After stabbing his former partner in the neck, Kynan Watego Devenna told her she was going to die.
The returned soldier, who has suffered post-traumatic stress disorder after returning from Afghanistan, later told police he had wanted her dead for half a decade.
It took a Supreme Court jury just over two hours on Thursday to find the 32-year-old guilty of murdering Sarahjane Dower, 26, in his mother's Ayr home in September 2012.
After the murder, he drove a ute to a range near Townsville and burnt it twice with Ms Dower's body inside.
The badly incinerated body was found two days after Ms Dower met Devenna to talk about custody arrangements.
The Crown rejected Devenna's attempts to plead guilty to manslaughter on Monday.
Its case was that his behaviour before, during and after the trial indicated the killing was a "cruel and premeditated crime".
In closing submissions on Thursday, crown prosecutor Jacob Robson read excerpts from a police interview days after the death in which Devenna admitted to stabbing Ms Dower twice in the neck.
"You're going to die, I'm not ringing an ambulance," he recalled telling her.
He also said he had wanted Ms Dower dead since 2007 when child-custody issues first arose in the family.
The court heard evidence from Devenna's mother and a friend that he had suffered post-traumatic stress disorder and depression since returning from Afghanistan.
"He had an aura of abnormality, you only have to look at Mr Devenna during that interview," defence barrister Harvey Walters told the court.
Mr Walters said Devenna's decision to park and burn the car where it could easily be seen showed he was confused and not a "criminal genius".
Members of Ms Dower's family said "yes" under their breath as the verdict was handed down in a Townsville Supreme Court.
Her parents, who have been carrying her ashes during the trial, said they were happy with the outcome.
"She was so happy-go-lucky, always had lots of friends that loved her," her mother Apolonia McDonnell told reporters.
"(The verdict's) a really good feeling. It's closure for my daughter."
Outside court, his mother Fay Devenna said her son had been expecting a guilty verdict.
She hoped her family could start to move on.
Devenna had pleaded guilty to interfering with a corpse and two counts of arson.
He will be sentenced on Friday.
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