Victorian murderer 'followed plan'

Gareth Giles followed his murder plan almost to the letter.

Steps one and two were taking a bus to Russell Hammond's Victorian home.

Tying up Mr Hammond with rope and duct tape was step three.

Burying the body was step eight; burning the 49-year-old's car was step 17.

Victorian Supreme Court judge Betty King read out the majority of Giles' murder plan - found on his computer - as she jailed him for 26 years on Wednesday.

"It was an 18-step plan and corresponds in a breathtaking way to a large number of the steps that you took this night," Justice King said.

"It is a chilling document, because it is a plan to kill an unknown, random person."

Giles followed 13 of the 18 steps. Four of the five he didn't follow involved removing the skull of the planned victim.

Giles, 26, of Leopold, knew Mr Hammond through a work-for-the-dole scheme, and they later shared a house.

"This was a senseless, inexplicable, vile, random murder of another human being," Justice King said.

Giles and Christopher Leigh Coulter, 20, went to Mr Hammond's Drysdale house and he invited them in for a drink before they killed him on January 5, 2012.

Neither man has admitted responsibility for the murder and both blamed each other.

Justice King said Giles had been socially isolated his entire life, despite clear intelligence.

"The only two close relationships you had ever had were with a young niece and your dog," she said.

Justice King said Giles had talked about what it would be like to kill an innocent person with another friend.

"The crime was entirely motiveless, except for your expressions to your friend about your curiosity and your desire to see what it felt like to kill," she said.

Giles rolled his eyes in court as Justice King questioned his ability to feel empathy with people.

She sentenced Giles to 26 years in prison, with a 21 year non-parole period.

Coulter, also of Leopold, was declared not fit to stand trial but was found at a special hearing to have committed the murder and was sentenced in February to 25 years in jail.