Danielle Birchall, 49, closed her eyes as Victorian Supreme Court Justice Christopher Beale handed down her sentence for the "savage" murder on Friday morning.
Birchall claimed she only went to Kon Kritikos' Coburg home on November 11, 2020, to have a chat.
But a jury found she attacked him with a weapon because she wanted to steal his money to buy heroin and a new car.
She then left him dying on the blood-splattered floor.
Birchall told a series of lies to cover up the murder and returned to Mr Kritikos' home with her partner, his son George Kritikos, later that evening.
The couple found Mr Kritikos on the floor moaning but still semi-conscious.
George asked his father "who did it?" to which he replied "afti, afti, afti" in Greek, meaning "she did it".
Mr Kritikos was taken to hospital but died two weeks later from his injuries.
Birchall pleaded not guilty to Mr Kritikos' murder but a jury found her guilty of the crime in November 2024.
Justice Beale described the killing as a savage assault.
"He was a frail, elderly man and you viciously attacked him in his own home," the judge said in sentencing.
"You subjected him to many blows - his was an agonising death."
Justice Beale determined Birchall must not have known Mr Kritikos was still alive when she left, otherwise she never would have returned with her partner later that evening.
He also rejected the theory that she intended to steal from the elderly man while he was asleep.
"You arrived around 3.45pm when you knew he was likely to be awake," Justice Beale said.
The judge noted Birchall continued to deny responsibility for the murder so she had not shown any signs of remorse.
He was also guarded about her prospects of rehabilitation after finding she held a moderate risk of reoffending.
Justice Beale accepted Birchall suffered profound abuse as a child which left her with lasting mental health conditions, including post-traumatic stress disorder.
Those conditions would make her time in custody more difficult, the judge said, which mitigated her overall sentence.
Birchall was jailed for 27 years with a non-parole period of 20 years, but she has already served close to four years behind bars.
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