The woman who murdered her partner and buried his body in their Christchurch backyard will spend at least 13 years in prison.
Martin Berry had been constantly subjected to verbal and physical abuse by Rena Joyce but his family say he would want her to forgive herself.
Joyce and Berry had a relationship that went from harmful to lethal.
"You were overwhelmingly the aggressor," Justice Jonathan Eaton told Joyce at sentencing on Tuesday. "Your relationship with Mr Berry was tumultuous and toxic."
The relationship became toxic to the point that during an argument, Joyce repeatedly stabbed him to death and then buried his body in their garden.
"Covering him in vegetation, leaving him there and then engaging in cleanup and disposing [of] his property, and lying as to his whereabouts, demonstrates a high level of cruelty," Eaton said.
Joyce initially told people her partner had run off with another woman but she eventually went to the police.
Three of Berry's family read victim impact statements to the court. His sister Joanna Statham said he loved Joyce, despite their dysfunctional, alcohol-fuelled relationship
"You destroyed your chance of happiness with someone who actually saw you and understood you and all your brokenness, and just loved you all the more for it."
The court heard repeatedly about Joyce's lack of empathy or remorse. Joyce herself sat through proceedings showing little emotion other than vigorously and repeatedly shaking her head as if she was disagreeing with what was being said.
