The Canberra killer who stabbed mother-of-three Paula Conlon to death is fighting against his life sentence, launching an appeal just one day after his punishment was handed down.
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Aleksander Vojneski's lawyers, Ben Aulich and Associates, will argue that life behind bars for the killing of Ms Conlon is a "manifestly excessive" sentence.
Vojneski murdered his girlfriend in March 2012, inflicting 15 knife wounds on her in the bedroom of her Macgregor home.
No clear, direct motive emerged from Vojneski's trial, but evidence suggested he was becoming increasingly desperate to get drugs on credit on the night.
Vojneski, an ice-addict with significant mental health issues, had a tendency to become violent when he didn't get drugs, and had used knives in attacks and threats in the past.
Ms Conlon was stabbed to death while a teenage boarder staying with her sat in the next room with headphones on, playing an online game called League of Legends. The records of his gaming would later prove key to placing a time of death and putting Vojneski squarely in the frame.
The teenager heard a loud scream, followed by "no" uttered three times.
Vojneski fought the allegations at trial, but was ultimately found guilty of murder by an ACT Supreme Court jury in September.
Justice John Burns sentenced him to life imprisonment on Tuesday, describing the killing as a betrayal of Ms Conlon's trust and love in him.
"Paula Conlon was a loving and much-loved mother and daughter," Justice Burns said.
"You senselessly killed her in a sustained and brutal attack."
An appeal was lodged by Vojneski's solicitor Peter Woodhouse on Wednesday.
The appeal currently rests on two grounds; that Justice Burns was in error by imposing a manifestly excessive sentence, or, alternatively, that the judge erred because the punishment was plainly unjust or unreasonable in the circumstances.
Vojneski will seek to have Justice Burns' sentence quashed and set aside, and replaced with one delivered by the ACT Court of Appeal.
The hearing of the appeal will not occur until at least next year.
As it stands, Vojneski can only ever be released from prison if he is granted licence by the ACT Attorney-General.
His life sentence was the first imposed by the ACT Supreme Court since Scott Alexander McDougall in 2011, who killed two people with a cleaver before trying to burn down the house where their bodies lay.
Justice Burns said last week that Vojneski's crime could be placed in the worst category of murder and warranted a life sentence.
He described it as "senseless", "brutal" and "frenzied".
Vojneski was found to have shown no remorse and taken no responsibility, and Justice Burns said the offender didn't even seem to regret his girlfriend's death.
During the sentencing hearing, Vojneski's barrister Jack Pappas submitted that Vojneski's significant mental health problems should play a significant role in Justice Burns' decision.
Vojneski was diagnosed as a paranoid schizophrenic, and Justice Burns agreed that he had a lower ability for self-control or reasoned judgment.
Vojneski has struggled with mental health problems since his teenage years, and Mr Pappas said his contact with the ACT's mental health services was less than perfect.
"For a number of years, Mr Vojneski continued to slip through the fingers of the mental health system, and his condition continued to get worse," Mr Pappas said.
A directions hearing on Vojneski's appeal is expected to take place next month.
