Stuart Rattle murder: Partner who strangled prominent interior designer with dog leash jailed for 18 years

A Melbourne man who strangled his partner with a dog leash and continued talking to the body for days before he was caught has been jailed for 18 years.

Michael O'Neill admitted hitting Stuart Rattle, a prominent interior designer, over the head with a saucepan before strangling him at their South Yarra home in December 2013.

He then travelled to the couple's farm in Daylesford for the weekend and continued to socialise as normal, before returning to Melbourne and setting their home on fire.

The court heard O'Neill snapped when Mr Rattle called him a "frigid bitch" after his sexual advances were denied.

O'Neill went to the kitchen to make breakfast and returned to the bedroom with a pan when Mr Rattle continued to taunt him.

"You had a pan in your hand [and] he again called you a frigid bitch. This caused you to snap and hit him on the head with a pan," Supreme Court Justice Elizabeth Hollingworth said in sentencing.

"While he was dazed, you picked up a dog lead from the floor and strangled him.

"As you were strangling him Mr Rattle said 'Michael, don't do this'."

O'Neill put his partner's body in a bag because he knew Mr Rattle hated mess, the court heard.

He later travelled to the couple's farm in Daylesford, telling friends his partner was unwell.

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Stuart Rattle murder: Partner who strangled prominent interior designer with dog leash jailed for 18 years