A man jailed for strangling a Melbourne sex worker has lost an appeal against his murder conviction.
Steve Constantinou, 50, was in 2013 sentenced to at least 20 years in prison for murdering Johanna "Jazzy O" Martin in 2011.
He strangled her, pawned her jewellery for about $2000 and dumped her body in bushes before placing a bet and having his car tyres changed.
Constantinou initially claimed a distressed Ms Martin, 65, had strangled herself.
He changed his story and insisted at the trial she died accidentally while wearing a dog collar and reins during an erotic asphyxiation.
A jury found Constantinou guilty of murder and an appeal of his conviction was dismissed on Thursday.
Witnesses told his trial Ms Martin did not take part in sex games involving bondage and choking.
But during the appeal, Constantinou's barrister Dermot Dann said recorded prison phone calls between Constantinou and his daughter, at the end of 2011 and in early 2012, revealed he had discussed the fatal sex accident before his trial.
That showed Constantinou's story was consistent and not fabricated as the trial prosecutor had suggested, Mr Dann argued.
He said the calls should have been included in the trial.
But the Court of Appeal found there had been no substantial miscarriage of justice.
Some of the recorded conversations were generally similar to what Constantinou claimed, the appeal court said, but there were also significant differences.
Constantinou's actions after Ms Martin's death also were "highly incriminating of his guilt of murder", the court said.
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