A Melbourne man accused of strangling his controlling de facto partner in a fit of rage has been found guilty of her manslaughter.
Anthony Sherna has been on trial in the Victorian Supreme Court, having pleaded not guilty to murdering his partner of 18 years, Susanne Wild.
A jury has found him not guilty of her murder, but found him guilty of an alternative charge of manslaughter when they returned with a verdict this morning after one day of deliberations.
The jury had heard Sherna strangled Ms Wild in February 2008 with a dressing-gown cord after she woke his dog, Hubble, with her shouting.
He then buried her in their backyard in Tarneit, in Melbourne's south-west.
The jury heard Sherna had endured years of emotional abuse from Ms Wild who called him a "low life", controlled how their money was spent and prevented him from using their home toilet.
On the night she was killed, Sherna had been rocking Hubble to sleep and became enraged when her shouting woke the dog.
He strangled her and then went to a brothel.
Over the next few days, Sherna tried to use air freshener to mask the smell of Ms Wild's body and made plans to bury her in a grave he dug in his backyard.
He later admitted to police he killed her after tensions boiled over.
Defence lawyer Jane Dixon SC argued Sherna was in a grossly dysfunctional relationship in which he was controlled and dominated by his partner to a pathological extent.
She said he had endured a horrible life with her and was always defending himself from daily abuse and put-downs.
Justice David Beach remanded Sherna in custody for a plea hearing on Wednesday.
AAP