A dad who murdered his wife with an axe in front of their teen kids gave his daughters an unthinkable decision to make after the killing.

A remorseless killer who murdered his wife with an axe in front of their teenage children has been jailed for 37 years. News comau reported.

Dinush Kurera, 47, sat stony-faced and leaning back in his chair with his arms crossed in the Victorian Supreme Court on Wednesday as details of the shocking attack were aired.

Sobs could be heard from the public gallery as Justice Amanda Fox said Kurera would serve at least three decades behind bars before becoming eligible for parole. 

After a trial spanning five weeks earlier this year, it took a Victorian jury just three hours to find him guilty of murdering Nelomie Perera, 43, two years ago.

Kurera had pleaded not guilty, claiming her death was self-defence after his wife attacked him with a knife – a claim the judge slammed as a hopeless defence and a ridiculous explanation.

The court was told in the weeks leading up to her death Ms Perera had been terrified of her estranged husband after telling him over the phone that she wanted a divorce.

Kurera had spent the past few months in Sri Lanka where he had dreams to open a hotel and his wife learnt he was having an affair.

“I’m not going to live my life afraid of you anymore,” she said.

Justice Fox told the court that a week before Ms Perera’s murder she told police that “she believed you would kill her when you got back home”.