Their relationship started online but ended with her in a pool of blood and him hiding under a blanket.
Now Tony Thao Do, 61, will spend at least 16 years behind bars for the brutal murder of his wife, Kim Lien Huynh.
Ms Huynh was found late on a September night in 2012 by one of her three daughters at their family home at Cabramatta in western Sydney.
She'd been stabbed four times in the head, had five broken neck bones, and had almost had one of her fingers torn off - a self-defence wound.
Supreme Court Justice David Davies described the attack as "brutal" as he sentenced Do to a maximum of 23 years' jail on Friday.
The attack, he said, appeared unplanned and was probably the result of an argument between the pair after their relationship soured.
He said anger appeared the only motive for an attack which was sustained and intended to kill.
The court heard the two met online in 2007 and seemed happy after Do moved to Australia from the USA four years later.
But Ms Huynh, a highly driven businesswoman, apparently grew irritated with Do in the months before the killing, accusing him of being lazy and threatening to end their relationship.
Do, found guilty by a jury in March, first claimed he had not known of the death until he received a phone call from Ms Huynh's daughter.
He later told police he had discovered his wife on the floor and, believing she had fainted, tried to pick her up but got scared, ran away and hid under a blanket at their Sydney shop.
Justice Davies said there was "no evidence" he has accepted responsibility for his actions.
But he said Do, a simple man who suffered brain injuries after being taken prisoner during the Vietnam war, seemed an otherwise good and non-violent man.
"It was very likely that this was a one-off offence," he found.
Do will be eligible for parole in September 2028 but probably face deportation at the end of his sentence, the court heard. He was in the country on a visa sponsored by his wife.
Speaking outside the court, Aminda Huynh, who found her mother's body, said the family were happy with the result.
"She devoted her whole life to us," she said.
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