A woman who encouraged two men to inflict a "flogging" on a Victorian father later found in a shallow grave, may walk free from jail in a month.
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Natalie Dalton, 38, was initially charged with murder over the death of 39-year- old Jade Goodwin, whose body was found on the Mornington Peninsula in October 2017.
She instead admitted urging two men to bash Mr Goodwin as payback for an unproven claim he raped a woman.
On Wednesday, Dalton was jailed for two-and-a-half years, with a minimum one year and eight months, after pleading guilty to intentionally causing serious injury.
With more than a year and six months already spent in custody awaiting sentence, she could be free in a month.
Prosecutors previously conceded Dalton was not responsible for Mr Goodwin's death, but only the injuries leading up to it.
Supreme Court Justice Christopher Beale said he was not satisfied a rape had occurred and made no finding either way.
He did, however, say there had been some kind of "incident" that led to Dalton setting a chain of events in motion.
Dalton told her friends that Mr Goodwin had committed a sexual assault.
Her ex-partner Brendan McDowall and another man, Shane Heiberg later beat Mr Goodwin during a "protracted struggle".
During the assault, McDowall hit Mr Goodwin with a pair of bolt cutters he found on the ground before putting a dog lead around the victim's neck, strangling him.
Dalton later accompanied McDowall to dispose of Mr Goodwin's body at Tyabb in a "suspicious hole", which was found a week later.
Heiberg pleaded guilty to manslaughter earlier this year, and McDowall was found not guilty of murder, but guilty of manslaughter, by a jury in May.
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