on their front lawn one morning.

Justice Elizabeth Hollingworth said the man would preferably be held at the secure Thomas Embling Hospital when a bed became available.

She said the man had "longstanding psychiatric problems", but that Thomas Embling was full, with about 20 men waiting for beds to become available.

The man will be brought before the court again on February 12 next year, by which time it is hoped a bed has become available.