A callous murderer who strangled his ex-girlfriend, destroyed her remains and then tried to stage her death as a suicide has been jailed for 28 years.

Lachlan Young, 23, ignored a packed Ballarat courtroom, instead staring straight ahead as Victorian Supreme Court Justice James Elliott sentenced him on Tuesday.

It was eight days into his trial before Young finally admitted he murdered Hannah McGuire on April 5, 2024 in a home they owned together at Sebastopol, 120km northwest of Melbourne.

Young told prosecutors they had an argument and he followed Ms McGuire into the bathroom, where he pushed her onto the ground and strangled her.

He then shoved her body into the footwell of her Mitsubishi Triton, drove it to remote bushland in nearby Scarsdale and set the vehicle alight.

As he left

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