The family of 11-year-old Zoe Buttigieg has been waiting for the moment Bowe Maddigan was sentenced for the murder and sexual assault of the little girl in October last year.

Her uncle, Mat Carmody, has been one of the big family contingent in court for the hearings and spoke to The Border Mail after the guilty plea earlier in 2016.

“The ideal situation would be that this guy would never be released from prison, but the reality is that might not happen,” he said.

Maddigan had snuck into Zoe’s bedroom and strangled her to death, on the night he was at her Wangaratta home drinking and smoking cannabis at a gathering.

Director of Public Prosecutions John Champion argued for the highest-possible sentence to be dealt to Maddigan, when he ran the case himself in Wangaratta Supreme Court last month.

But defence barrister Tim Marsh argued the murder was not serious enough for a life sentence because there was not brutal violence, multiple victims or a plea of innocence.

He asked Justice Lex Lasry to show leniency because Maddigan was a man of Aboriginal descent who grew up in a home of alcohol and violence, despite going on to work and have children.

More than three years after Ian Thomas murdered his parents Bill and Pauline at their Great Alpine Road home, he will also finally learn the length of time he will serve in jail.

The 38-year-old, who had previously been living in Western Australia, was staying with his parents when he used cable ties to strangle his mother, before shooting his father and then repeatedly hitting him in the head with a pick-axe.

Defence barrister Theo Kassimatis urged Justice Lasry not to impose a life sentence.

He said given Thomas' release date was so far away, it was not possible for the court now to find whether he would still pose a threat in the future.

Thomas had pleaded not guilty and went through a lengthy trial, while Maddigan’s case was resolved quicker due to a guilty plea.

The sentencing will be heard from 12pm.

- The Border Mail