Newcastle Supreme Court Justice Robert Hulme on Wednesday said drug dealer Troy McCosker had been involved in a "brazen, extreme and sadistic act of violence".

Justice Hulme said McCosker's victim, Wade Still, would have suffered "an extreme level of terror and excruciating pain" after being engulfed in flames the first time before being set alight again about an hour later in a disused quarry at Whitebridge.

The judge said McCosker's sadistic and callous act involved the killing of a human being in one of the worst ways imaginable.

He said the triple zero call made by a taxi driver who found Mr Still would have been chilling for the jury when it was played in court because you could hear in the background the "wailing sound" of the victim in pain.

McCosker, 51, was jailed for 36 years with a non-parole period of 27 years.

Mr Still, 24, died from first degree burns to 90 per cent of his body after one of the killers returned to pour more petrol over him and set him on fire for a second time.

A jury in October found McCosker, accused of helping the second man as part of a joint criminal enterprise, guilty of murder.

The second man, who cannot be named, pleaded guilty to murder and was jailed for 23 years and four months with a non-parole period of 17 years and six months.

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His sentence was reduced from a maximum of 36 years because of his guilty plea, his genuine remorse and willingness to give evidence against McCosker at his trial.

Defence barrister Terrence Healey argued McCosker should have received the same discounted sentence as the second man because he did not pour petrol on the victim or set him alight.

But prosecutor Chris Maxwell QC said the murder would never have taken place if McCosker had not agreed to help the second man and instead called an ambulance.

Justice Hulme said there had been animosity between McCosker and Mr Still for some time and the offender had been "resolutely unremorseful".

The second man first set fire to Mr Still in the disused quarry just before 12.10am on August 20, 2018, after an argument.

An elderly couple driving home saw a badly injured and barely clothed Mr Still emerge from bushes with his arms and legs covered in mud soon after he had been burnt.

He was yelling, waving his arms above his head and running towards the couple who kept driving before contacting police.

A taxi driver driving along Oakdale Road at 1.02am noticed a small grass fire and came across Mr Still sitting huddled on the ground barely alive.

The taxi driver asked Mr Still if he was hurt and he replied, "I am dying".

A fire officer who arrived at the scene asked Mr Still what had happened and he named the second man, saying "... (the killer) poured petrol on me."

Mr Still was airlifted by helicopter to a Sydney hospital but died on the way.

McCosker became involved in the murder when the second man rang him to pick him up at 12.30am to help him get more petrol for his motorbike.

The second man claimed the pair went to the Whitebridge cemetery where he told McCosker what he had done and asked if they should call an ambulance or finish Mr Still off before going to get the petrol.

McCosker drove the second man back to near where Mr Still was lying badly injured. McCosker stayed in the car as the second man got out and poured petrol on or near Mr Still and set him alight again.

The second man claimed there was "a big flame ... like whoosh, up she went".

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