The killer beat, waterboarded and suffocated Bradley Breward at a Newnham unit on New Year's Day in 2017.

A Launceston Supreme Court jury on Wednesday found Jones, 43, guilty of murder, but the nine men and three women had no idea about the killer's dark past.

It was a night that should've been a joyful celebration for a cohort of school leavers, but for one teenager the party ended with her being brutally raped and almost strangled to death.

Court documents said the degree of violence used by Jones, which was greater than that required to achieve the purpose of rape, showed the conduct was an exercise in power and degradation rather than sexual gratification.

"The act of strangulation and physical injuries inflicted on the complainant required the sentence to be towards the upper level of the range of sentences imposed in respect of a single act of rape," the documents said.

It was November 28, 1997, and the 17-year-old went with Jones to a nearby paddock to kiss after they'd danced, kissed and engaged in heavy petting at a Grade 10 school leavers' party.

Jones undid his zipper and, despite the teenager telling him she didn't want to have sex, he pulled up her skirt and laid on top of her.

Jones put both his hands around the teenager's throat, preventing her from breathing or talking, told her to "shut up" and raped her. Despite desperate attempts from the victim to free herself, including pulling on Jones' hair, it had no effect and he continued to brutally and repeatedly force his penis in her vagina and anus.

"She squirmed about, trying to stop him. Again, he grabbed her around the throat and she could feel saliva and bubbles of fluid in her mouth as he was strangling her," court documents said.

The rapist collapsed on his victim after he ejaculated and said, "I'm sorry I can't believe I just did that".

Jones was interviewed by police and charged the next day. He appeared in the Supreme Court in February 1998 and was bailed to reappear in March over the sustained, depraved and violent rape, but Jones didn't make his court date.

The rapist fled the state and started a new life under a false name on the mainland. He was extradited to Tasmania and remanded in custody on July 8, 1998.

The 22-year-old pleaded guilty to two counts of vaginal rape, two counts of anal rape and two counts of aggravated assault.

During sentencing, Justice Peter Evans said Jones used brutal force to achieve his ends in the face of the teenager's continuing refusal.

"The doctor who examined her said the strangulation injury was particularly severe and could have been life-threatening," he said.

In an unusual move by a convicted criminal, Jones personally addressed Justice Evans during the sentencing, saying he had the deepest regret and sorrow for those affected by his crime.

"I myself have become a victim of my own stupidity for having committed these atrocities," he said.

But after telling the court he was at a loss to explain why he raped the schoolgirl, Jones gave a reason: "Maybe they were learned processes deep within subconscious as I have been a victim of child sexual abuse a long time ago. I shall be seeking counselling to aid in my rehabilitation."

Jones said he ran because he was suicidal and couldn't cope with what he had done - a trait of self-preservation and denial also seen during his dealings with police over the murder of Mr Breward.

"I ran because I couldn't accept what I had done," Jones said. But his remorse quickly turned into an egotistical boast about how he spent his time as a fugitive soul-searching, met a "wonderful woman" and fell in love.

"Within a short period of time [we] became engaged and now she plans to move to Tasmania at the end of the year. We will be married before I leave jail," the rapist said.

Jones told the court he was deeply sorry for what he'd done and he didn't set out to hurt anyone.

He was sentenced to four years' jail, but a successful sentence appeal by the Director of Public Prosecutions in March 1999 saw his prison term increased by a year.

But it wasn't Jones' first rape charge.

Less than three years prior Jones, 19, faced a scarily similar rape allegation, this time against a Don College student. Again Jones allegedly used strangulation as a means to dominate and suppress his victim once in an isolated area.

A medical examination of the woman within hours of the incident found a large bump in the middle of her forehead, three abrasions close to her hairline, dried blood in her nostrils, a graze on her left arm, and abrasions and a cut on her right knee.

The court heard red pinpoints of blood that appear in the eyes after airways were obstructed weren't found during the medical examination, but appeared afterwards and were recorded by police.

A ear, nose and throat surgeon who examined the police photos said there were red pinpoints of blood in both the woman's eyes.

It was Friday, April 21, 1995, and the schoolgirl was on a night out with a friend in Devonport when she bumped into Jones outside the Elimatta Hotel at midnight.

Together with other friends, Jones and the woman walked along several streets to the Warehouse nightclub.

Jones was accused of propelling the woman down a laneway near the nightclub, lifted her onto the bonnet of a parked car and undid the belt on her jeans.

The court heard the woman told him not to, and tried to push him away and get off the car, but Jones ignored her.

The woman went to call out to a friend but Jones grabbed her from behind and strangled her with so much force she became weak and started to black out, the court heard.

Jones allegedly had vaginal sex with her, unsuccessfully attempted to sodomise her, and then immediately put his penis back in her vagina. But Jones gave a vastly different version of events, saying there was no resistance and they'd kissed before having consensual sex.

He was found guilty of attempted rape and two counts of rape, but the conviction was quashed during an appeal in June 1996 because the jury hadn't been given a specific direction.

The appeal documents said the trial judge erred in the law by failing to instruct the jury that the evidence of the rape complaints by the alleged victim went only to the credit of the complainant and failed to instruct the jury not to use the evidence for any other purpose.

Prosecution elected not to have a retrial and Jones was released after serving 13 months of a 17-month sentence.