A Melbourne man has been sentenced to nearly three decades in prison for the murder of his partner in 2020.

Warning: This story contains details that some readers may find upsetting.

Ricardo Barbaro stabbed the 26-year-old mother of one child, Ellie Price, six times in her South Melbourne flat.

He then fled interstate and Ms Price’s body was not found for several days until early May that year.

The 38-year-old man was sentenced today to 28 years in prison with a non-parole period of 22 years.

Ms Price’s body lay in her South Melbourne flat for approximately five days until it was discovered by police on May 4, 2020.

The 26-year-old’s throat was cut and he was stabbed in the chest.

A pathologist concluded that the bruises on his head and injuries to his arm indicated that he was fighting for his life.

Barbaro fled Melbourne with his father after Price’s murder

Barbaro was on the run and had a head start against the police.

After the murder, he drove Ms Price’s Mercedes to a farm at Diggers Rest on the outskirts of Melbourne, where she met her father, Giuseppe “Joe” Barbaro.

Over the following days he traveled through towns in Victoria, NSW and the ACT in a rented van and was eventually arrested on 14 May 2020.

Barbaro continues to maintain that he did not kill Ms. Price and was not involved in her death.

Her lawyers have previously argued that there are others in the young mother’s “world” who want to harm her.

Subsequent hearings focused on the private life of Ms Price, a strip club dancer whose luxury expenses were paid for by Melbourne brothel owner Mark Gray.

Although Ms. Price was with Barbaro, Mr. Gray loved Ms. Price and called her his “soulmate” in the eulogy he wrote for her funeral.

Mr Gray was also the last person Ms Price texted before she died. Mr Gray denied being Miss Price’s “sugar daddy” and told the court he planned to end their friendship because the woman threatened to blackmail him with false rape allegations.

Barbaro’s lawyers argued that Mr. Gray was “obsessed” with Ms. Price and questioned whether he was involved in the murder; He flatly rejected this suggestion.

Price called ‘big, kind hearted’

Ms Price grew up in Tasmania and moved to Victoria at 18 to work in the equine industry.

She gave birth to a son in 2015.

Miss Price’s mother, Tracey Gangell, said she had a “big, kind heart” and the court heard her young son struggled to understand why his mother was no longer in his life.

The case has spent the last four years languishing through Victoria’s legal system.

The first trial in the Supreme Court was postponed due to jury misconduct. A second was canceled after the defense requested time to review new evidence.

After Barbaro was found guilty, further delays occurred when the judge tasked with sentencing the killer, Judge Lex Lasry, suddenly resigned.

Barbaro’s family is involved in Australia’s criminal underworld.

His brother, cousin, and grandfather, all named Pasquale Barbaro, were assassinated.

Another uncle, Pasquale, is serving a long prison sentence for a major drug scheme.

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