THE girlfriend of a Hobart man who murdered a young Chinese woman did not turn him in because she loved him too much and wanted to resume their "happy" life together.

Stavros Papadopoulos, 22, was sentenced to life in prison last month after he admitted killing young accounting student Zhang "Tina" Yu for a thrill.

He repeatedly bashed Ms Yu and sexually assaulted her before drowning her in the bath in his New Town unit on June 25 last year.

He and his accomplice, Daniel Jo Williams, also 22, dumped her body in the Tyenna River and it was not found for several days.

Papadopoulos' girlfriend, Jazmin Iris Haygarth, 19, knew about the killing, but did not tell police.

In December she received a six-month suspended sentence for the crime of failing to report the killing of a person.

The details of her crime can be reported after Justice Helen Wood lifted a suppression order that was in place to avoid prejudicing Williams' trial.

The Supreme Court in Hobart heard police went to the unit Papadopoulos shared with Haygarth to question him the morning after the murder.

When they left, Haygarth asked what had happened and Papadopoulos confessed to her.

Haygarth was home alone when police returned to search the unit but she kept quiet until she was taken in for questioning two days later.

She admitted keeping the information to herself because she loved Papadopoulos "too much" and was hoping they "could both be happy again".

Williams was found guilty of manslaughter and was sentenced to 10 years in jail with a non-parole period of six years.

Papadopoulos will not be eligible to apply for parole until he has served 25 years.

Justice Wood said the then-18-year-old Haygarth was too immature to properly deal with "such a terrible and shocking disclosure".