Fahima Yusuf's dying words to her husband of eight years were "I love you" as he struck her with a wheel brace then choked or suffocated her in bed while their two young children slept nearby.
The first blow came as the 32-year-old slept, but even after waking she was easily overpowered.
Ahmed Dawood Seedat, 37, buried his wife in the backyard of their Perth home in a hole earlier created by a contractor, who was told it was to install a pool for the couple's children, aged two and five.
West Australian Supreme Court Justice Bruno Fiannaca said Ms Yusuf's final words only demonstrated her horror, betrayal and desperation to stop Seedat.
The accountant, who admitted murdering his wife in August 2018, wept as he was sentenced on Monday to life behind bars.
He must spend at least 23 years in prison for the killing, which Justice Fiannaca described as brutal, callous and cowardly.
Seedat had claimed his wife became "sexually aggressive", prompting him to attack, but Justice Fiannaca said that was implausible.
He found Seedat planned the murder for weeks and had egotistical motives.
There was no evidence Ms Yusuf planned to end the marriage, rather it was Seedat, who had been gambling heavily and hiring escorts, who wanted out.
The court heard Seedat had searched online for chilling terms such as "cremating a body", "best place to knock someone out" and burying someone alive.
Ms Yusuf's cause of death remains undetermined but she suffered cuts and had sand in her mouth but not in her airways.
After Ms Yusuf's death, Seedat lied to explain her absence, telling friends and neighbours she went to the UK for eye surgery and telling her sister she left him.
Seedat also asked a friend to call Ms Yusuf's interstate father and impersonate a police officer.
But he was not fooled and reported her missing four days after her death.
Police found her body the following day.
Justice Fiannaca said it was part of Seedat's narcissistic traits that he thought people would believe his lies and he could get away with the crime.
"It may have been technically clumsy but it was calculated behaviour," he said.
Seedat had intended to try to pursue a relationship with his sister-in-law, who he described as his best friend, but she viewed him as a brother.
"You envisaged a future with your sister-in-law ... you had become emotionally dependent on her," Justice Fiannaca said.
Seedat had also searched online: "Can you marry your brother-in-law if your sister is dead muslim?"
The court heard Seedat is separately facing fraud charges, with allegations he stole $5.7 million.
Australian Associated Press
